WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.519 Father God, we come to you now and we be still. 00:00:09.859 --> 00:00:15.160 ! We acknowledge that you are God, that we are here for you. 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:15.200 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:41.539 Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your word. We hang on every single word. We know that 00:00:41.539 --> 00:00:54.719 it is living and active. So we humble ourselves beneath your word. We submit to it. We surrender 00:00:54.719 --> 00:01:05.219 to it. We trust in it. So would you speak? In your name we pray. Amen. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:12.200 On that note, can I invite you to stand for the word of God? I'm going to invite the birthday 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:20.659 girl, Mihi, to come and read it to us, just to mix up the accents a little bit. 1 Thessalonians 00:01:20.659 --> 00:01:22.299 chapter 3. Is that okay? 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:37.039 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing 00:01:37.039 --> 00:01:42.920 to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's co-worker in 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:49.539 the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith that no one be moved by these 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:56.100 afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with 00:01:56.100 --> 00:02:01.820 you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come 00:02:01.820 --> 00:02:09.040 to pass and just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn 00:02:09.040 --> 00:02:17.740 about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. 00:02:17.740 --> 00:02:24.260 But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love 00:02:24.260 --> 00:02:30.100 and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. 00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:37.400 For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted by you 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:46.819 through your faith. For now we live. If you are standing fast in the Lord, for what thanksgiving can 00:02:46.819 --> 00:02:54.480 we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before God, as we pray earnestly 00:02:54.480 --> 00:03:01.700 night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now, 00:03:01.699 --> 00:03:10.780 may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you and may the Lord make you 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:19.139 increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that he may establish 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:27.539 your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all 00:03:27.539 --> 00:03:33.539 his saints. This is the reading of the Lord. Praise be to God. Thank you. Thank you, Mihi. Take a seat, 00:03:33.620 --> 00:03:34.299 please. Thank you. 00:03:36.859 --> 00:03:40.599 So just to rewind your mind and just to recap what we've been going through, we've been going through 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:45.919 the book of Thessalonians. So remember this, it's a church that's about the same age as this church 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:52.419 here. It's about two years. Paul spent about two or three months with them. We can see in Acts 17, 00:03:52.419 --> 00:03:58.599 him and Silas. They head to Thessalonica and they start speaking to the Jews in the synagogues and 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:03.139 then people are just receptive. But when people are receptive, there are others who are not. And so 00:04:03.139 --> 00:04:07.479 then they get into some trouble. So they get ran out of town. And so when they get ran out of town, 00:04:07.899 --> 00:04:12.899 Paul just really misses this group. The church has lots of different challenges. The church in 00:04:12.899 --> 00:04:18.899 Corinth has some real challenges. The church in Galatia had some entrance requirement challenges, 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:23.959 but the church in Thessalonica, Paul just seemed to have a sweet spot for. He just enjoyed them. He 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:28.060 loved them. He missed them. And he was just so proud. So the first week for chapter one, 00:04:28.299 --> 00:04:33.139 I went through, this was the model church. This was as good as it gets. This is the church that 00:04:33.139 --> 00:04:37.039 you wanted to imitate. And I asked you guys the question, who were you imitating? Or rather, 00:04:37.179 --> 00:04:42.519 if someone imitated you, would you look more like Christ? If someone was, if we were to become more 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:47.719 like Ken, would we end up becoming more like Christ? That was the question that I asked myself. And that 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:53.860 was the question I asked you guys. Who are you imitating? When I look at you, who am I going to 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:59.360 be reminded of? That was the first. And then the second week, last week, was Paul just going, hey, 00:04:59.780 --> 00:05:04.700 I've been hearing people talking rubbish about me. There's been people who were spreading rumors about 00:05:04.700 --> 00:05:09.940 me, gossiping about me. And so he said, look, you know me. You know me as a leader. And he kind of 00:05:09.940 --> 00:05:15.060 slammed down this manifesto of leadership saying, hey, you know my motives and you know my methods. 00:05:15.060 --> 00:05:22.120 You know why I came. This isn't just for giggles. The chapter just before in Acts 16, I went to preach 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:27.319 in Philippi and I got dragged into prison and I was beaten in prison. I'm not here for my own 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:31.939 personal gain. This is not a popularity thing that I'm trying to do here. I'm here because there is a 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:36.600 good news that I must share with you. So you know why I'm here. And you also know how I lived when I 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:41.639 was here. When I was with you, I wasn't just speaking on stage and then just retreating to my room and 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:46.699 not caring about you. We lived together day and night. We did life together. Don't forget that. 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:51.159 When you hear about other people talking about me, just remember that you actually know me. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:57.060 We spent time together. And so then he moves on to chapter three. And this is where it really 00:05:57.060 --> 00:06:01.439 gets quite interesting because as he's sharing about all these things, he's like, gosh, 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:07.439 I really miss you guys. I really miss you. And I really want to come back to you. But right now, 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:12.600 I can't. I can't come back into your city because I'm going to run into some trouble. So I'm going 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:18.579 to send my disciple, Timothy. Timmy boy is going to come and visit you. And he's going to tell me 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:23.540 about you. That's what the purpose is. And then it leads us on. So if the first week was the model 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:28.159 church, the second week was the motive of the leader or the model leader. This week, he goes 00:06:28.159 --> 00:06:34.740 into something else. And he talks about, actually, I warned you. Guys, we had a great time. Two years ago, 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:39.400 remember when I was here, we were just making tents together. We were doing life together. We were 00:06:39.400 --> 00:06:43.540 laughing together. We were crying together. It was fun. But remember what I told you? And this is what 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:50.300 he told them in verse four. So chapter three, verse four. He says, when we were with you, we kept telling 00:06:50.300 --> 00:06:54.920 you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as it has come to pass. And just as you know, 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:01.800 he's like, guys, it was a good time. It was a really fun time. But don't forget, do you remember 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:06.500 when I told you it was going to get messy? Do you remember when I told you that you were going to 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:13.180 run into trouble? Do you remember when I told you that coming to this church or coming to this 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:19.180 gathering would mean that it would cost you something? And then it really made me think 00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:27.139 this week, what did it cost us to be here today? And I'll confess this to you. I don't know if I have 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:32.259 much authority or confidence in speaking about this topic today. Why? Because I grew up in the UK. 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:37.959 I went to church where I didn't really feel any trouble or affliction. I didn't put my life at 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:41.419 risk. I didn't put my family at risk by going to church. And I come to Hong Kong and that's the same. 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:47.219 The most danger we've had in coming to this church in more recent times is last week when the 00:07:47.219 --> 00:07:53.099 renovations are happening outside. And it felt dangerous. And I'm like, are you kidding me, 00:07:53.100 --> 00:07:59.720 James? That's as dangerous as it gets for you. So let me ask you, what did it cost you to be here? 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:05.240 Did it cost you anything? Dr. Alex, what did it cost you to be here today? 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:11.640 Your sleep. Man, that's so true. You don't look so beautiful without sleeping so much. 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:17.879 It cost you your sleep to be here. Rocky, what did it cost you to be here today? 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:17.939 Okay. 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:29.840 Not sure. Well, it cost me some time in the sun. That would have been nice to go out to the pool. 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:34.700 And I was literally just thinking today, oh, for those who don't work in church, you have your 00:08:34.700 --> 00:08:41.159 Sundays. It's super nice. You can just wake up and you just have the whole Sunday to do whatever it 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.639 is that you want to do. I would have been by the pool this morning. But then I'm like, are you 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:52.279 kidding me? That's all it cost me. We live in a different time. And actually, why do you even come to 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:56.740 church? Of course, we read those statements, even though it was really fun to hear it in the 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:03.299 Australian accent. Everything in the Australian accent sounds like a joke. So it sounded humorous 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:10.699 and funny, especially when Paul says it. But why do you gather? Why do you come to church? I've heard 00:09:10.699 --> 00:09:17.000 people say, I wish my kid would go to church. Why? If they go to church, they'll end up being a better 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:23.460 kid. And then they'll study better. And when they study better, they'll get into the Ivy League. And 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:28.460 when they get into the Ivy League, they'll get a good job. And then they'll get money. That's why you 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:34.000 should go to church. Why do you go to church? There's a, there's a, maybe something happening 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:39.899 worldwide is this health and wealth gospel. If you go to church, if you are a good person, I don't know 00:09:39.899 --> 00:09:44.980 why bad things are happening at me. I go to church. I read my Bible. Why are bad things happening to me? 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:49.879 I think we may not actually acknowledge and confess that that's what we're thinking, but we're like, 00:09:50.060 --> 00:09:54.440 when we go to church, it makes us feel better. And then we're hoping as we feel better, good things 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:59.840 will happen to us. So we will be better people that have better things. That wasn't the case. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:06.740 Imagine a church like this, a gathering like this, it would have been, you know why you're here 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:14.419 and it costs you something. Wesley chose to come to church today. This is an example. This is not 00:10:14.419 --> 00:10:20.299 true of Wesley. I don't think Wesley came to church today, but it meant actually he couldn't tell his 00:10:20.299 --> 00:10:26.820 family where he was going because if he, if his family knew where he was going, he would get into 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:35.340 so much trouble. Josh came to church today, but actually it comes at a cost because in his industry, 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:41.400 people don't go to church. You have to worship all these other types of gods to be able to join these 00:10:41.400 --> 00:10:47.240 other unions. And so you can join these festivals so you can get connections and business opportunities. 00:10:47.500 --> 00:10:53.440 If someone found out he was here, they wouldn't give him the business opportunities that he would need. 00:10:56.820 --> 00:11:03.200 What are you here for? What's the cost that you've paid? Here's the tricky thing. If you're struggling 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:07.680 to think of what it costs you to be here, there's another question that I have to ask you. How, 00:11:07.780 --> 00:11:11.960 how much value is it for you to be here? If it doesn't cost you anything, is it worth anything to you? 00:11:13.740 --> 00:11:18.860 If it didn't cost you anything to be here, my, my concern, my worry is actually, it's not really 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:26.740 worth that much. Church or no church. It's okay. I was a, with a pastor friend who, 00:11:26.820 --> 00:11:32.200 planted lots of different kinds of churches and some of those churches were north of us here. 00:11:33.260 --> 00:11:39.900 And when you go to church there, it's different. When you go to church up there, you've got to go, 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:45.580 okay, I'm going to church. It's not going to be fun. It's going to be hard. And if someone catches me, 00:11:46.140 --> 00:11:51.500 and actually the police may come. And if I get found to be here, that will be a whole ton of problems. 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:56.240 And recently they did have police raid their church. And then afterwards they had a, they had a time 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:01.480 with the church and go, Hey, look, who really wants to be here? And if you don't feel as though you can, 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:06.000 you should be here because you're putting your family at risk or whatever it is, then don't worry. 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:11.159 This is the time to maybe it's okay. Was what they were saying. And so a whole group of people left the 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:15.919 church together and they were like, actually, it's not for us. It's not for us because we can't put that 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:19.899 kind of risk on our families is what they're saying. And we all know that we all understand where 00:12:19.899 --> 00:12:24.340 they're coming from. And then something interesting happened. He told me to this church that suddenly 00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:30.919 went from this amount of people and it was cut by half. And when it was cut by half, those people 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:39.659 there were just so on fire for God. They were just so on fire. The way they would worship would be 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:44.019 different. The way they would hang on every word of scripture would be different. Why? Because they 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:51.120 counted the cost and they decided, actually, this is worth more. It is worth me taking this risk to 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:57.500 come here. I'll ask you again, what did it cost you to be here? And let's check our hearts and go, 00:12:57.539 --> 00:13:04.939 if it didn't cost us anything, is it worth us? Is it worth anything to us to be here? Or is it really 00:13:04.939 --> 00:13:10.379 no different? You see, it's interesting because those days, Paul knew what the cost was. He'd just come 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:15.860 from prison and was beaten in prison. You see the church in Smyrna in the book of Revelation when 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:20.059 Jesus is speaking to this church. He's saying, I know that you are going through poverty. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:25.939 I know that you are sacrificing business opportunities to be here because now people 00:13:25.939 --> 00:13:32.200 outside aren't treating you as equals. And so he knows why, but there's something else. Even though 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:39.940 there is all this cost for us, the church spread through that time. And this is why I don't know if I 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:45.480 have much authority because by whatever reason that God had, he put me in two places where actually 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:51.540 I don't fear for my life when I walk into church. I'm thinking more what breakfast I should have near 00:13:51.540 --> 00:13:56.920 church. I'm like, is it today a canteen day or is it a tagalog day? Is it a, that's what I'm thinking. 00:13:57.560 --> 00:14:01.640 I'm not trying to lose a trail behind me for people to see whether I'm going to come up to this lift. 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:07.860 I quite proudly tell the security guard downstairs, I'm going up to the 14th floor and that's okay. 00:14:09.940 --> 00:14:13.700 But the church grew only really 00:14:13.700 --> 00:14:20.900 through, you could say, persecution. Tertullian was the one who said, actually the blood of the martyrs 00:14:20.900 --> 00:14:22.720 was the seed of the church. 00:14:24.380 --> 00:14:29.360 Something else about cost and worth. Do you know that you sat where you are right now 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.080 listening to the word of God, listening to, about God, 00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:37.780 did you know for you to be sat here listening to this thing, it cost someone's life 00:14:37.779 --> 00:14:43.539 to be here. Someone gave up their life for you to be sat here listening to me talk about the word of 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:54.059 God. Have you ever thought about it like that? We have this book in English because people gave up 00:14:54.059 --> 00:14:58.919 their lives to translate it to us. Otherwise we would have no chance in understanding what this 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:05.220 book would be about. We, some of us may have heard of the guy, William Tyndale. Tyndale was the guy who 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:11.279 translated, one of the first people to translate the Bible to English. Do you know how his life ended? 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:21.940 He was strangled to death, hung. Why? Because he opposed in England King Henry VIII, who was wanting 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:26.300 to get a divorce because he wanted many different kinds of wives. And so he disagreed with it. He said, 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:34.319 that's not what the word of God says. And so I disagree with it. And then he was martyred. 00:15:35.819 --> 00:15:42.339 They got him on some, he was betrayed and then he was hung. He had a conviction. You see, sometimes 00:15:42.339 --> 00:15:47.579 I worry that we don't really face any affliction because we don't really have a backbone when it 00:15:47.579 --> 00:15:53.599 comes to some of our convictions. I think we look at this word, ah, this is a kind of like a 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:59.159 suggestions kind of book. This is some good advice to live your best life now. Oh, but don't worry, 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:04.460 I'm not going to die for this book. But then we remember that actually for the fact that we even 00:16:04.460 --> 00:16:09.399 have this book is because people laid down their lives for it. And that's back then. And you know, 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:14.180 well, not this day and age. Everything's okay now. It's pretty safe now. Well, actually, again, 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:21.019 that is just the minority experience really that we have here. 5,000 Christians were killed last year 00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:28.279 in this world because of their faith. 5,000. 15,000 churches were attacked. Buildings were attacked 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:37.799 because of the people and what they were doing inside. This is a real thing. Actually, this is 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:46.259 not normal. Often this is not normal. And then I go, well, God, why did you give us this? Why, 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:51.419 why did we deserve this? Well, I think there is something here and that's what I'm hoping to 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:57.019 apply today. Verse four says, we told you there would be affliction. We told you there would be 00:16:57.019 --> 00:17:06.400 trouble. And now trouble is coming. But that trouble leads often to growth. You see, what happened is in 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:11.900 actually this start, the trouble really starts from Acts 6 and 7. Okay. So the church is growing, 00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:16.259 the church is growing and there's tons of things to do. So this is what exactly what happened. I was 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:20.160 talking to my brother about this last night. So the church started growing and it started growing 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:24.660 very big. And then they were starting to run out of people. So they needed help with people. So 00:17:24.660 --> 00:17:29.400 they said, you know what? We've got the pastors doing this and talking about the word of God and 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:33.440 praying. But we need people to help look after some of these other people out here. So what do they do? 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:39.940 They basically appointed some deacons. So Stephen's one of the deacons in Acts 6. I'll help. I'll help 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:44.420 distribute the bread. And what happens in chapter seven? He gets killed. He gets stoned to death. He 00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:50.120 gets dragged out of the city and he gets stoned to death. Acts 8 is one of my favorite stories of 00:17:50.120 --> 00:17:55.660 evangelism. It's Philip who meets the Ethiopian. Why do I love it? Because he gets transported. He just 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:59.799 gets zapped to a different city. I just love that. That's my superpower that I would love to have. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.640 But why did he even have that superpower? It's because at the end of chapter seven, when they were 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:10.640 stoning Stephen, everyone had to scatter. They were like, oh my goodness. That helper that we just 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:16.960 appointed has now been killed. We have to get out of here. So Acts chapter 8, Stephen leaves Jerusalem. 00:18:17.540 --> 00:18:22.759 But he doesn't leave with a fearful mindset. He leaves and he just goes into the next town and 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:26.960 starts preaching the gospel. He's saying, hey, if you won't let me preach here, I'll just go and preach 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:31.180 over there. And so he starts going and he starts preaching and then God zaps him. And then he meets the 00:18:31.180 --> 00:18:36.400 Ethiopian. And it's a fantastic story that I hope you look into. Acts chapter 9, then you see the guy 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:40.799 who was witnessing the murder of Stephen now gets converted because he meets Jesus himself and he 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:47.640 gets blinded by it. Paul. Acts chapter 10 is this centurion who has a hundred people at his disposal. 00:18:48.620 --> 00:18:56.420 And yet he has this vision from God. And he's like, I have to worship this God. I am a man of power, 00:18:56.420 --> 00:19:05.060 but I have to worship this God. Acts chapter 12, James dies. Acts chapter 16, you see Paul 00:19:05.060 --> 00:19:10.940 getting thrown into prison. They're having this dream and say, hey, leave Asia, go to Europe. 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:19.660 And actually without him responding to that dream, the gospel won't have reached Europe. 00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:24.120 And I actually won't be speaking the word of God to you here in English. 00:19:26.700 --> 00:19:31.660 Do you realize that the seat that you're sitting on is because someone paved the way for it? 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:39.160 Someone laid their lives down for it. We may not be a church that faces affliction, 00:19:39.560 --> 00:19:46.180 but the question I have is, are we a church that gets any attention at all? 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:53.299 You see, in Acts 2, you have these believers who are also like, they're just filled with awe and wonder, 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:58.100 cut to the heart is what it says. And then people outside look and see this group of people are 00:19:58.100 --> 00:20:02.600 different. So we may not have affliction, but we have to ask ourselves, do we get garner any 00:20:02.600 --> 00:20:07.360 attention from the people outside at all? What that means is, are we different at all in any way? 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:16.339 Because the gospel has to continue to move. I think that's one of the biggest problems that we face as a 00:20:16.339 --> 00:20:22.359 church globally, that we've picked comfort over sacrifice. That's why I love the idea that 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:28.399 the church doesn't have, our church doesn't have enough comfy seats. I know we have beanbags, but 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:38.700 I want us to feel just that urgency, that urgency to be on edge and go, this is the good news. We can't 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:47.040 keep good news to ourselves. We have to share it because it's good news. The very nature of news is 00:20:47.040 --> 00:20:53.800 that we must share it out, but instead we've picked complacency over conviction. 00:20:53.799 --> 00:21:00.559 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lost his life during the war, he said, I think the church is struggling 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:05.759 to grow is because we've given up, given into our temptations. And when you give into your 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:13.960 temptations, no, there's no really any resistance. But the problem here is this, if you don't have any 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:22.539 resistance, you won't grow. If we don't face any resistance, we won't grow. 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:30.099 I was talking to Kenneth earlier here and I put my hand on his shoulder and I felt a muscle that I 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:36.460 didn't know existed. I was like, what's going on there? What is that thing? Apparently it's a muscle 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:43.899 that you can work on. And apparently you work on it in this place called a gym. But it doesn't grow 00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:55.240 without resistance. There's this saying, no pain, no gain. My son actually, MJ has a t-shirt today that 00:21:55.240 --> 00:22:06.900 says, no rain, no rainbows. And that's cute. But it's so true. When we are a church that doesn't face any 00:22:06.900 --> 00:22:12.720 kind of affliction, and literally the only problem we have is navigating the air conditioning refurbishment 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:17.880 as we leave here, how are we wondering why we're not growing? If it doesn't really cost us to be 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:23.220 here at all, then we're not really putting any worth to it. And then we complain that we're not 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:28.900 really growing and it's all just a little bit too comfortable. But what if it was a posture of the 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:36.519 heart? What if it was something inside you that, okay, this means something. So the next time I have an 00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:42.420 opportunity to choose whether I follow the world or whether I follow Jesus, and I know that it might 00:22:42.420 --> 00:22:52.579 cost me, which one will I choose? When I choose the likes and the public approval, when I know that God 00:22:52.579 --> 00:22:58.700 wants me to go this way, and it's going to be ugly, and it's going to cost me something. Are we willing 00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:02.579 to do that? So my question here is this, maybe it's not affliction we're after right now. 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:11.159 What about if it's just discomfort? Can we be a group of people who are comfortably uncomfortable? 00:23:12.619 --> 00:23:19.259 Because I'll tell you, as I look back on my life, the only places that I really grew are away from the 00:23:19.259 --> 00:23:25.579 couch. I did not really grow whilst I was chilling, sipping on some red wine, watching a show on the 00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:32.559 couch. I grew when I was out of my comfort zone. I grew when I was doing things that I didn't 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:42.119 want to do. When was the last time you did something that you didn't want to do, but you knew that God 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:47.339 was the one who was asking you to do it? I'm not saying like your mum told you to do something and 00:23:47.339 --> 00:23:51.500 you don't want to do it because you hate doing laundry. It's not that. That's not the kind of 00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:57.759 affliction where I'm after here. I'm after here is your friends invite you to go out to a party, 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:02.299 and you're like, you know what? I just can't because I know what you guys are wanting to do 00:24:02.299 --> 00:24:06.640 at this party. I'm not judging you necessarily for it, but it's just not me right now and it's 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:13.460 just not what God wants me to do. And then you say, okay, I won't go. When was the last time you did 00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:19.059 something like that? When was the last time you deliberately got yourself to a place that was 00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:25.339 uncomfortable? My guess is that a lot of us spend most of our time in this comfortable place 00:24:25.339 --> 00:24:30.220 in our spiritual walk where we're like, look, I'm just going to do my Christian thing whenever it 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:36.259 kind of works out for me and whenever I can squeeze in a little bit of time. Basically, 00:24:36.259 --> 00:24:41.439 we don't ever go to the gym. And then we wonder why we don't have that muscle here that Kenneth has. 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:51.159 I have no gripes when I look at Uday because I know that he pays the cost to do what he does to 00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:56.220 look this beautiful. He has to go to the gym and will pay in Hong Kong a hefty membership price to 00:24:56.220 --> 00:25:02.360 join just to guilt trip you to continue going there. Don't feed the beast. But I know, 00:25:02.680 --> 00:25:13.380 I know that all good things are hard. I know that growth is a cost. And this is why, and my brother 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:19.480 and I were talking about this, I don't want us to grow too fast. Because I don't think we're ready. 00:25:19.940 --> 00:25:24.160 I don't think we've faced enough resistance. I don't think we've faced enough affliction. 00:25:25.120 --> 00:25:30.080 And I don't think we're growing. And I don't want to be in that place where we are just a cruise ship 00:25:30.080 --> 00:25:36.520 of people just floating. Do you remember like Disney film Wall E? Those people just sat in those 00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:43.019 chairs just being fed and all around. That's the last thing. That's the last thing you should want. 00:25:44.599 --> 00:25:51.139 That you would be that. When was the last time we took ourselves out of our comfort zone? 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:58.000 When was the last time we got attention? Chapter one talks about this attention that they got, 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:03.759 that people are hearing about this. But now Paul sends his Timmy boy to go find out how this church 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:09.460 is doing. And he just, he's, he's just relieved. He's like, oh my goodness. Timmy tells me that you 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:14.920 guys are still in love with the Lord. That even though you have all these afflictions, even though 00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:20.160 it's cost you in so many different ways, you are still there. And that filled his heart. And verse, 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:24.240 verse eight, it says this, for now we live. If you are standing fast in the Lord, he said, 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:29.000 that is so life-giving for me to hear. So life-giving for me to hear that you are still standing strong 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.440 in the faith, despite all the costs that it costs you to be where you are. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:40.799 So the question really is, what do we do? How do we get ourselves out of this comfort zone? 00:26:41.220 --> 00:26:46.500 Or what do you need to do to get yourself out of this comfort zone? What are you, what have you 00:26:46.500 --> 00:26:49.420 been doing for years? And you know, it's not really been working. You just haven't 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:56.859 got the guts to change to do something different. We may not have affliction and praise God that we 00:26:56.859 --> 00:27:01.779 don't have affliction, but that can be a curse in the sense that we will also just never grow. 00:27:01.779 --> 00:27:09.339 The fastest growing churches around the world are the ones who are facing affliction. 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:18.359 We may not need to go out of our way to try and find people to persecute us and to get that 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:24.039 affliction. But maybe a question for us is, do I even get any attention at all because of my faith? 00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:32.440 Positive or negative? Can I put myself in an uncomfortable place so that I have to make a 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:41.740 choice? Which way do I go? Can I be different? One of the ways, and this is where really I'll come 00:27:41.740 --> 00:27:46.519 to an end. I love it when Paul's writing, so this is just a letter. We're just going through a letter 00:27:46.519 --> 00:27:51.660 between Paul and the people that he loves. And halfway through this letter, he just stops and 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:56.579 he just breaks out into prayer. May we be those kinds of people that we're just talking to. You 00:27:56.579 --> 00:27:59.779 know what? I just can't help but pray for you. And he prays for them towards the end of this chapter 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:04.259 three. And he says this, now may our God and father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 00:28:04.539 --> 00:28:11.879 Oh, God, I so miss you. God, would you just let me go and spend time with these people? But until then, 00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:18.420 may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you. 00:28:19.580 --> 00:28:23.780 He's saying, as you face all these afflictions and these problems, you know what? I just pray that 00:28:23.780 --> 00:28:30.240 you would love each other. And if you're wondering, hey, how can I make myself feel uncomfortable so I 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:37.840 can grow? Actually, it starts here. I guarantee you there is someone here in this room who you will find 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:46.259 hard to love. Guarantee you. This is where spouses are just making sure they don't look at each other 00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:54.099 because that could be the person that is hard to love. And the church is essentially the school where 00:28:54.099 --> 00:29:01.000 we practice Christian love. And what is love? Love is the agape kind of love, which is a selfless, 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:08.119 unconditional kind of love. If you're thinking, okay, I need to get myself uncomfortable so I can 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:12.960 start growing. It will actually just start with you identifying now. And it's quite convenient that 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:16.180 we're sat in a circle. You can look at someone, you're like, you know what? That person will be 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:20.940 really hard to love. I'm going to have nothing in common with that person. And I'm going to go talk 00:29:20.940 --> 00:29:27.640 to that person. Maybe that's it. And honestly, that's the lowest bar. And especially for introverts, 00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:33.320 that's already daunting. And that's already like the end game. But that's such a low bar. And he's 00:29:33.320 --> 00:29:39.600 saying, may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all. It starts with 00:29:39.600 --> 00:29:49.960 just us. Have a think. Who here can you show some love to? And love here is very simple. Oh, how do I 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:57.560 love? Well, is it a hug or is it a weird? Just go out of your way. That's it. Would you be willing 00:29:57.559 --> 00:30:04.039 to go out of your way to do something different? To speak to someone you don't want to talk to? 00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:10.659 To take someone out for coffee when you don't have the time for them? What is the thing that we can do 00:30:10.659 --> 00:30:17.700 to practice that love? And I'll even say, let's have a little bit of a selfish motive there. He's 00:30:17.700 --> 00:30:23.000 like, I'm going to love you because I want to grow. I want to practice how to love someone that's really 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:29.420 hard. And I want to, Julian, let's go and have lunch together. Like, I really enjoy having lunch 00:30:29.420 --> 00:30:38.980 with you. So let's go do that together. Find your person who you find hard to love and take them out 00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:52.319 for lunch. Take them out for lunch. What is that for you? What is that for us? And then once you've 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:57.079 done it with someone within the church, it's now time to do it with someone outside of the church. 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:00.940 Someone who you've just looked across from the office and you're like, oh my goodness. 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:08.180 Honestly, every time you open your mouth, just garbage comes out. 00:31:10.700 --> 00:31:13.019 That boss that you have is just like, oh my goodness. 00:31:14.660 --> 00:31:18.740 Like, if I was allowed to punch anyone, this would be it. If all those lessons of Muay Thai 00:31:18.740 --> 00:31:21.759 was for something, it'll be for this. It'll be for you. 00:31:24.860 --> 00:31:30.340 Jesus says something really interesting. He says, you've got to love your enemies. 00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:35.059 You've got to, and I know we've heard that before. Love your enemies. Pray for those who 00:31:35.059 --> 00:31:41.680 persecute you and who bully you and who are horrible. That means you've got to look someone 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:51.400 in the eye who has been mistreating you and go, how can I love you? How can I go out of my way 00:31:52.779 --> 00:31:53.539 to love you? 00:31:53.539 --> 00:32:03.519 When you do that, that's when you know that you're starting to become Christ-like. 00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:08.000 And you all have those people in your mind right now. 00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:10.000 The people that you want to punch. 00:32:12.019 --> 00:32:15.379 The people that you want to hear about a scandal from. 00:32:15.779 --> 00:32:19.420 Like, I can't, like, when something bad happens to that person, then you feel good. 00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:26.460 Like, Jesus says, actually, that'll be the moment. 00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:31.160 When you can love them, when you can pray for them, that will be the moment when you are 00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:31.440 different. 00:32:32.100 --> 00:32:36.120 And it says, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness. 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:37.640 Holiness just means that you're just different. 00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:38.440 You're just set apart. 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:40.460 So when someone looks at you, you're like, oh. 00:32:40.460 --> 00:32:46.779 That person just acts differently to the boss that we all hate. 00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:49.120 Somehow, they make it work. 00:32:49.400 --> 00:32:50.200 What is going on? 00:32:50.220 --> 00:32:51.220 And I'll tell you, it's not you. 00:32:52.380 --> 00:32:55.519 It's you opening up your hand and your heart's going, that person is hard to love. 00:32:55.600 --> 00:32:57.440 God, I will never be able to love that person on my own. 00:32:57.660 --> 00:33:00.720 But Christ living in me, Christ, can you love that person through me? 00:33:02.819 --> 00:33:06.519 So it doesn't require you to kind of grit your teeth to spend time with someone who you 00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:07.279 find hard to love. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:09.600 I'm just going to sit here. 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:11.919 Christ, can you just love them through me? 00:33:12.399 --> 00:33:13.039 I empty myself. 00:33:13.199 --> 00:33:17.879 I surrender so that I can be a little bit of you to them. 00:33:20.459 --> 00:33:23.299 That's really what this passage is about. 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:25.519 It's funny. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:28.119 Acts 17, that talks about the beginning of this church. 00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:30.319 So they get all this attention. 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:34.619 And then there are some jealous Jews that start complaining, that start making stuff up about 00:33:34.619 --> 00:33:36.259 this group of people that are gathering. 00:33:36.579 --> 00:33:37.379 And do you know what they're saying? 00:33:37.380 --> 00:33:39.700 These guys are turning the world upside down. 00:33:40.760 --> 00:33:45.000 I mean, actually, I want to find it because I think it's, of course, it's a little bit 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:47.040 of hyperbole and they're exaggerating a little bit. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:51.220 But it's just the way they say it is just so encouraging. 00:33:51.220 --> 00:33:51.920 And he says this. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:53.619 So they drag this. 00:33:53.779 --> 00:33:55.240 Acts chapter 17, verse six. 00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:58.579 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brothers before 00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:02.819 the city authorities shouting, these men who have turned the world upside down have come 00:34:02.819 --> 00:34:03.379 here also. 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:05.099 And Jason has received them. 00:34:05.099 --> 00:34:08.920 And they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another king, 00:34:09.319 --> 00:34:09.579 Jesus. 00:34:10.259 --> 00:34:13.539 And the people of the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:15.759 So they get dragged out. 00:34:16.099 --> 00:34:19.519 They go, these people, they're turning the world upside down. 00:34:19.579 --> 00:34:20.719 They're causing revolt. 00:34:20.819 --> 00:34:21.000 Why? 00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:24.779 Because they're saying there is someone who is king who isn't Caesar. 00:34:24.780 --> 00:34:28.860 And of course, they're just kind of exaggerating because they're just jealous and they just 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:29.900 want to get rid of these people. 00:34:30.240 --> 00:34:35.320 But how beautiful to be described as a group of people who are turning the world upside down. 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:39.100 The enemy was exaggerating. 00:34:39.860 --> 00:34:44.780 But how good would it be if we truly were a group of people as we scatter from here that 00:34:44.780 --> 00:34:49.760 we truly do turn the world upside down so that you respond in exactly the opposite way to 00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:51.920 your colleagues when something bad happens. 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:57.800 And that we completely turn it on its head and we do not conform to the patterns of this 00:34:57.800 --> 00:35:01.579 world, but we renew our minds to live in a different way. 00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:03.800 What would that be like? 00:35:04.720 --> 00:35:07.000 That we would be that kind of church. 00:35:07.159 --> 00:35:08.519 We would be that kind of people. 00:35:09.860 --> 00:35:12.119 And of course, you don't have to make it up as you go along. 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:16.300 The truth is, Christ already showed us the way. 00:35:17.500 --> 00:35:21.059 Christ already suffered for us. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:25.500 And so let's not be afraid of suffering. 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:27.099 Let's not be afraid of affliction. 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:35.079 Romans 5 says, suffering leads to endurance, which leads to character and leads to hope. 00:35:36.200 --> 00:35:43.780 Let us be people who lean in to suffering, who lean in to affliction, who lean in to negative 00:35:43.780 --> 00:35:44.260 attention. 00:35:44.579 --> 00:35:44.760 Why? 00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:46.440 Because it's what our Christ did for us. 00:35:46.640 --> 00:35:50.760 At the beginning of Acts 17, at the beginning of this church, they said this, 00:35:50.760 --> 00:35:52.260 And Paul went in, as was his custom. 00:35:52.380 --> 00:35:56.380 And on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving 00:35:56.380 --> 00:36:00.700 that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead. 00:36:01.540 --> 00:36:05.000 And saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ, is the Messiah. 00:36:05.340 --> 00:36:10.480 It was necessary for Jesus to suffer so that he could then rise from the dead. 00:36:10.480 --> 00:36:14.860 But it is necessary for us to die to ourselves in order for us to live this life that is abundant 00:36:14.860 --> 00:36:15.740 life. 00:36:16.059 --> 00:36:24.280 So whatever suffering you're going through, may the Lord use it to create endurance, character, 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:25.320 hope. 00:36:26.659 --> 00:36:29.539 The pains that you're going through, may they be growth pains. 00:36:29.539 --> 00:36:36.019 May we have the backbone and the conviction to even draw attention to ourselves and for people 00:36:36.019 --> 00:36:38.199 to look at us and go, that person's different. 00:36:39.619 --> 00:36:43.800 That Christianity is simply too real, too good. 00:36:45.019 --> 00:36:51.340 Let us not just be the same because our Christ, our Savior, was not the same. 00:36:51.980 --> 00:36:55.559 He was a king who came down and emptied himself. 00:36:55.559 --> 00:37:00.019 And he turned things completely upside down. 00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:02.299 Would we do the same? 00:37:04.519 --> 00:37:11.420 Let us spend time now, and this is where we'll finish, is let's remember that Christ suffered 00:37:11.420 --> 00:37:11.940 for us. 00:37:14.219 --> 00:37:18.820 And so we weren't, he didn't suffer for us so that we would have this beautiful life here 00:37:18.820 --> 00:37:19.400 on earth. 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:25.099 There's a theologian who said, our Lord took on a crown of thorns. 00:37:25.099 --> 00:37:28.079 What makes us think that we should have a crown of roses? 00:37:29.639 --> 00:37:31.619 Our Lord took on a crown of thorns for us. 00:37:31.639 --> 00:37:34.839 What makes us think that we're entitled to a crown of roses? 00:37:35.759 --> 00:37:38.440 And then we're shocked when something bad happens to us. 00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:45.779 Like, yeah, the kind of the guy that you said you'd follow, he did things in an upside down 00:37:45.779 --> 00:37:46.219 kind of way. 00:37:46.699 --> 00:37:48.719 So don't be surprised at the trials that you face. 00:37:49.659 --> 00:37:51.819 Don't be surprised that people look at you negatively. 00:37:51.820 --> 00:37:55.140 Because they looked at him negatively first. 00:37:56.019 --> 00:37:56.400 Why? 00:37:57.180 --> 00:37:57.960 He didn't have to. 00:37:58.820 --> 00:37:59.720 But for us, he did. 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:06.440 I'm going to invite Johnny up here to lead us in a time of communion, where as a people 00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:09.780 who forget easily, we always forget. 00:38:09.780 --> 00:38:15.180 We remember that Christ suffered for us. 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:19.440 And through that, we get to live. 00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:19.660 Johnny. 00:38:24.460 --> 00:38:27.380 Jesus, that is the one thing that we ask, one thing that we seek. 00:38:27.380 --> 00:38:37.460 The only thing that we would dwell in your house all the days of our lives, to gaze upon 00:38:37.460 --> 00:38:39.240 your beauty. 00:38:44.059 --> 00:38:49.220 And when that beauty is in full focus, everything else fades away. 00:38:49.219 --> 00:38:51.980 Any suffering. 00:38:53.500 --> 00:38:54.339 Any pain. 00:38:54.879 --> 00:38:55.619 Any tears. 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:56.719 Any anxieties. 00:38:58.919 --> 00:39:00.819 We pray that that beauty would 00:39:00.819 --> 00:39:05.719 turn this world upside down. 00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:11.879 And that we would reflect, we would emit some of that beauty 00:39:11.879 --> 00:39:14.179 to this world around us. 00:39:14.179 --> 00:39:21.039 We know the costs you paid. 00:39:22.379 --> 00:39:25.619 We know the costs that others have paid for us to be here. 00:39:29.059 --> 00:39:30.460 Some gave their lives. 00:39:30.539 --> 00:39:31.419 You gave your life. 00:39:34.719 --> 00:39:35.480 So we 00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:38.699 seek to give you our lives. 00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:39.419 We surrender. 00:39:39.420 --> 00:39:44.099 Help us to be 00:39:44.099 --> 00:39:47.240 people that embrace and lean in to discomfort. 00:39:49.019 --> 00:39:51.340 That we would truly be comfortably uncomfortable 00:39:51.340 --> 00:39:54.240 on the edge of our seats as we 00:39:54.240 --> 00:39:55.720 pursue you, 00:39:56.539 --> 00:39:57.320 wait for you, 00:39:58.500 --> 00:39:59.079 yearn for you. 00:40:01.980 --> 00:40:02.680 Thank you, Lord. 00:40:04.460 --> 00:40:05.159 Thank you, Lord. 00:40:06.460 --> 00:40:07.220 We love you. 00:40:07.300 --> 00:40:07.960 We worship you. 00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:09.740 It's in your name we pray. 00:40:11.539 --> 00:40:11.880 Amen.