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Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church Henley and thanks so much for tuning

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into our podcast.

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Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

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change your life.

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And now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team.

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Well, hi friends.

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This is a lot more friends than I was expecting, but I'm here for it.

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Now I would like to think of myself as quite the tactful eight year old.

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As children do, they have a lot of the time on their hands and so did I.

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I would watch my parents and I would see what they did and I was fairly wise in my observations

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I felt.

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I grew up on the farm so there was lots of outside play to be done.

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Now this was fun at all, but what I wanted and I remember literally having dreams about

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was an iPod touch.

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Some of the older kids on my school bus had one and they look like a vibes.

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Of course I wanted one.

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The only issue was I'm a kid and so like my only income stream is just money I found

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in the couch or somewhere.

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So I wasn't looking particularly promising, but being this observational eight year old

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that I was one day my dad said that he was heading to town to pick up a new phone and

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he won't ask if I wanted to come along.

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Of course I did.

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We entered the tech shop in good old Balaclava and dad did the paperwork to get himself the

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new iPhone 4.

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We love 2011.

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Being the so observational child that I was, I noticed that his old phone, the iPhone 3,

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was now sitting on the bench with no use at all.

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So I brought him my case.

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Dad, you're not using this.

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There's no SIM card.

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So there's no cost.

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So can I have it?

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He didn't see why not.

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And so here I was with this slick new iPhone 3.

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Didn't cost me a cent.

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This is all to my mum's dismay of course.

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She saw why that wouldn't be ideal.

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But once I had it, there was no going back.

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Quick iPhone history for you.

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The iPhone 3 was actually the first one to have an app store.

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I'd hit the jackpot free phone, unlimited games, always going well until I wanted a certain

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game and it asked for a password.

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I hit cancel and moved on.

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But iPhones back in 2020, 2011 didn't have the parental controls that they have now.

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So there was this setting where if a purchase was made free or not, all of the purchases

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for 15 minutes after didn't need to be authenticated.

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So all the best games of course required this password, which absolutely sucked.

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But I learned to pick and choose my times to ask dad for a game.

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He'd put in the password and I'd go ham.

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I would download the absolute most.

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I would.

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And then I'd call it a day after those 15 minutes.

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I got movies, TV shows, all the music and apps I could ever imagine.

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Life was going so smoothly.

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Until of course at the end of the month, dad printed out this fat receipt totaling $350

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from iTunes and asked me, how are you going to pay it?

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I didn't know those numbers like meant anything.

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I thought that it was play money or something.

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All I knew, password, 15 minutes free and we're chilly.

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But I'd been caught.

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The scheme was up.

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But this oh so wise and observant eight year old generally didn't realise how incorrectly

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he judged the situation.

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I wonder if this has happened to you.

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You probably didn't spend hundreds of dollars on Cut the Rope and Camp Rock albums, but

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have you ever done something that seemed to be logical with the information that you had

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and it turned out to be misguided?

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Sometimes we don't see what's right in front of us.

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Many times we make judgments based on half baked thoughts and images of people and situations

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and ideas.

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We don't always have the perspective or wisdom to understand the full picture of what's going

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on around us.

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As we age and as we develop in a maturity, we get a better picture as we create models

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of situations and start to interpret by repetition.

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But we never truly have a full picture of what's going on.

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We're in our final week of our mission in motion series where we've looked at mission

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in Java, mission in friendship, mission in Henley and now I get the privilege of sharing

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with you mission in the neighborhood.

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But to keep things easy, I'm considering a neighbour not necessarily the person who

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lives next to you, although there's always ministry to be done there, but instead our

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neighbours are the people we meet in the spaces we occupy.

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So think of the people who serve you at the shops, people at uni, other parents at school

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pick up.

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There's lots of people we meet who we do actually have influence on, but they aren't necessarily

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friend level.

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No offence, uni friends.

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Who could a neighbour be for you?

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Alright, a teaching text today begins with Jesus sending 72 disciples to go out on a

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mission to visit some neighbouring towns that Jesus was going to stop by on his journey.

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They've chosen to follow Jesus and so naturally they're sent out to share the goodness they

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found in him with the world and to act as forerunners to prepare the way for Jesus.

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The disciples were sent in pairs and this was deliberate.

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In the Mosaic Law, the way they would confirm a statement is true or a testimony was true

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would be the confirmation of two witnesses.

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It was important for the disciples to maintain integrity in their ministry and also to be

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strengthened by one another as they went.

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Jesus gives the disciples these instructions, reading from verse 2,

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The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

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So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest.

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Ask him to send more workers into his fields.

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Or go and remember that I'm sending you out as lambs among wolves.

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These two verses are quite short, but they tell us so much about God's heart for us

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and is cool for us too.

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The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

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Now if I know anything about a harvest, and believe me I sure do, if the harvest is great,

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if it's ready to be harvested and the weather's right, you're racing out the door jumping

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into the cab of a tractor before you know it.

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There's no time to waste.

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You're calling up friends and workers who come into your paddock and smash this out

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because there's a window of time that the crop needs to be harvested in for you to get

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the best bang for your buck, or sometimes any bang for your buck.

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You'll grit your teeth and call up whoever's needed to get the job done because it's simply

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not wise or worth waiting any longer than you absolutely need to to harvest your fields.

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I'm sure you can sense the urgency here.

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But before the disciples are told to go, they're told to pray, the need for more workers is

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so great, and the job is so important that the only natural response is to pray.

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Seeking God in prayer is the all-important work that goes before every move of God, every

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miracle and everything that honors God.

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If there's one thing you take away from today, first pray, then go.

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In their passage, Pharma Jesus looks out the window and sees his harvest is ready.

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He says it's time to pray, time to call up the harvest, the workers, time to get going

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into the fields because there's work to be done.

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The only thing is what harvest?

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Jesus is talking about a harvest of people that has come to save from sin and bring from

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death to life, but is his harvest ripe?

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If you look out your window into the streets of the world, the public places and the hidden

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ones, do you see a harvest ripe and ready to be received by Jesus?

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The heart and posture of humanity has always been the same throughout all time.

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Now, I'm an optimistic person, I really am, but looking at the world today, I don't see

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the most ripe harvest.

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There are powerful stories of revival that we hear about, but most of what we see day-to-day

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is not that.

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Australians Christian population has been declining since the 1960s.

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According to Australian censuses, in 1971, Christians represented 86% of the population.

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And comparing that to now-ish in 2021, Christians represented only 43% of the population.

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We live in a more secular society than ever.

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Turning on the news, I mean, I don't really do that, but all we see is a bombardment of

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horrors and atrocities by people all over the world and the ways that communities are divided

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against themselves.

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Being a person of faith in the media is also always portrayed in a judgmental and negative

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way.

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Sometimes, it feels like the world has hardened its heart against faith and against Jesus.

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Yet, somehow, Jesus sees a harvest.

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Maybe the warning in verse 3, remember that I'm sending you out as lambs among wolves,

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was supposed to be preparation for this.

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A wolf is a lamb's natural predator.

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There's an expectation of opposition in God's harvest, but Jesus sees something more.

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After Jesus' instructions about what they were to do, harvest, Jesus gives them some

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guidelines on how they should do it.

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So this is verse 4.

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Don't take any money with you, nor a traveller's bag, nor an extra pair of sandals, and don't

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stop to greet anyone on the road.

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Whenever you enter someone's home, first say, may God's peace be on this house.

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And if those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand.

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And if they're not, the blessing will return to you.

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Don't move around from home to home, stay in one place, eating and drinking what they

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all provide.

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Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.

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If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever's set before you.

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Heal the sick and tell them, the kingdom of God is near you now.

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Now some of us might read that and think absolutely not.

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I don't see a harvest, I always carry money, and whose house am I going into?

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But we don't always see the full picture.

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Jesus is telling us the harvest is ripe, go get them, here's how you do it.

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So we gotta trust him.

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Even when it looks like a desert wasteland, there's still a great harvest waiting for

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its workers.

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So this is a lot of instructions, many very specific for the disciples specific call,

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but I think the why behind it still applies to us.

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There's some true wisdom here, so here's how to harvest like Jesus' disciples.

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Firstly, go with trust.

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Jesus asks the disciples to come, to not come with any cash or extra gear, which is the

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same thing that he actually called his original 12 disciples to do at one point.

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And I believe this is to encourage them to trust the Lord to provide for all their basic

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needs.

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They already need to rely on God's power and the promise of the gospel as their strength,

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and so trusting in his provision is all part of living this out.

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The same concept actually stands when he tells them not to greet anyone on the road.

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This sounds somewhat counterintuitive to showing the gospel, but Jesus is likely referring

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to the long greeting ceremonies that were common to the culture of the day.

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The disciples are called to go in haste.

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Stopping for these long greetings was actually unhelpful and could also be seen as a way

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to try and gain favor and resources separate from God.

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They weren't to worry about the things of the world, which Jesus' promise would be provided,

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and instead he needed to keep moving, keep their eyes fixed on their mission.

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Your second step, look for a person of peace.

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Once these disciples entered the town, they would find a house and offer peace to it.

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If the house was considered peaceful, this essentially means that the people inside were

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receptive to the gospel.

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Ready and interested to hear about Jesus.

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In the same light, if the person wasn't peaceful, they weren't interested.

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And the disciples were encouraged to actually move to another house, not forcing their message,

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but instead waiting to be received by a household of peace.

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So in our neighborhoods, and this kind of relates to a bit of what Tim was talking about,

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we're looking for people who like you, who listen to you, and the next point, who serve

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you.

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3.

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Accept hospitality in humility.

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This should sound somewhat familiar.

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Look for someone who serves you, who gives you hospitality, and then do all you can to

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accept it well.

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The reason the disciples are encouraged to stay in one place is to set them apart from

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the deceitful false teachers who would go from home to home looking for whoever had the nicest

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food, the nicest couch, whatever it was, and then they would basically build up their ladder

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to get the best stuff.

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The disciples were to be wise with how they spent their time, accepting the hospitality

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in front of them and sharing the message.

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They were to move with the humility and security unfound in anyone else except Jesus.

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4.

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Next, heal the sick.

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Again, I know what you're thinking.

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Accept hospitality, heal the sick.

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It's not that crazy, but you begin to see that these terms are ascending in intensity,

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but we're not expected to go one to 100 without the groundwork.

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Fostering trust in Jesus and knowing the gospel message is the start, but then the disciples

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are called to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom.

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We as humans can't heal on our own, of course, but through the Holy Spirit and in the name

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of Jesus there truly is healing.

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The miraculous healing was assigned to authenticate their message as it was also to the apostles.

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A really good way to live this out simply is to listen to our neighbours, and when they

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express a deep need or an illness, pray for them.

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Whether there's divine healing or not, the act of praying for someone can be life-changing

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and the support that they actually need in the moment.

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What type of a message does it send to a neighbour when you pray for them?

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I care about what you're experiencing so much that I can't help but talk to God about

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it.

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I feel like that's incredibly special.

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And then finally, proclaim the kingdom.

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The disciples are to do this after relationship is formed and with the demonstration of the

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Lord's power.

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This is both spiritual in the sense that the kingdom of God is near you.

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Jesus is about to fulfil his important work of salvation, but he's also actually physically

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on his way to the towns.

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The disciples are proclaiming the kingdom by operating in the Lord's power and living

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out where he's commanded, but they must still actually tell them to.

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At some point we must share the gospel, proclaiming the kingdom of God to our neighbour.

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Our King Jesus is a victorious King and will return.

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This is good news and news we owe it to our neighbour to share and news we owe it to our

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friends and to the world to share.

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So to summarise the practicals, first pray, I can't emphasise how important this is, then

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go, fuelled by trust in God, not in your own strength, look for a person of peace who likes

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you, who serves you, who offers you hospitality and lean on God to bring signs and wonders

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and proclaim the kingdom of God because Jesus has come, but he is absolutely coming back.

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Yet, that brings us to the harvest question again.

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We must pray, then go, but into what harvest?

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The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

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You see, it's God's will that all would be saved.

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It says in Peter 2 Peter, the Lord isn't really being slow about his promise as some

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people think.

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No, he's being patient for your sake.

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He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

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The powerful paradox here is that Jesus is both passionate for all to be saved, but also

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is the Lord of the harvest and has the authority to judge at the end of time.

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He's truly God and has a perspective and compassion for all people beyond their wildest

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imagination.

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While we're on earth, we can only see so much as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, now we

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see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything

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with perfect clarity.

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All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely,

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just as God knows me completely.

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We don't see the harvest, but we aren't the Lord of the harvest.

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We don't see the fruit yet, but God sees the seed that's been and is being planted.

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We don't know who's going to respond to the gospel, but God says that the harvest is plentiful.

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We simply don't see as God sees and we can't judge as God judges because it's not our

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job.

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Our job is to pray, then go.

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The harvest may not seem plentiful, but I remind you that when God created the world,

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saw the sinfulness that humanity had fallen into, He didn't leave it that way.

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He saw something more.

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God looked at the earth, saw the sin of man, all the failures and troubles of humanity.

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He saw the ugly parts and knows each of our hearts, but didn't rule us out.

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He saw a future harvest that we couldn't see.

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When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

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Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though some might be

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willing to die for a person who is especially good.

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But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

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And since we've been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly

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save us from condemnation.

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For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still

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sinners, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son.

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So now we can rejoice in a wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus

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Christ has made us friends with God.

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Jesus saved us.

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He saw a future that we couldn't see.

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How we view our neighborhood changes our heart towards it and changes how we live in them.

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We must see our neighbors as God sees them.

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Sam, you're welcome to come up and do some keys.

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So think about the field in front of you.

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What do you see?

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Is it right?

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Your neighborhood could be teeming with crops and people waiting to experience the love

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of Jesus.

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But have you sought God for them?

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Are you working in the harvest?

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We need Jesus' eyes and heart to carry His mission forth into the neighborhood.

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Jesus loves you and suffered the cross for you before you even knew Him.

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How different could life be for you and your community if Jesus was actually at the center,

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if He truly reigned sovereign?

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If it was on earth as it is in heaven and if it was in Henley as it is in heaven?

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So let me challenge you, everyone's favorite segment, Henley homework.

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Firstly, you've got to pray.

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As we pray and obey God and His requests, our hearts and minds are actually shaped to do

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as will.

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So do as the scripture says, pray that God would send more workers into the harvest and

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pray for those you wish God would touch and bring into His family.

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We call them plus ones at encounter.

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Pray for your plus ones.

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A whole new life joining God's kingdom is always worth praying for.

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And two, go.

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As you move through the neighborhood, we are, where are there people of peace?

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Places that Jesus hasn't touched.

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So with a boldness and trust that God has promised to be with you and go before you.

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Thanks so much for tuning into this week's message.

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If you felt challenged or need prayer, would love to hear from you on Instagram at encounterhenley.

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Or if you're interested in how you can support this ministry, please go to our website, encounteradelaide.com.au.

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Thanks again for listening.

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God bless you.