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Hello and welcome back to the PHSA Podcast. My name is David Bigford. I'm the pastor

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here at SalmonArm. This is a very special podcast series where I'm going to be sharing

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with you messages from our most recent conference in Prescott, Arizona, the Beyond Limits Conference

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with a theme of to preach the gospel in the regions beyond from 2 Corinthians 10-16. I'm

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going to share all of the sermons from this conference series to include Greg Mitchell,

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our head pastor, Joe Campbell, Richard Ruby, Tom Payne, and many, many others during this

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series. So I'll be sharing these with you over the next couple of weeks, and I hope

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you really enjoy these messages. If you'd like to see these messages in a video format,

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you can go to prescottpottershouse.com where all of these will be available for you to

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view in a video format. So without further ado, I'm going to pass, I'm going to go ahead

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and move on to the messages and I hope you enjoy them. God bless.

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Thank you. Amen. Great privilege and honour to be here. Appreciate the opportunity to

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preaching on Thursday, our International Day. Praise God. If you've got your Bibles, let's

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open to Isaiah 42 10-12. Isaiah 42 10-12. Just going to look at a couple of verses.

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The genesis of this sermon came to me when I was in the island nation of Papua New Guinea,

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had the privilege of leading a team there, myself, my assistant, Pastor Luke, and 11

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other people from our church spent a number of days there to impact that nation and the

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capital of Port Moresby. And we were able to do an outdoor crusade, was able to hire

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a plot of land right in the centre of the capital of the city. We were able to set up,

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we made a stage, began to set up our crusade. Three nights of a miracle crusade in that

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nation. The team evangelised during the day in street markets throughout the capital,

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the city. By the grace of God we saw 1147 decisions in three days. And thank God. 461,

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I haven't started the video yet. I'll give you the key in a moment. 461 confirmed miracles

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or documented miracles. And so I was there and I got the inspiration of this thought

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of the islands of the sea. And so I'm going to show the video here to give you context

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of kind of where this idea came from. We can show it now. Thank you so much. We'll see

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you later.

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I don't think that's been true.

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So we asked this girl to come out to the healing crusade. So we saw her that night, Pastor

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Elian actually had all these offline dives and I spotted her in the crowd. Her name's

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actually Angela. And I prayed for her and then I got her to cover her good eye and I

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asked her, I was like, can you see my face? And she said yes. And I was just like, can

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you see my fingers? And I wiggle the monkey in my face. And she was like yes. And I was

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like, how many fingers am I holding up? And she told me two. And I checked again and I

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was like, how many now? And she said five. It was just such a powerful miracle. They've

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just got her to be able to go on that actually.

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She's

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Shall we take it on from Simon?

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Or do you want to leave it here?

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Shall we throw it?

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Throw it into the bush?

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Shall we throw it into the bush?

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No more walking sick needed.

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Come on, because of Jesus!

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Come on, bring him up, pastor!

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Bring him up!

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Bring him up, pastor!

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Bring him up, pastor!

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Yeah, praise God!

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Yes!

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Thank you, Jesus!

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So I met with the team just before I left on the last night,

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and we had dinner together, and I went around the table,

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and I just asked, you know, one sentence,

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what has this impact meant to you?

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What has God done in your life?

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And it was intriguing to ask that question,

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and one after another, rank-and-file members of our church,

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many of them just regular folks, girls, and guys,

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that not necessarily in high-profile ministry,

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but see the impact on their life.

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And one of the young men made a comment to me.

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He said, pastor, I feel like I'm living in the pages of the Book of Acts.

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I feel like I'm living in the pages of the Book of Acts.

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And I was there, and I was thinking about that,

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and I had the thought about islands of the sea.

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And it reminded me of a quote in the book, The Open Door,

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a history of our fellowship,

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and it talked about that moment that our founding pastor,

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Pastor Wayman, was filled with the Holy Ghost,

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was baptized in the Holy Ghost.

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And let me just read it to you from the book, The Open Door.

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Instantly, Wayman Mitchell was filled with the Holy Spirit,

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began to speak in other tongues.

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This was an overpowering experience.

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No one had told him to repeat abba dabba doo

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or go through some vows rapidly.

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The fact that he was almost totally ignorant of the Holy Spirit

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until that moment when God moved,

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yet God hit him with power and revealed his glory,

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Wayman Mitchell began to prophesy,

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speaking of how God was going to move powerfully

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in the nations of the world and the islands of the sea.

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And as he spoke, he knew that that message was to him,

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but the idea seemed so far-fetched to him.

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From my perspective, and from my part of the world in ministry,

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it seems to me that there's a special dimension

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and God's grace upon island people and islands of the sea

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at this very moment.

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God is moving so powerfully in these places.

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And let me read this ancient prophecy from the book of Isaiah

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to lay the foundation, Isaiah 42, 10 through 12.

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Sing unto the Lord a new song,

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and his praises from the ends of the earth,

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ye who go down to the sea,

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and all that's there in the isles and the inhabitants thereof.

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Let the wilderness of the cities thereof lift up their voice.

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The villages of Kadar does inhabit.

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Let the inhabitants of the rocks sing,

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let them shout from the top of the mountains,

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let them give glory unto the Lord

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and declare his praises in the islands.

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There's a companion text in Isaiah 24, verse 15,

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message version.

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It says, yes, from the east God's glory will ascend.

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Every island of the sea will broadcast the Lord's fame

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and the fame of the God of Israel.

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On this World Evangelism Day,

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I want to have a look at the islands of the sea

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and first of all consider distant islands and remote places.

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You know, many times if you even do a Google today,

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which I did, islands of the sea,

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you know what comes up?

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Cruise ships.

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Cruises through the islands.

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You know, vacations, holidays.

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Get aboard a cruise ship and wander through the Pacific

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or the Caribbean,

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and that's what the islands of the sea are

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to many in this generation.

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However, when Isaiah wrote this,

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this was not the perspective the Jews he would have written to.

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For them, the islands were a far distant place,

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something very perilous,

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something no doubt beyond their comfort zone.

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I found it interesting that that has been the perspective

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for a long, long time.

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It was in the late 1700s,

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the British pastor William Kerry,

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many of us know he went on to become the father of modern day missions.

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He read the book by Captain James Cook,

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Voyages Around the World.

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Captain Cook did three epic world journeys,

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quite amazing, and he visited places that the Christian West

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or European West had never been to throughout the South Pacific and beyond.

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He charted all the East Coast of Australia and claimed it for England.

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That's Providence and the hand of God.

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He went all around New Zealand, went through all the Pacific,

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went up the West Coast of the United States,

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and Pastor Ruby talked about this somewhat in his offering,

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some of his amazing adventures.

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When William Kerry read that about the people, their rituals,

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their bound in darkness, their superstition,

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it said that his heart was stirred for these people groups.

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There's a photo here that shows James Cook's journey.

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There's his three journeys in the endeavor, the resolute,

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and the resolution, his journeys around,

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and how he traveled around, the red, his first trip,

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then obviously the green, and then the darker color,

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the incredible trips of this man, and he opened up the minds of people,

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especially to the islands of the sea and to these far distant places.

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William Kerry was so inspired by James Cook, he decided himself,

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I need to go to regions beyond.

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He was considering islands, but you know in history that he ended up

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by the grace and providence of God to go to that great nation of India.

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Here's the man that made the statement,

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expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.

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The apostle Paul, I believe was the first apostle

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and perhaps first person to go to the islands of the sea

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in the New Testament record.

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And can I say that his trip, when he went to the islands,

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was not a cruise ship.

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It was a dangerous journey, and you see in Acts 27, 26,

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however we must run aground on a certain island.

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So as we consider our text, here's Isaiah.

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The whole chapter, if you read from the top as you're reading down it,

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it's a messianic prophecy.

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It's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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It talks about a bruised reed, he'll not break a smoking flax,

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he'll not put out.

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It talks about being a light to the Gentiles,

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twice in the preceding verses it's talking of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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And a time to come when Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God,

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will no doubt begin his church and his great work.

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And in verse 12 of our text it says,

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let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praises in the islands.

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Barnes Note says, let them give glory in the islands,

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let the distant regions praise God.

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Wesley in his commentary says, in the remotest parts of the world.

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So it's an ancient text in Isaiah talking about the islands of the sea,

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the remote parts of the world, the distant regions,

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where people are not going to be bound in superstition and darkness,

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but give glory to God.

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Perhaps a little bit of my story.

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When I was young and growing up in Australia,

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we didn't have a lot of choice of television when I was in an unsafe family,

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we had television.

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We started off with one channel.

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I knew every program and every time slot, I knew everything.

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Then we moved to two and that was amazing.

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But one of the early programs that was done in Australia

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was an Australian made production, 1967,

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and it showed through the early 70s.

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So I probably would have seen it in the early 70s.

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It was entitled Sea Spray or the Adventures of Sea Spray.

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There's a picture there just shows that there.

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So here's a ship that is cruising throughout the Pacific Islands.

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And this was the whole premise of the story that there was a widower,

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it was his son, his daughter, and then he had a dick hand of a Fijian man.

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Show the next picture.

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There.

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So the guy in the back is a Fijian.

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I had never seen an island before in my life.

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You know, when I was brought up, there was only white Australian Europeans

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and indigenous people.

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I never saw anybody else.

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I said, wow.

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And that's actually in Fiji itself.

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That's where that photo is taken.

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And they're travelling throughout the islands,

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these exotic islands in the Pacific, having adventures a long way.

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It got my attention.

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In spite of young heart, the islands of the sea are a mysterious place,

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a beautiful place, an amazing people.

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And there's time. Thank you for that.

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And time goes by.

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You know, I'm saved now.

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I get planted out.

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I go to Sydney to pioneer a church.

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God helps us build a church.

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And the church was open for three years.

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So in 1990, I felt stirred to do my first overseas impact team.

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I'm just inspired.

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Listen, three years old is a church.

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We've got established now.

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We've got our building where God's helping us.

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Got good people. But listen, there's a stirring and I feel stirred.

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And so I'm wondering where to go.

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And I remember I'm pondering that.

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And I speak to a fellow pastor, Bruce Callahan, and he says,

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Darryl, why don't you go to Fiji?

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And we just planted this Australian fellowship,

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a couple out of the Adelaide Church, Jack and Anne Marie.

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And Jack and Anne Marie had just gone to Fiji, probably, you know,

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maybe a year early.

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I had never travelled to, I'd never been to Adelaide.

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I hadn't really met this couple, but Bruce says, you need to go.

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So I rang Jack and I said, Jack, I'm thinking of coming and preaching

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and bringing impact to you.

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Oh, brother, hallelujah.

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That's, you know, and he just was so welcoming.

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Listen, we'll have a time, he said.

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And so I took a small team of six of us there.

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And listen, this was the beginning, I meant of my overseas experience.

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I stayed in a hotel right there on the ocean.

246
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My back balcony opened up and the ocean just out of Suva was there.

247
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And listen, what adventures.

248
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Just out from our hotel was Snake Island.

249
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Why was it Snake Island?

250
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Full of sea snakes.

251
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One of the guys left the sliding door open.

252
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A sea snake swam up and swam right into our room.

253
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Big long thing.

254
00:19:25,260 --> 00:19:26,260
And so what did I do?

255
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I rang reception.

256
00:19:29,260 --> 00:19:32,260
Excuse me, there's a sea snake in the room.

257
00:19:32,260 --> 00:19:35,260
This Fijian lady just like, you tough me.

258
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She comes in, no problem, picks it up by the tail, just throws it back out of the ocean.

259
00:19:42,260 --> 00:19:46,260
I said, thank you very much.

260
00:19:46,260 --> 00:19:56,260
You know, from sea snakes in your room to the confrontation on the street with the local Methodist pastor that didn't like us evangelising.

261
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He was also the town clerk of the city of Suva.

262
00:20:00,260 --> 00:20:04,260
To the third night of the revival, a breakthrough.

263
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I felt it in the prayer room before the service.

264
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Something changed.

265
00:20:07,260 --> 00:20:10,260
Thank God for corporate prayer meetings before the service.

266
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Something changed and immediately visitors breakthrough, salvation, healing, baptism in the Holy Ghost.

267
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It was a breakthrough moment.

268
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Amen.

269
00:20:20,260 --> 00:20:21,260
And it was incredible.

270
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As I'm coming back, I see the hearts of everyone on my team.

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Australians, just like myself, are amazed beyond belief and astirred for the islands of the sea.

272
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You know, the biblical record, the Apostles first missionary tour from the base of Antioch, his new base.

273
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He finds himself on the island of Cyprus.

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Most of us know as we read through the Book of Acts and he travels around that and comes to the western side and Paphos is there.

275
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The Bible says in Acts 13 verse 16, and when they go on through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew by the name of Bar Jesus.

276
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And no doubt this early experience with the Apostle Paul of island culture and how it is on the islands.

277
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No doubt was he was impressed.

278
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He saw first of all, a false religion on the islands, a sorcerer, someone Bar Jesus, son of Jesus.

279
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How bizarre.

280
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Someone who resisted him spiritually.

281
00:21:26,260 --> 00:21:30,260
But then we see power encounters like Pastor Cluck mentioned.

282
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Secondly, season of blindness, gifts of the Holy Spirit flowing through Paul's life, miracle conversions and healing.

283
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As you see in Acts 12 verse 13 verse 12, the procouncil believed and astonished at the teachings of the Lord.

284
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No doubt he is Paul's first impression of island life.

285
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He's an adventurer, Paul, a risk taker, a pioneer, regions beyond.

286
00:21:58,260 --> 00:22:08,260
I wonder if he would have thought, am I fulfilling this ancient beginning to fulfill an ancient prophecy from Isaiah 42 and 24?

287
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That a messianic prophecy that when the Christ Church, it's going to expand even to the remote places, the islands of the sea.

288
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Secondly, then at a spiritual place, many of the island nations, as you know, well, perhaps you know or not, are developing nations.

289
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If you have a look at it, many of them have a smaller economy are getting developed.

290
00:22:39,260 --> 00:22:46,260
There's quite a sometimes primitive dimension in some of these places.

291
00:22:46,260 --> 00:23:01,260
And it's no doubt the older, larger established continents and cities of the world from time to time look down at their more primitive cousins, at their lifestyle.

292
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You know, in Australia, the media reporting sometimes we have a number of Pacific islands that come to Australia that play in sports, very talented athletic people.

293
00:23:11,260 --> 00:23:16,260
They play especially in rugby, rugby union or rugby league.

294
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They're strong, very tough, but they're very fast.

295
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That's why they they do so well at that. And they're very quick.

296
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And so they excel in these sports. And, you know, God bless the islanders before their before their match.

297
00:23:31,260 --> 00:23:35,260
And this is, you know, a bit of an up the nose to the Australian media.

298
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They get down and pray or they thank Jesus Christ.

299
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You know, in Australia, athletes don't do that.

300
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I know more in America, everybody's up the appointing and cross and, you know, you know, but they don't do that.

301
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But the islanders come in and do that. God bless them.

302
00:23:53,260 --> 00:23:56,260
And so our media mock them.

303
00:23:56,260 --> 00:24:06,260
You know, it's just island spiritual life, island faith, almost, you know, sneering out their backwards superstition.

304
00:24:06,260 --> 00:24:09,260
Right.

305
00:24:09,260 --> 00:24:14,260
Now, thinking we more enlightened people of reason and science.

306
00:24:14,260 --> 00:24:19,260
Yeah, our forefathers used to believe that.

307
00:24:19,260 --> 00:24:22,260
But we're far beyond that now.

308
00:24:22,260 --> 00:24:25,260
You know, Paul speaks a little bit about that Romans one twenty one.

309
00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:32,260
He says, although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful, but came futile in their thoughts.

310
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Their foolish hearts were dark and professing to be wise, they become fools.

311
00:24:37,260 --> 00:24:43,260
When I was there in Papua New Guinea, New Guinea, the island nation,

312
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I'm seeing a people that are not caught up in the mad trends of their bigger cousins in the larger continents in the Western world.

313
00:24:54,260 --> 00:24:58,260
I didn't see any protests against Jewish people there.

314
00:24:58,260 --> 00:25:01,260
I didn't see any free Palestine stickers.

315
00:25:01,260 --> 00:25:05,260
I didn't see any defacing of monuments and idols.

316
00:25:05,260 --> 00:25:07,260
They're not caught up in that madness.

317
00:25:07,260 --> 00:25:08,260
And guess what?

318
00:25:08,260 --> 00:25:12,260
They know who's male and female over there.

319
00:25:12,260 --> 00:25:19,260
They're not even confused.

320
00:25:19,260 --> 00:25:27,260
In First Corinthians one twenty six, for you see you're calling, brethren, not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many mobile,

321
00:25:27,260 --> 00:25:31,260
noble of course, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

322
00:25:31,260 --> 00:25:43,260
And so here is Paul saying what the world can call as foolish things, weak things, base things, God elevates.

323
00:25:43,260 --> 00:25:47,260
And no doubt this text is referring to people and people groups.

324
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Some are looking down at this certain people group, but God says, well, you look down at them.

325
00:25:53,260 --> 00:25:55,260
Well, I'll elevate them.

326
00:25:55,260 --> 00:25:56,260
You sneer at them.

327
00:25:56,260 --> 00:25:58,260
Well, I will bless them.

328
00:25:58,260 --> 00:26:00,260
You mock them.

329
00:26:00,260 --> 00:26:05,260
I will save them and visit them.

330
00:26:05,260 --> 00:26:07,260
Very, very powerful.

331
00:26:07,260 --> 00:26:12,260
When you go to the islands, it's it's a spiritual place and a spiritual people.

332
00:26:12,260 --> 00:26:24,260
I read a story about a ship was sailing past a deserted island and actually spot a man who'd been stranded there for several years.

333
00:26:24,260 --> 00:26:28,260
The captain gets a rowboat, rows the shore to rescue the man.

334
00:26:28,260 --> 00:26:36,260
And he notices something very unusual besides the man's cabin or house that he has built because he's been there a long time.

335
00:26:36,260 --> 00:26:41,260
He notices that there's three churches on the island.

336
00:26:41,260 --> 00:26:47,260
Remember, he's on the island by himself.

337
00:26:47,260 --> 00:26:55,260
The captain asks, well, you just hear by yourself, I can see your house, but why are there three churches on the island?

338
00:26:55,260 --> 00:27:01,260
He says, well, that's the church that I attend.

339
00:27:01,260 --> 00:27:04,260
That's the church I never attend.

340
00:27:04,260 --> 00:27:13,260
And that's the church I used to attend.

341
00:27:13,260 --> 00:27:18,260
Perhaps that helps us understand why there are so many churches on the island.

342
00:27:18,260 --> 00:27:29,260
When I had the privilege of spending five years in the North Island of New Zealand, I remember taking my daughter to the school that she was in.

343
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And, you know, my sons come with us.

344
00:27:31,260 --> 00:27:35,260
They were in primary school, middle school, high school, three of them.

345
00:27:35,260 --> 00:27:41,260
And I go to their assembly that they have in Auckland, New Zealand.

346
00:27:41,260 --> 00:27:44,260
Obviously, this is 2002, 2003.

347
00:27:44,260 --> 00:27:47,260
And it's a public school, it's not a religious school at all.

348
00:27:47,260 --> 00:27:54,260
But in their assembly, before the headmaster speaks, they begin to sing.

349
00:27:54,260 --> 00:27:57,260
Can I tell you, island people can sing.

350
00:27:57,260 --> 00:27:59,260
They begin to sing.

351
00:27:59,260 --> 00:28:01,260
And, you know, it's not just any song.

352
00:28:01,260 --> 00:28:08,260
But, you know, when I got there, they're singing, our God is an awesome God.

353
00:28:08,260 --> 00:28:11,260
It's like amazing, a public school.

354
00:28:11,260 --> 00:28:20,260
And these people, the whole choir, the whole school are singing with like voices that put us to shame.

355
00:28:20,260 --> 00:28:22,260
I said, man, these people can praise.

356
00:28:22,260 --> 00:28:28,260
You know, in our text, verse 10, Isaiah 42, sing unto the Lord a new song.

357
00:28:28,260 --> 00:28:30,260
And he's praised from the end of the earth.

358
00:28:30,260 --> 00:28:38,260
You know, every church should have a good island song leader, can you say amen?

359
00:28:38,260 --> 00:28:41,260
Sing unto the Lord, the praise to the end of the earth.

360
00:28:41,260 --> 00:28:47,260
You know, I was wondering, why are island people so spiritual?

361
00:28:47,260 --> 00:28:48,260
Why is it a spiritual place?

362
00:28:48,260 --> 00:28:51,260
People have documented, they've done studies on that.

363
00:28:51,260 --> 00:28:53,260
They talk about in limited space and isolation.

364
00:28:53,260 --> 00:29:01,260
It could be a deep appreciation for their natural environment leading spiritual values and interconnectedness of living things.

365
00:29:01,260 --> 00:29:06,260
Goes on to say a sense of community, how they share spiritual values closely connected.

366
00:29:06,260 --> 00:29:12,260
If you're ever reaching islands, if you can reach one, you could reach the whole family.

367
00:29:12,260 --> 00:29:16,260
I remember I did a call one time in Auckland, New Zealand, island folks there.

368
00:29:16,260 --> 00:29:22,260
And I felt God speak to me, amen, that somebody has got seven sisters.

369
00:29:22,260 --> 00:29:25,260
And I thought, no, nobody's got seven sisters.

370
00:29:25,260 --> 00:29:29,260
Something, you know, God wants to give a word or do some healing or something.

371
00:29:29,260 --> 00:29:33,260
And so I said, man, I just leaped out of the edge.

372
00:29:33,260 --> 00:29:39,260
I said, someone here, you've got seven sisters and got, and like three people put up their hand.

373
00:29:39,260 --> 00:29:43,260
I said, whoa.

374
00:29:43,260 --> 00:29:49,260
So you can win one island, you could win 40 people, amen.

375
00:29:49,260 --> 00:29:56,260
And their rich culture and tradition are closely tied to their spiritual beliefs and they pass down through the generations.

376
00:29:56,260 --> 00:30:03,260
You know, Paul, on his last journey, when he's on his journey to Rome, he's appealed to Caesar.

377
00:30:03,260 --> 00:30:08,260
You know, the Bible says that they're shipwrecked on a certain island.

378
00:30:08,260 --> 00:30:16,260
So now here's his experience with islands again, perhaps reaffirming and his understanding what happened in the first time.

379
00:30:16,260 --> 00:30:22,260
And we see this play out in Acts, Chapter 28, verse one, building on his on his first two insights.

380
00:30:22,260 --> 00:30:24,260
You notice a number of things.

381
00:30:24,260 --> 00:30:26,260
The Bible says in verse one, I won't read the whole lot.

382
00:30:26,260 --> 00:30:27,260
I'll skim over it.

383
00:30:27,260 --> 00:30:32,260
But when they had escaped, they found out they were in an island called Malta.

384
00:30:32,260 --> 00:30:36,260
The natives showed us unusual kindness.

385
00:30:36,260 --> 00:30:40,260
Can I say that's an island attribute?

386
00:30:40,260 --> 00:30:42,260
Unusual kindness.

387
00:30:42,260 --> 00:30:48,260
When we went to Sydney, first of all, to pastor, we had some island people in our church and they'd invite us to fellowship.

388
00:30:48,260 --> 00:30:57,260
And Gillian was pregnant with our first son and they go, eat more, you're way too skinny.

389
00:30:57,260 --> 00:31:04,260
And just their fellowship, their hospitality, it's incredible.

390
00:31:04,260 --> 00:31:08,260
Do you know, it's interesting, you know, Paul was bitten by a viper and they're all watching.

391
00:31:08,260 --> 00:31:10,260
No doubt he's a murderer.

392
00:31:10,260 --> 00:31:12,260
He's going to die at any minute.

393
00:31:12,260 --> 00:31:15,260
And they're just watching all this scenario play out.

394
00:31:15,260 --> 00:31:19,260
They view life in a spiritual worldview.

395
00:31:19,260 --> 00:31:23,260
Through that lens, they come to those conclusions.

396
00:31:23,260 --> 00:31:31,260
But number three, what I want to notice about that text as well, they're willing to change their mind.

397
00:31:31,260 --> 00:31:35,260
The Bible says they watch, they expect him to swell up and fall down dead.

398
00:31:35,260 --> 00:31:40,260
But then they see he shakes it off and suffers no harm.

399
00:31:40,260 --> 00:31:43,260
They're not so stuck in their ways.

400
00:31:43,260 --> 00:31:47,260
They're willing to change their belief structure, a radical thought.

401
00:31:47,260 --> 00:31:51,260
Now they're saying he's a god.

402
00:31:51,260 --> 00:31:54,260
It's a radical change, a willingness to change mind.

403
00:31:54,260 --> 00:32:01,260
Number four, then you see from that moment a notable miracle.

404
00:32:01,260 --> 00:32:07,260
The father of the leading man, Paul prays for one key miracle.

405
00:32:07,260 --> 00:32:08,260
Amen.

406
00:32:08,260 --> 00:32:14,260
Because the people are now interconnected, it just ripples through the island, ripples through the city.

407
00:32:14,260 --> 00:32:22,260
And then the Bible says in the end, in verse 10, they honoured us in so many ways, we departed and they provided such things as necessary.

408
00:32:22,260 --> 00:32:30,260
You see an island wide breakout of revival and a great honour given to the man of God, the Word of God.

409
00:32:30,260 --> 00:32:37,260
You know if you're in an island culture, we learnt with island people, Jillian couldn't say to some of the ladies in the church

410
00:32:37,260 --> 00:32:42,260
have they had a beautiful necklace or some jewellery, she couldn't say I like that.

411
00:32:42,260 --> 00:32:46,260
Because they'd immediately almost take it off and give it to you.

412
00:32:46,260 --> 00:32:56,260
And tragically, the phony pastors rip the people blind and abuse, it makes me so mad.

413
00:32:56,260 --> 00:33:03,260
You know I come back from Prescott Conference one time, I bought a Bible when they used to have the bookstore here in Prescott Valley,

414
00:33:03,260 --> 00:33:08,260
I don't know if they still do, I took it back and gave it to one of my Tongan disciples that were in the church,

415
00:33:08,260 --> 00:33:11,260
island man, and he broke down in tears.

416
00:33:11,260 --> 00:33:16,260
I've been brought up in church my whole life, he said, pastor, I've always given to the church and the man of God,

417
00:33:16,260 --> 00:33:23,260
I've never had anything given to me, never.

418
00:33:23,260 --> 00:33:28,260
They honour the man of God, they honour the Word of God, it's a powerful, powerful thing.

419
00:33:28,260 --> 00:33:38,260
You know the islands of the sea are a spiritual place, spiritual people, and can I say they're open to the Pentecostal message of power

420
00:33:38,260 --> 00:33:43,260
that our fellowship is fully equipped to bring.

421
00:33:43,260 --> 00:33:48,260
You know I think we fit like a hand in a glove in these places.

422
00:33:48,260 --> 00:33:54,260
I think we fit what has been imparted through Pastor Mitchell, Pastor Greg, no doubt our leaders,

423
00:33:54,260 --> 00:34:02,260
we're perfectly equipped to go into these places and make incredible impact.

424
00:34:02,260 --> 00:34:09,260
Can I have a look finally at a ring of fire, a ring of fire.

425
00:34:09,260 --> 00:34:25,260
The phrase ring of fire actually refers to in geography actually at a belt or an area throughout the Pacific region of active volcanoes

426
00:34:25,260 --> 00:34:30,260
and where the tectonic plates are meeting together.

427
00:34:30,260 --> 00:34:33,260
I've got a photo here, just show you.

428
00:34:33,260 --> 00:34:40,260
This will kind of show you, this shows you kind of the ring of fire and these no doubt are the major tectonic plates that are budding together.

429
00:34:40,260 --> 00:34:45,260
In those places around there is a lot of seismic activity.

430
00:34:45,260 --> 00:34:56,260
Actually they're saying that it goes for 20, 25, 1000 miles, 40,000 kilometres, can up to 500 kilometres wide

431
00:34:56,260 --> 00:35:06,260
and most of the world's volcanoes are in these areas, I think 70 to 80% of them and the ring of fire,

432
00:35:06,260 --> 00:35:18,260
very interesting dimension there and so I was kind of thinking about that, no doubt for many of us this is kind of a bit of part of our world to some degree

433
00:35:18,260 --> 00:35:22,260
and many of the islands are through there, that's probably why the islands are there,

434
00:35:22,260 --> 00:35:27,260
a lot of them have just come up out of the sea in the process of time.

435
00:35:27,260 --> 00:35:38,260
And to think about from this church here in 1978 which you know, middle America and not a large city,

436
00:35:38,260 --> 00:35:48,260
sent somebody their first major missionary all the way to the west of Australia, west coast of Australia, it's the other side of the world.

437
00:35:48,260 --> 00:35:56,260
Do you know Australia is either the largest island or the smallest continent?

438
00:35:56,260 --> 00:36:00,260
You know islands defined by totally being surrounded by the ocean right?

439
00:36:00,260 --> 00:36:08,260
So it's either the largest island on planet earth or smallest continent and to actually send there and that's the spirit of, thank you for that,

440
00:36:08,260 --> 00:36:15,260
the spirit of Pastor Mitchell coming and sending Ron and Susie there long ago, thank you Ron and Susie,

441
00:36:15,260 --> 00:36:23,260
and coming to Perth, yes praise God.

442
00:36:23,260 --> 00:36:31,260
You know and what was started then, that vision of the islands of the sea was imparted into our church by Pastor Mitchell

443
00:36:31,260 --> 00:36:40,260
and you know now all around Australia we have a whole arc of island churches.

444
00:36:40,260 --> 00:36:45,260
You think around Australia we've got New Zealand having tremendous revival now,

445
00:36:45,260 --> 00:36:53,260
then we're looking at Fiji a conference centre, tremendous revival and no doubt you know there's other churches in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands,

446
00:36:53,260 --> 00:36:58,260
then we come around to New Guinea, got a conference centre, 33 churches in that nation,

447
00:36:58,260 --> 00:37:06,260
we're coming around to Timor, a powerful church planting church there and we're really beginning to see impact in Indonesia

448
00:37:06,260 --> 00:37:15,260
and you know I've called this for Australia, this is not so much the ring of fire, I call it the arc of fire that surrounds our nation,

449
00:37:15,260 --> 00:37:24,260
the fire of the Holy Ghost, the fire of God's moving and I thought when our team was up in New Guinea,

450
00:37:24,260 --> 00:37:29,260
they went to a place up from Port Moresby, the beginning of what they call the Kokoda Trail,

451
00:37:29,260 --> 00:37:36,260
it's a trail that goes through the middle of the island of New Guinea, incredibly difficult, mountainous, challenging,

452
00:37:36,260 --> 00:37:43,260
they walked a little bit, maybe a couple of hours walked back, one of our guys had to be carried back, it's so difficult

453
00:37:43,260 --> 00:37:50,260
but that's where the Australian forces stopped the enemy in the Second World War,

454
00:37:50,260 --> 00:37:58,260
the enemy were coming across New Guinea to take Port Moresby and ultimately probably to come down further to Australia,

455
00:37:58,260 --> 00:38:08,260
but in the islands the enemy was stopped. I thought that was very very powerful,

456
00:38:08,260 --> 00:38:19,260
that no doubt it's quite famous for Australians in the Second World War but you know in America the mainland was never invaded

457
00:38:19,260 --> 00:38:31,260
because in the islands the enemy was fought, whether it was in Guam, Saipan, Wake, Midway and in the islands the battle was fought

458
00:38:31,260 --> 00:38:45,260
to safeguard the mainland. So you know what, in this nation and my nation no enemy troop ever stood foot on our soil

459
00:38:45,260 --> 00:38:53,260
because of the islands, they were our defence. Can I say I think spiritually this is important as well?

460
00:38:53,260 --> 00:39:02,260
Spiritually there needs to be a spiritual arc of defence, of covering, of you know there are malevolent evil forces

461
00:39:02,260 --> 00:39:09,260
that would want to come down but the grace of God can protect and bless. The islands of the sea, an ancient prophecy,

462
00:39:09,260 --> 00:39:15,260
Pastor Mitchell prophesied when he was baptised in the Holy Spirit God was going to move in the nations of the world

463
00:39:15,260 --> 00:39:20,260
and the islands of the sea. So what is our involvement then as we bring it to a close?

464
00:39:20,260 --> 00:39:30,260
Our text says in verse 12, let them give glory to God and declare his praise in the islands and then Isaiah 24 verse 15,

465
00:39:30,260 --> 00:39:40,260
Amen, it says from the east God's glory will ascend, every island of the sea will broad class God's fame.

466
00:39:40,260 --> 00:39:49,260
Some people could have an excuse for our non involvement, non involvement to the ends of the earth or to the islands of the sea.

467
00:39:49,260 --> 00:39:56,260
We need to reach the home first, they could say. We've got a lot of work to do and no doubt there is a lot of work to do.

468
00:39:56,260 --> 00:40:05,260
But you know Isaiah's two prophecies about the islands of the sea stand in direct, directly against the inward thinking.

469
00:40:05,260 --> 00:40:13,260
No doubt of that generation and other generations. Isaiah 24 and 42 ask the question and ask the question of us.

470
00:40:13,260 --> 00:40:23,260
We need to ask the question, is my local church truly burdened to fulfil the call to exalt and proclaim the Lord in distant lands?

471
00:40:23,260 --> 00:40:29,260
To the Jewish people, the islands of the sea were the most remote part of the planet earth.

472
00:40:29,260 --> 00:40:38,260
We must ask ourselves, am I personally doing what I can do to contribute to the call to these remote places?

473
00:40:38,260 --> 00:40:47,260
William Carey's mind was captivated by Captain James Cook.

474
00:40:47,260 --> 00:40:57,260
Even the story that Pastor Ruby used in his offering about the gifts given and the connections in distant lands just inspires something doesn't it?

475
00:40:57,260 --> 00:41:08,260
He did that through all the islands. Ultimately on his third trip he was killed on the Hawaii islands and lost his life.

476
00:41:08,260 --> 00:41:17,260
He laid down his life but he inspired generations, opened doors for countless other people.

477
00:41:17,260 --> 00:41:24,260
William Carey was inspired for world missions by reading Captain James Cook's Adventures in the Islands.

478
00:41:24,260 --> 00:41:30,260
I was stirred as a young man by a simple TV documentary about the islands of the Pacific.

479
00:41:30,260 --> 00:41:41,260
Perhaps this morning I wanted to show a quick video clip, I wanted to share a few stories, perhaps there's a stirring in your heart.

480
00:41:41,260 --> 00:41:46,260
I'm focusing particularly on the islands of the sea.

481
00:41:46,260 --> 00:41:52,260
Maybe God's stirring people. There's many, many more islands of the sea still awaiting.

482
00:41:52,260 --> 00:41:58,260
Verse 12, let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise in the islands.

483
00:41:58,260 --> 00:42:04,260
You know the closing photo I want to bring here, I've got a photo, this was the last night I was there.

484
00:42:04,260 --> 00:42:11,260
And as the sun was going down, that's the American Embassy behind on the right there, the American Embassy in Suva Fiji.

485
00:42:11,260 --> 00:42:19,260
And so as the sun was going down and I was seeing hundreds of people starting to fill the park, we had some preliminary music.

486
00:42:19,260 --> 00:42:26,260
I thought to myself what a great open harvest.

487
00:42:26,260 --> 00:42:39,260
So many islands and so many island nations, so many island people, what a privilege to be a part of taking the gospel to the islands of the sea.

488
00:42:39,260 --> 00:42:47,260
In a small part, no doubt fulfilling a very early word given to our founding leader.

489
00:42:47,260 --> 00:42:53,260
The nations of the earth and the islands of the sea.

490
00:42:53,260 --> 00:43:00,260
It was a beautiful 28 degrees, I don't know what that is in Fahrenheit.

491
00:43:00,260 --> 00:43:07,260
The sun's going and people are streaming in and we know multitudes will be saved, healed.

492
00:43:07,260 --> 00:43:12,260
The kingdom will be built. What an honour.

493
00:43:12,260 --> 00:43:16,260
Do you know there's other islands just like that? There's multitudes of islands.

494
00:43:16,260 --> 00:43:26,260
There's 11,000 inhabited islands on planet earth. 11,000 inhabited islands.

495
00:43:26,260 --> 00:43:31,260
I saw the list that Pastor Greg gave and he talked about unreached places.

496
00:43:31,260 --> 00:43:38,260
These are island nations but there's even beyond island nations, even the islands of Indonesia.

497
00:43:38,260 --> 00:43:42,260
There's so many.

498
00:43:42,260 --> 00:43:47,260
Nauru, Niue, Tuvalu, New Caledonia and all in my area.

499
00:43:47,260 --> 00:43:50,260
I need to get people there.

500
00:43:50,260 --> 00:43:53,260
I had my eye on the Cook Islands. I need to go there.

501
00:43:53,260 --> 00:43:58,260
Pastor Jesse beat us at his last conference.

502
00:43:58,260 --> 00:44:02,260
Thank God.

503
00:44:02,260 --> 00:44:08,260
Do you know 730 million people on planet earth live on islands?

504
00:44:08,260 --> 00:44:14,260
There's 8 billion on planet earth. 730 million.

505
00:44:14,260 --> 00:44:18,260
The islands of the sea.

506
00:44:18,260 --> 00:44:22,260
It's our legacy. It's our heritage.

507
00:44:22,260 --> 00:44:31,260
And to think of the exciting thing of having spiritual posts, spiritual churches,

508
00:44:31,260 --> 00:44:35,260
spiritual landmark throughout all the islands.

509
00:44:35,260 --> 00:44:40,260
It stirs my heart. God loves these people.

510
00:44:40,260 --> 00:44:46,260
We've got the message. We've got the people that can reach into the islands of the sea.

511
00:44:46,260 --> 00:44:48,260
What about you?

512
00:44:48,260 --> 00:44:50,260
This is World Evangelism Day.

513
00:44:50,260 --> 00:44:58,260
God's stirring people for the islands of the sea, the remote places on planet earth.

514
00:44:58,260 --> 00:45:00,260
God can powerfully move.

515
00:45:00,260 --> 00:45:04,260
Let's bow our heads and close our eyes for a moment.

516
00:45:04,260 --> 00:45:08,260
Islands of the sea.

517
00:45:08,260 --> 00:45:12,260
Heads bowed and eyes are closed just for a moment.

518
00:45:12,260 --> 00:45:15,260
I want to give an opportunity for perhaps there are people here.

519
00:45:15,260 --> 00:45:17,260
You've come. You're being stirred by God.

520
00:45:17,260 --> 00:45:19,260
You're not saved. You're backslidden.

521
00:45:19,260 --> 00:45:22,260
You're not right with God. You want to get right with God.

522
00:45:22,260 --> 00:45:24,260
You're willing to turn from your sins.

523
00:45:24,260 --> 00:45:30,260
Perhaps God has spoken to you, stirred your heart, challenged you.

524
00:45:30,260 --> 00:45:33,260
Jesus Christ died on the cross for you.

525
00:45:33,260 --> 00:45:36,260
You're impacted this morning, no doubt.

526
00:45:36,260 --> 00:45:39,260
Pastor Jose's preaching, Pastor Clark's preaching.

527
00:45:39,260 --> 00:45:41,260
My preaching and the Spirit of God's stirring.

528
00:45:41,260 --> 00:45:43,260
You're lost. You're not right with God.

529
00:45:43,260 --> 00:45:45,260
You're not born again. Oh, you're a backslider.

530
00:45:45,260 --> 00:45:47,260
When no one's looking around for a moment, would you lift your hand?

531
00:45:47,260 --> 00:45:49,260
Pray for me, Pastor. I want to get right with God.

532
00:45:49,260 --> 00:45:52,260
I'm here in this place. There's a stirring in my heart.

533
00:45:52,260 --> 00:45:54,260
Quickly lift your hand. Thank you.

534
00:45:54,260 --> 00:45:56,260
Lift your hand. Yes.

535
00:45:56,260 --> 00:45:59,260
Lift your hand. All across this place.

536
00:45:59,260 --> 00:46:01,260
Pastor, I'm not right with God.

537
00:46:01,260 --> 00:46:03,260
I want to get right with God.

538
00:46:03,260 --> 00:46:05,260
Lift your hand up the back and the sides.

539
00:46:05,260 --> 00:46:07,260
I need to come to Christ on this Thursday.

540
00:46:07,260 --> 00:46:10,260
God's stirring my heart. Thank you for those hands.

541
00:46:10,260 --> 00:46:12,260
Thank you, Ashes. Who else?

542
00:46:12,260 --> 00:46:15,260
God's speaking to other people. Quickly, I'm not going long.

543
00:46:15,260 --> 00:46:18,260
Lift your hand right now.

544
00:46:18,260 --> 00:46:22,260
Yes. Thank you. Who else?

545
00:46:22,260 --> 00:46:25,260
All those that lifted their hand, I want Ashes to help.

546
00:46:25,260 --> 00:46:27,260
I want you to come to this altar. Amen.

547
00:46:27,260 --> 00:46:30,260
And pray at the front. Get your heart right with God.

548
00:46:30,260 --> 00:46:32,260
Lift your hand. Thank you. Just come.

549
00:46:32,260 --> 00:46:33,260
Just come out of your seat.

550
00:46:33,260 --> 00:46:37,260
Christians, churches, pastors.

551
00:46:37,260 --> 00:46:40,260
It's no doubt. It's the challenge of Thursday.

552
00:46:40,260 --> 00:46:42,260
It's the challenge of World Missions.

553
00:46:42,260 --> 00:46:46,260
And no doubt we'll be stirred more tonight.

554
00:46:46,260 --> 00:46:49,260
But I was especially focusing on the islands of the sea.

555
00:46:49,260 --> 00:46:52,260
This may not be for everybody, but listen.

556
00:46:52,260 --> 00:46:55,260
There are places, amen, especially in islands,

557
00:46:55,260 --> 00:46:57,260
this is where I'm focusing in.

558
00:46:57,260 --> 00:47:00,260
Oh, hallelujah, that we could make more impact,

559
00:47:00,260 --> 00:47:02,260
that you could make impact.

560
00:47:02,260 --> 00:47:05,260
I talked about even as a new pastor,

561
00:47:05,260 --> 00:47:08,260
I took a team to an island nation,

562
00:47:08,260 --> 00:47:11,260
and it so transformed me and my team.

563
00:47:11,260 --> 00:47:16,260
And no doubt that church, I want to challenge people about that.

564
00:47:16,260 --> 00:47:19,260
I want to challenge people about sending.

565
00:47:19,260 --> 00:47:23,260
Consider the islands that are in your region,

566
00:47:23,260 --> 00:47:29,260
that we could have a spiritual post, a fort,

567
00:47:29,260 --> 00:47:35,260
a spiritual place of dominion surrounding our large nations,

568
00:47:35,260 --> 00:47:37,260
where God is powerfully moving.

569
00:47:37,260 --> 00:47:41,260
His heart is for these people.

570
00:47:41,260 --> 00:47:43,260
It's a powerful thing.

571
00:47:43,260 --> 00:47:46,260
Maybe God's speaking to people about even going,

572
00:47:46,260 --> 00:47:50,260
and you'd lay down your life, and you're feeling stirred.

573
00:47:50,260 --> 00:47:53,260
As William Carey was stirred by Captain Cook,

574
00:47:53,260 --> 00:47:56,260
and no doubt I was stirred by my own life experience.

575
00:47:56,260 --> 00:47:57,260
What about you?

576
00:47:57,260 --> 00:48:04,260
God's stirring hearts for the islands of the sea.

577
00:48:04,260 --> 00:48:09,260
Pastor Jose preached about pleasing your spouse

578
00:48:09,260 --> 00:48:11,260
and the powerful about marriage

579
00:48:11,260 --> 00:48:13,260
and how we need to safeguard marriage.

580
00:48:13,260 --> 00:48:17,260
Pastor Jesse Clark stirred us about supernatural power.

581
00:48:17,260 --> 00:48:20,260
Thank God for that in the revival God's wanting.

582
00:48:47,260 --> 00:48:48,260
God Bless.