Hey podcast fam, CJ Janssen, the pastor of WavePoint
Church. Thank you so much for joining us today.
We love you and we pray that this message will
build your faith and empower you to share the
message of Jesus to the world. Enjoy. So this
morning we are starting our series on aligning
our hearts and minds. And I'm telling you, church,
you want to be challenged, then preach about
something. Last week, who was here last week?
Okay, if you weren't here, you better listen
to the message because it was Vision Sunday and
Seja was speaking about alignment. But he spoke
about, he's made peace with the process of the
healing of his back and his leg. Do you remember
that? And this week, every day he's been challenged.
Doesn't want to take his anti -inflammatories
anymore. Then he thinks he can do a few extra
more stretches than what the doctors told him.
I said, CJ, you are being tested because you
said on Sunday to the church, you're making peace
with the process. And now you're breaking the
process, right? So last night, he said something
else about this is the last time he's taking
this medication. I said, no, it's not. I'm gonna
phone Dirk and I'm gonna phone Sophie who's your
physio and he started laughing but what I wanted
to bring back to you is when we start making
declarations over our life bet your bottom dollar
the enemy is gonna come that straight after you've
said it especially if you said it in a public
place and he's gonna say did you really say did
you really mean and so I'm cautioning you church
that as we speaking on alignment As we're positioning
ourselves in alignment with the Lord and everything
that He's telling us to do and everything that
we have to do, you're going to be tested. Amen?
So, put your army boots on. We have to get aligned.
Amen? Okay. The title of my scripture today is,
How long will you waver? And our key scripture
is 1 Kings 18 20 to 39. We'll get to reading
that now, but I want to ask, You a question as
we start this morning's a message. I don't need
an audible answer. I just want you to let this
question sit in your heart. And my question is
how long will you waver between two opinions?
So let's read together in 1 Kings 18. It's a
long portion of scripture but it's very, it's
powerful. Let's go. So Ahab sent to all the people
of Israel and gathered the prophets together
at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all
the people and said, How long will you go limping
between two different opinions? If the Lord is
your God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow
him. And the people did not answer him a word.
Then Elijah said to the people I even I only
am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets
are 450 men Let two bulls be given to us and
let them choose one bull for themselves Cut it
into pieces and laid on the wood, but put no
fire to it and I will prepare the other bull
and lay it to the wood and put no fire to it
and You call upon the name of your God, which
was Baal And I will call upon the name of the
Lord. And the God who answers by fire, He is
God. And all the people answered, it is well
spoken. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,
Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it
first for you are many and call upon the name
of your God but put no fire to it. And they took
the bull that was given them and they prepared
it and called upon the name of Baal from morning
till noon saying, Oh Baal answer us. but there
was no voice and no one answered and they limped
around the altar that they had made and at noon
a larger mocked them saying cry loud for he is
a god either he is musing or he is relieving
himself or he is on a journey or perhaps he is
asleep and must be awakened and they cried aloud
and cut themselves after their custom with swords
and lances until the blood gushed out upon them
And as midday passed, they raved on until the
time of the offering of the oblation, but there
was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, come near
to me. And all the people came near to him, and
he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been
thrown down. Elijah took 12 stones according
to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob,
to whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel
shall be your name. and with the stones he built
an altar in the name of the Lord and he made
a trench about the altar as great as would contain
two seers of seed and he put the wood in order
and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the
wood and he said, fill four jars with water and
pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.
Why would you pour water on wood and an offering?
Right? It's definitely not going to catch fire
but you should proving a point and he said do
it a second time and they did it a second time
and he said do it a third time and they did it
a third time and the water ran around the altar
and filled the trench also with water and at
the time of the offering Elijah the prophet came
near and said oh Lord God of Abraham Isaac in
Israel Let it be known this day that you are
God in Israel and that I am your servant and
that I have done all these things at your word
Answer me oh Lord answer me that these people
may know that you oh Lord our God and that you
have turned their hearts back Then the fire of
the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering
and the wood and the stones and the dust and
licked up the water that was in the trench and
when all the people saw it they fell to their
faces and said the Lord he is God the Lord he
is God and Elijah said to them seize the prophets
of Baal let not one of them escape and they seized
them remember there were 450 of them and Elijah
brought them down to the brook and slaughtered
them there This is a powerful portion of scripture.
And Elijah standing before the people of Israel,
and remember the question he asked, that confronting
question, he said, how long will you go limping
between do two different opinions? He isn't speaking
to atheists here. He's speaking to the people
of Israel. So they still believed in God, but
they just weren't aligned with him. Like many
of us today, they hadn't walked away from the
faith. They were still serving God, but they
were simply trying to hold faith in one hand
and comfort in the other. And if we go back to
the question which says, how long will you waver?
The Hebrew word for waver literally means to
limp, right? When you picture somebody limping,
somebody is often walking with one leg shorter
than the other. It could be a picture of spiritual
exhaustion of trying to walk in two different
directions at once. Where I'm walking one foot
toward God and one foot toward something else.
And when Elijah challenged him, the Bible says
the people said nothing. They didn't have anything
to say. In church, there are moments where God's
silence is not because he's absent. He's always
present. But maybe it's because our hearts are
too divided to actually hear what he's having
to say. So I want to share a personal testimony,
the personal cost of alignment. Nine years ago,
when God spoke to my husband about coming to
plant this church, we knew it would require full
surrender, not partial obedience, not comfort.
comfort -based faith, but full surrender. And
when he shared the vision with people that we
respected, our leaders, good men of God, they
rejected it. Not because the vision was wrong,
but because it didn't align with what they saw
for our lives. They wanted us to conform to their
alignment, right? And my husband stood at a crossroads.
Was he gonna stay? for their approval or was
he going to be obedient to the Lord? Was he going
to choose comfort or was he going to choose the
calling? He was told that should we leave that
ministry to come to Jeffrey's Bay to plant this
church, thank you Jordan, that we will end up
with vagrants on the streets. Now, did we choose
to follow what God spoke or did we just choose
to stay So and in fear of what was being spoken
over our lives But as you know because we yeah
we chose to follow what God spoke To align ourselves
even though it cost us everything Church when
we said no to our pastor and not in rebellion
like the world was told When we said no we're
going to be obedient to what God has told us
it cost us everything It cost us every single
relationship that we had been building over six
years. Every church in this country received
a letter that they must have nothing to do with
CJ because he's stepping out in rebellion. It
cost us everything. Children in the same school
as my kids were told not to greet my children
because we are in rebellion. Right? That is because
we didn't want to align ourselves with what other
peoples View of alignment was for our lives.
Do we love them? Yes. Have we seen them? Yes.
Do we bless them? Yes, but it's still a journey
that we had to walk and Seven years later CJ
says He is more alive than he's ever been I say
I'm more tired than I've ever been but nevertheless
He's more alive than he's ever been because he
chose obedience over approval he chose To to
the cost Over comfort we could have stayed we
could have still been working in that church
But that's not what God had for us. That's not
the call that God had for our lives. Amen So
alignment didn't make our lives smaller, but
it made our lives come alive And we live in a
place Often you walk around Jeffery's Bay. What
is the the famous thing that we hear from people?
God sent me here. Yes? Have you had conversations
with anyone in Jeffrey's Bay that have told you
God sent them here? But if we honest, sometimes
our rhythms, our priorities and our sacrifices
don't reflect that calling. We love the blessing
of where God has put us. Who doesn't love living
in J -Bay? But have we aligned with the purpose
of why He put us here? Has comfort slowly taken?
the lead over our calling. I believe the question
Elijah asked then to Israel is the question that
God is asking us today. Who is shaping your decisions
right now? What did God speak to you that you
are no longer aligned with? When obedience costs
you comfort, which one have you been choosing?
Church alignment is not good intention. Alignment
is a decision. And power follows alignment, but
it's never gonna follow indecision. It's very
easy for us to stand in church, and I've said
this before, singing, Lord send me I'll go. It's
very easy to quote that scripture, ask of me
and I'll give you the nations. But then when
God calls us, are we gonna go? When God says,
leave everything that you have built behind and
go, are we gonna go? And it's not always that
drastic. Maybe God's asking you where you are
every day in your everyday life. Hey, Natalie,
you have to leave that second job. Are we going
to be obedient or are we going to align ourselves
and just stay where we supposed to be because
we don't want to step out in fear? Indecision
is the thief of the miraculous because it delays
God's move. There's certain things that God can
only do in our lives, release in our lives when
we step out in obedience. In Hebrews 3 .15, the
scripture says today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your heart. Joshua 24 .15 says,
choose for yourselves this day whom you will
serve. Church delay is just a platform of disobedience.
So let's look at what alignment really requires
and the power that flows from it. Number one,
an aligned heart. Alignment is a heart condition.
Before it becomes a lifestyle change. Our hearts
need to be aligned before anything will happen
or take place externally. In 1 Samuel 16 verse
7, the Lord looks at the heart. If we go back
to our portion of scripture in 1 Kings, Israel's
problem wasn't their theology. They believed
in God, but it was their affection. They believed
in Him, but they didn't belong to Him. Their
hearts were not aligned to Him. And in James
1 verse 8, just write these scriptures down,
you can read them at home. A double -minded man
is unstable in everything. You cannot build a
stable life on a divided heart. So church God
is after our heart not our performance and Alignment
is always begins internally Alignment is a decision.
Yes, Lord. I'm gonna align with what you've told
me to do. Yes, Lord. I'm gonna align with your
word Maybe God isn't calling you to something
specific right now, but he's asking us for obedience
to his word Simple things. Do you know that in
Proverbs it says you can't call people an idiot?
Align yourself with that. Don't call people idiots.
Yes? Even the taxi driver, dancing, Francis Road,
whatever that road is to them all. Don't call
people idiots. It's a simple thing, in obedience
to the word. When the Lord says, give, do we
have to bargain with God every month? Um, Lord,
well, you know. No! It's not yours to decide.
God says, give. He gave you that money in the
first place. He gave you that job in the first
place. He gave you that seed, that resource in
the first place. Now every month we sit here
because let me tell you, when you up here and
you speak about money, you feel the church. It's
like breaks. Come on guys, let's get over that.
God says, let's give. Go back to the church of
acts. Would you sell your house because someone
else didn't have a home? That's what they did
in the book of acts. They sold what they had
so that everybody could have. Now we're questioning,
Lord should I be, I don't know, look Lord, we
don't really know about this land down the road.
I want to say something. You're going to come
into that new building and sit on a chair. Make
sure you were obedient to the Lord and what He
told you to give. If He tells you to give two
rent, give two rent. If it tells you to give
200 ,000 rand, give 200 ,000 rand and do not
delay in your obedience to the Lord. If you walk
out here today and God tells you to bathe lunch
for somebody, be obedient. And don't go to shop
rat. No Lord. No! If the Lord says go out here
and bathe somebody KFC, go and bathe them KFC,
it's not your money to begin with. Church obedience
to the fullest degree. Or are we gonna choose
comfort? No Lord, okay, so you said I must buy
Gary lunch, but let me quickly just buy him a
50 yen lunch so that I make sure I have a 50
yen. What happens if on the other side of your
obedience God is gonna give you the greatest
blessing? You know I was reminded We for four
months listen here listen. We also have gone
through tough times Okay, we didn't just arrive
in Jeffries Bay We had to walk a long road. So
even in our obedience, there was still a lot
that had to go. Water under the bridge, so to
speak. There were four months that we didn't
have a car in Jeffries Bay. We were running a
church. And we didn't have a car. One day I'm
walking home. down the Gomer Road and I've got
my checkers bags and it starts raining and it's
raining in direction of my face. I'm like Lord
are you serious? Can you just turn the direction
of the rain? Please! And I'm mad! And I get home
that afternoon and now my washing's wet and I'm
pulling my washing off the line and I'm very
frustrated with the Lord. And the Lord shows
me a car key. I was like okay Lord, I'm really
upset. Now please, not a carrot in front of me.
And that night, CJ has a dream. And the Lord
says to him, CJ, you need to phone that pastor,
the one I just spoke about. And you need to say
thank you to him. The next day, CJ had to pick
up the phone. He hadn't spoken to that pastor
for five years, picked up the phone. And he said,
I just want to say thank you for everything you
taught us. Thank you for everything you did for
my family. Do you know what happened that Friday
evening? Do you want to know? We got given a
car. So church, on the other side of your obedience
could be the breakthrough that you trust in God
for. But are you willing today to align yourself
with what God is telling you to do? Are you willing
to be obedient and align yourself to what God
is telling you to do? It costs this Christian
life. It's not easy being a disciple of Jesus
is not easy It's not a bunch of roses that people
want to make us believe it costs to be a disciple
of Jesus. Amen Number two with alignment We need
to have a repaired altar and what is that it's
a posture of surrender Elijah didn't just pray
but he repaired the altar first. And fire didn't
fall until the altar was restored. The altar
represents our devotion church. Is our altar
broken down by the busyness of life? Is our altar
just broken down because we're just pursuing
stuff? And I'm not talking just about material
stuff. Sometimes we get so consumed with just
daily living. God didn't come and fix the fire
problem. He fixed the altar problem first. And
fire only falls on what is fully laid down. So
spiritually speaking, the altar wasn't just broken
stone. It was a broken heart posture. And that's
what needed to be repaired. That's what needed
to come back into alignment before the fire could
fall. And number three, remember we talking about
what alignment really requires? It requires the
right time. In 1 Kings 8 36 we read, at the time
of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah
the prophet came near and prayed. Church, there's
Kronos time. That's time that we used to. It's
the clock. It's the minutes. It's the hours.
It's the years. It's time that can be measured,
right? It's very methodical. We know after 10
comes 11. But today I want to speak to you about
Kairos time. And this is God's time. This is
an opportune moment. It's a season of visitation.
Kairos is very different to Kronos. Kairos is
about moments, not about minutes. Often it is
used to refer to the right moment, the opportune
moment, or a defining moment. And Kairos is time
judged, not by its duration, but by its importance
and its value. Karras also refers to a period
of time that is significant and therefore is
sometimes translated to season. Isn't that Christianese?
It's my season. It's not my season. Right? But
we're talking about Karras' time. And Karras
is a window of time that requires an intentional
purposeful response. It is a time in which life
-shaping decisions are made. It's a defining
moment. Why is people recognize and respond to
Kairos moments? Because we know what kind of
time it is. In Luke 19 .44, Jesus wept because
the people did not recognize the time of their
visitation. So the truth is, Kairos moments demand
discernment and alignment. It's not accidental.
Kairos is not accidental. It's encountered by
aligned hearts. When our hearts are aligned to
it, we cannot see When our hearts are not aligned
We cannot see the seasons and moments that God
is leading us into Because we too busy with everything
else that is happening around us In this season
that we walked through when God called us to
Jeffrey's Bay We were going through the mole
rat in one meeting both post season I lost our
jobs And so for six months we had no employment.
It was wild. And all because we were saying yes
to Jesus. And in this time, I was called into
a meeting and it was said to me, well, you don't
have to go with your husband. Red flag. Like,
sorry. If your husband is stepping out and rebelling,
you don't have to follow him. I'm like, sorry.
And that night we went home. And I didn't even
tell CJ about this. But he had a dream. And in
the dream we were standing in this massive warehouse.
And the pastor had called me aside and he was
trying to convince me of something. And as Parseje
looked to the left, he just saw roller doors.
You know these garage doors that make so much
noise? Coming down, doof, doof, doof, and they
were closing. And he grabbed me in the dream,
Amber and Josh, and we started running. And we
made it out the smallest door that was left.
on the right hand side there was just one small
door we made it out and the door closed behind
us and we were standing at the zebra crossing
in front of the tasty table so the next morning
he woke up and he said to me we need to go church
I want you to understand that God can lead you
to significant things, but if you miss the Cairo's
moment, you're gonna miss what he's wanting to
do. Had passed the siege and I in that moment,
God was showing us this was our last chance to
get out. If we were not obedient to God in that
moment, I promise you, we would not be standing
here today. I don't to credit the success of
Waypoint Church to us. I don't. But God asked
us to come. We were His second choice. There
was somebody He asked before us and they said
no. Had we said no, would you be sitting here
today? Would countless lives have encountered
Jesus? And so I'm encouraging you church today.
Do not just get lost in time and making life
happen. Align your hearts with Jesus today completely.
Full obedience. Yes Jesus, here I am. What are
you calling me to do? And do it. Who is on the
other side of your obedience today? I stand this
morning and I look around this church. I'm humbled.
I am so humbled. I look at this worship team
and I say, Jesus, this is what we prayed for.
Dear Lord, is who's past CJ prayed for? Chantal
is who past CJ prayed for? She keeps us on her
knees. Jordan, could it send to say every single
one of you sitting here are people that we prayed
for? There's some of you sitting here today in
my heart breaks because the first time I met
you, to where you are now it's just alignment
to get back to the person that I know who God
has called you to be I know the anointing that
rests on your life you're out of alignment can
I say to you as your pastor today get back into
alignment get into everything that God has called
you to it's not worth the disobedience it's not
worth the yes Lord I'll do it but when if let
me just catch one more serve Lord Church, who
is on the other side of your obedience today?
Ephesians 5, 15 to 16 tells us to love wisely,
making the most of every opportunity. Let me
read it, look carefully, then how you walk, not
as unwise, but as wise. making the best use of
the time because the days are evil. Therefore
do not be foolish, but understand what the will
of the Lord is. Church, if we align ourselves,
if we align the posture of our hearts, if we
repair the altars, if we step into the chorus,
time of the Lord, the result is the fire is going
to fall. And in scripture fire is never random.
It's God's signature. It represents God's presence.
We look at the burning bush in Exodus 3. His
approval. It's the consuming the sacrifice in
Leviticus 9. His holiness. He's refining us all
the time and his power. If we go back to this
scene here on Mount Carmel. The contrast is that
Bol's prophets, they were shouting, they cut
themselves, they made noise, they tried to manufacture
fire through human efforts, noise and manipulation.
But Elijah, what did he do? He simply aligned
the wood, he repaired the altar and he prayed.
And then church, he waited for the revealed fire
through alignment and surrender. The lesson here
is we cannot manufacture what only alignment
brings. So stop trying to work for what you just
need to align yourself with. Fire falls after
alignment, not before. So church, let me be honest
with you, alignment is not easy. It often costs
something. It's not always comfortable. It will
cost you the approval of people. Because they
aren't going where you're going. I've shared
our testimony and so we know what that feels
like. When we first stepped into this director
from the Lord, he called us to full surrender.
It's scary. It's scary to say, okay Lord, we'll
leave. We'll pack up our lives in Joburg. We'll
leave our family. We'll take my 12 and 13 year
old. Joshua had just been announced the prefect
for grade seven, and here I'm having to tell
my son, it's okay, we're going to Jeffrey's Bay.
Because we're a family on mission. And I shared
with you that had we come later, or even earlier,
we would have missed the chorus moment for what
God was calling us to. And church, the only thing
that we had in that moment was the Lord. You
know, no matter what happened with that church,
no matter what happened with those leaders, as
I said, love and bless him. But I believe that
was a setup from the Lord, because no man can
take glory for what God has done. We had to be
on our own, fully dependent on him. And you know,
as much as our hearts were breaking, as much
as it was like, We're stepping into the complete
unknown. There was a settlement on the inside
of us because we know God to be faithful. So
I can promise you, church, that when God has
called you to something, it's going to cost you,
but he is faithful on the other side. So today
I want you to take a real look at your life.
Look at this year ahead. We're already into the
second month. But what has God spoken to you
that you've lost your way on? Not because you
don't love Him. Where have you started to limp
because the comforts have crept in? Compromise,
bad habits, or the noise of others has pulled
you into? I believe today, church, is a carous
moment. Stop shouting like the prophet of all
trying to make things happen in your own strength
Instead repair the altar Step into alignment
and submit to the process It's your moment to
align or maybe for some of us to realign It's
a moment to let heaven respond to the posture
of our hearts So my question remains how long
will you waver? Today, you need to make this
choice. When your heart is aligned, heaven is
going to respond. The fire is going to fall and
the multiplication will begin. Ask yourself today,
am I truly obedient? Am I willing to surrender
the opinion of others? And follow Jesus in all
that he is asking of me. Make that choice today.
Let alignment be your path and watch what God
will do. Can you just bow your heads where you
are? I'm gonna pray for us. Father, we stand
before you today. Not as people who are perfect,
but father people that are hungry. We thank you
for the confrontation of your word, Lord. Because
your correction is a sign of your affection and
your love for us. Lord, we repent for the limp.
We repent for the moments we've tried to balance
your calling with our own comforts. We repent
for seeking the approval of man while drifting
from the assignments of heaven. We recognize
that our indecision has been a barrier to your
move. And today, Father, we bring that indecision
to an end. Right now, we repair the altar. In
the quiet of this room, we lay down the broken
pieces of our devotion. We lay down our J -Bay
comforts, our excuses, and our divided loyalties.
We bring our hearts into alignment with you,
Holy Spirit. We declare that you are not just
a God that we believe in, but you are the Lord
that we belong to. Holy Spirit, fall like fire.
Not because we've earned it and not because we've
manufactured it, but because we're aligned with
you. Let your presence consume every compromise
father Let your fire purify our hearts our vision
and refine our purpose today Father I pray for
every single person standing at a crossroads
today Give them the courage to choose obedience
Full obedience Lord full surrender over approval
Let the vagrant spirit be broken and let the
spirit of sonship let the spirit of purpose arise
As we leave this place father, we don't just
leave with a sermon but we leave with a mandate
And may our lives be so aligned that your power
becomes visible in our homes in our families
in our businesses in this town Lord Father we
step out of Kronos and we step into a Kairos
moment with you We will waver no longer Lord
Today we choose we choose we choose to align
with you and today we follow In the mighty name
of Jesus we pray Amen