1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,200 Hey everyone, this is Charlie from Encounterchurch Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our 2 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:21,280 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 3 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,920 change your life and now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team. 4 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,800 Thank you, welcome everyone. For those who don't know me, my name is Tex. I'm one of the pastors 5 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:38,480 here at Encounter Henley and if you are new, welcome. I have an expression that I use all 6 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:43,680 the time which is that the best parents in the world are the people that don't yet have children. 7 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:54,080 Now, I say this, I'm talking about the my kids will never have chicken nuggets. There'll be no 8 00:00:54,080 --> 00:01:00,160 process garbage for my little one. Screen time, no thank you. What happened to good old fashioned 9 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:07,920 getting on the floor, playing with your kids, a tantrum at the shops? Absolutely not. Why not 10 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,480 simply explain to your toddler that daddy will not stand for this behavior any longer and these 11 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:18,960 acts of belligerence will not stand in this house? These are all things that I definitely said 12 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:24,400 before I had children. The last one verbatim by the way, car is like a toddler doesn't know what 13 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:31,440 belligerent means and I said and she will learn. Now, all of these expressions and all of these 14 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:36,960 things that I said were spoken with good intentions. They were all spoken with a fervour that I believe 15 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:42,400 to be true at the time and truth be told they're probably all still really good principles. 16 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,160 And then the craziest thing happened and it changed my entire mindset and everything about 17 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:53,120 me inside and out, which was I became a dad and I had kids and all these great ideas I had about 18 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:59,680 parenting didn't quite work. I thought they might because all of a sudden chicken nuggets at the 19 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:05,600 drive-through became a staple and as I slid the happy meal into the backseat knowing full well 20 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:10,480 that that was probably going to be half consumed in front of an iPad when we got home because I 21 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,720 was completely exhausted because I'd worked a full day that day and then I had gone to the shops to 22 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:19,600 pick up bread and milk and the many tantrums that followed from the toddler who was convinced that 23 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,400 we did need the 58 other things that they kept on grabbing and knocking off the shelf and I was 24 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:29,600 like nope that's not going to do and now dad's exhausted but at least we have chicken nuggets at 25 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:37,680 an iPad. Now pre-kids I really really really thought that I had everything figured out that I 26 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,760 knew what it was going to look like, how it was going to work, the kind of dad I was going to be 27 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:47,600 and then I actually had to learn it and I had to live it and I had to do it and it was absolutely 28 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:54,880 nothing like I'd imagined. I love my kids, I love that love almost like I said love for a second, 29 00:02:54,880 --> 00:03:01,200 I love my kids and I'm really embarrassed to say that it took me a lot longer than I was anticipating 30 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:08,800 to adjust and to get into that day-to-day of the doing and it was only through seeing it up close 31 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,920 and allowing it to change my mind minute by minute and in all honesty kind of humbling myself and 32 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:18,640 accepting how wrong I was over and over and over again that anything actually started to change 33 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:25,520 and everything started to click and that kind of got me thinking when was the last time that you 34 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:32,560 had a moment, a real life altering, life-changing experience when something happened to you or 35 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:37,360 around you or through a conversation that you were involved in that actually forced you to stop and 36 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:43,680 pay attention. Not only pay attention but maybe even change your mind or potentially alter your 37 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:49,440 entire perspective on something and maybe it was a person you met and wrote off upon first introduction, 38 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,400 maybe it was a band that you hated the first time you listened to them and then all of a sudden one 39 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:59,440 day you find yourself buying both tickets and flights to Melbourne to go and see them, maybe it's a 40 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,920 holiday destination that you just assumed wasn't for you and then you took your family there no 41 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,240 less than like seven times in like a 10-year period and I really miss Bali and travelling which is 42 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:14,240 also expensive with kids. Or maybe for some of you like it was for me being in this room is that 43 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:23,760 change. Maybe a life pursuing discipleship unto Jesus is that change and maybe while we're at it 44 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:28,880 maybe there's a potential or you're considering a pursuit of a life in ministry maybe that's that 45 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:40,000 change. Because none of those things were ever part of the plan, it wasn't for me. And if you're 46 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,640 still sitting somewhere in that spectrum or maybe you haven't considered there's a spectrum at all 47 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:51,360 to ponder, welcome you're in really good company. Maybe you're a lifelong Christian, maybe you're 48 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:57,040 on the other side of this and hearing yet another sermon on the prodigal son or the Samaritan woman 49 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:02,720 at the well or John 316 just feels kind of redundant because you've heard it all before and what's 50 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:08,880 left to unpack anyway. I think goodness you're right you can all have your Sundays back, we're 51 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:14,080 all going home. I saw some of you kind of shake your head and we've all heard those sentiments 52 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,040 from people, what's the point in going to this conference, I've already heard it all before, 53 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,960 what's the point in going to hear this person speak, why are we covering this ground again, 54 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:28,160 we've all heard it, some of us have probably said it. Now in my experience both sides of that equation 55 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:34,880 both the questionable truth seeker and the long-term believer can struggle to hear the 56 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:42,400 message sometimes. The former does so out of a lack of understanding and the latter tends to do it 57 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:49,760 out of comfort or just a refusal to have their foundation shaken again. Both sides of this 58 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:55,280 are pretty understandable. I was 34 when I gave my life to Jesus, that was 34 years of life as a 59 00:05:55,280 --> 00:06:00,400 non-believer and that's not quick to shift or adjust, those mindsets and those behaviors and 60 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:05,360 those habits and those patterns will sit and they will sink in and the same can be said for 61 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:11,360 long-term believers, our brain actually hardwires us to take things that at one time seemed miraculous 62 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,680 and eventually we reshape it so it just becomes ingrained knowledge. 63 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:21,520 So as we enter into today's teaching and as we enter into a new year, 64 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,080 text is the first term of the new year, surely you're going to talk about new year's resolutions, 65 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:34,480 I'm not but I really want you to take this as an opportunity to challenge you to be expected once 66 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:44,400 more, expect to be amazed, not by my preaching, or lost in beautiful wonder by Jesus, maybe for 67 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:49,600 the first time or maybe for once more but I am challenging you to really leave yourself open 68 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:55,600 to that because I truly believe that Jesus is worth it and it's in this that we find Nicodemus. 69 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:02,000 So we return back to the teaching text, after dark one evening Nicodemus comes to speak with Jesus, 70 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:07,840 Rabbi he said, we all know that God has sent you to teach us your miraculous signs or evidence that 71 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:14,720 God is with you. Now Nicodemus is not just a Pharisee which is like one of the religious elites 72 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:20,000 and scholars of the time but he also said in the Sanhedrin which was a group of 70 elders that kind 73 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:26,800 of made up the Jewish High Court in the area. Nicodemus is a learned man, he is a scholar, 74 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:32,320 a leader, a teacher, a privileged man, I hope I'm painting the picture here and here he is under the 75 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:40,560 cover of darkness coming to see Jesus. So why is he doing that? Well it starts with his first word, 76 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:48,880 the first word out of his mouth when he arrives there, he says Rabbi. Rabbi means teacher. Nicodemus 77 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:54,960 has come to learn, he's come to be taught by Jesus. He has seen and heard of the miracles, 78 00:07:54,960 --> 00:08:00,640 signs and wonders and as a result he knows that God is with Jesus and that he has been sent to 79 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:12,080 teach. Rabbi. Now this isn't genuinely like an incredibly humbling title for Nicodemus to call 80 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:19,680 Jesus. Nicodemus would be used to people coming to him to be taught, to sit at his feet, to hear 81 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:26,800 his wisdom, to learn. So by the very act that first word Nicodemus rocking up and saying Rabbi 82 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:36,560 that shifts the power dynamic entirely and immediately. Teacher, teach me. And we all know 83 00:08:36,560 --> 00:08:42,720 Jesus is very happy to oblige. His opening salvo is as to the point as they come, he says I tell 84 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:49,440 you the truth unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God. Now Nicodemus 85 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:54,400 doesn't understand how can a man be born again, I can't exactly crawl back into my mother's womb, 86 00:08:54,400 --> 00:09:00,080 can I? Delightful imagery from Nicodemus here, what a man. And as Jesus proceeds to explain he says 87 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:05,920 Nicodemus you need to be born of both water and spirit. You've been born of a physical human life, 88 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:11,280 water, but what you're chasing and what we should all be pursuing is an everlasting heavenly spiritual 89 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:16,960 life. Humans give birth to human life but only the spirit can give birth to a spiritual life. 90 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:22,480 So Jesus continues, the wind blows wherever it wants just as you can hear the wind 91 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:28,320 but can't tell where it comes from or where it's going so you can't explain how people are born of 92 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:35,920 the spirit. So you see with wind itself you can't see or understand what started it or where it's 93 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:42,640 come from. But what you can do is you can feel wind against your cheek, your face, you can see the 94 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:49,120 tree branches that sway as a result. A tornado doesn't need to be understood for us to see the 95 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:53,600 houses that are flattened in its path but they sure act as proof that it existed. 96 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:01,120 Cores can be hard to see but results are undeniable, they will always show. 97 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,960 And Jesus proceeds to teach with that in mind, if you won't believe me when I tell you 98 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:12,960 of earthly things how can you possibly believe me when I tell you of spiritual things? 99 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:18,400 Again we're going to carry on with the scripture here where he says, 100 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:25,200 no one has ever entered heaven and returned to earth but the Son of Man has in order to be 101 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:33,280 lifted up so that everyone that believes in Him will have eternal life. Everyone, everyone. 102 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,960 Now Nicodemus again would have been raised believing that your entry into heaven was 103 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:44,640 assured via your bloodline and via a series of elaborate laws that conveniently enough 104 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,760 mostly the Pharisees were the only ones of really capable of fulfilling. 105 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:54,880 Laws around purity and perfection and cleanliness that were all but impossible for the average person 106 00:10:54,880 --> 00:11:02,720 to adhere to. Things like class, privilege, gender, creating barrier after barrier after barrier for 107 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:10,800 the average person. And now Jesus is being pretty clear in stating like, hey Nicodemus your previous 108 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:16,720 beliefs, they're being shaken up pretty big time at this point. Now Nicodemus let's be clear is not 109 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:23,520 being taught a new religion. He's having his eyes opened to the truth about his own religiousness, 110 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:29,120 his very own belief structure, something he's built his entire life on. Now Nicodemus was not 111 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,880 a young man, he was older than me if you can believe that, but he's been raised in the faith. 112 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,560 He's been dedicating his life to study and teaching and all of a sudden Jesus comes with a 113 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:45,600 pair of specs with custom script, slides them on Nicodemus' face and now the chart that he could 114 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,640 see before from the other side of the room it was a little bit blurry before and it's a bit 115 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:56,560 clearer now. That's not an eye, that's a teak. He's not condemning him with guilt. What he's doing is 116 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:02,560 ensuring some clarity. Now those moments we talked about earlier when you have to reflect on what 117 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:07,360 you've known or what you think you've known or what you've believed to be true, there's absolutely 118 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:12,640 no way that this wasn't one of those moments for Nicodemus. We come back to one word, it's one word 119 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:17,200 at the beginning, rabbi is the word that we used to set the place and now one more word we can come 120 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:22,080 back to that shakes up everything that Nicodemus would have known and that word is everyone. 121 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:27,920 The walls you have spent centuries building are about to be destroyed. 122 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:38,080 All the stuff you did or you do it's nice but it's not important. It's the very inner workings of 123 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:44,160 your soul that need to be addressed, your very understanding of life and its purpose is going 124 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:52,640 to change. That is why you need to be reborn. I love this, there's no way that Nicodemus wasn't 125 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,240 sitting there a bit slack jawed, a little bit reeling from all this stuff that's being thrown at him 126 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:01,440 and Jesus is relentless and he follows up with the most beautiful and succinct summary of the 127 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:08,800 gospel that there is and he says, for this is how God loved the world. He gave his one and only son 128 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:14,320 so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his son 129 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:18,880 into the world not to judge the world but to save the world through him. 130 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,360 And for God so loved the world that he sent his only son. 131 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:37,680 Not to condemn but to save and not just some everyone, everyone that believes in him will be 132 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:48,000 saved. There's a reason we call this the golden verse. Eternal life is what's on offer. 133 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,880 There's one thing that's required and that's a belief in Jesus. 134 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:04,080 Nicodemus must have been like, you cannot be serious. That's too easy. There's got to be 135 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,080 some hoops that we have to jump through. Maybe I've got to memorize something or recite it 136 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,600 or is that like a little secret handshake or something that we can kind of like work into 137 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:18,960 the mix here and surely not everyone. Like Jesus may have come to save like you and me but not the 138 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:27,040 real sinners, right? The liars and the thieves and the murderers and the sex traffickers and the 139 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:36,960 yes, them too. AWToser puts it like this. He says, Jesus Christ came not to condemn you but to save 140 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:42,960 you. Knowing your name, knowing all about you, knowing your weight right now, knowing your age, 141 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,560 knowing what you do, knowing where you live, knowing what you ate for supper and what you 142 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,960 will eat for breakfast, where you will sleep tonight, how much your clothing cost, who your 143 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:56,560 parents wear. He knows you individually as though there were not another person in the entire world. 144 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:05,600 He died for you as certainly as if you had been the only lost one. He knows the worst about you 145 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:12,160 and is the one who loves you the most. Yeah, everyone. 146 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:22,320 And it's that reality that makes Jesus Jesus. It's that truth that makes this something special 147 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:30,240 to behold. That makes the way that Jesus loves me and forgives and pours out grace upon me and you. 148 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:36,560 It makes that more incredible and just more amazing than we can possibly comprehend. There 149 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:44,240 are no words for this. And in truth, that's the heart of what makes all of this so hard for Nicodemus 150 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:49,840 and most of us to truly get our head around. I'll never forget the first time the concept of grace 151 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:56,400 kind of tried to nestle its way into my brain, I suppose, and I kind of had this like mental 152 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:01,360 unraveling via text message to Mike. It's a fast and fine because I just couldn't get my head around 153 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:07,200 it and he was like, yeah, that's kind of the rub. That's kind of how it works. Because it really 154 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:12,240 just forces you to think like, is there truly a love that can possibly exist like that? And if 155 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:17,600 there is, is it truly accessible to all of us? And if there isn't a love that exists like that, 156 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:23,120 and if it truly exists in that way and it truly exists with all of us, surely there have to be 157 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:32,240 some strings attached. And the final part of today's scripture holds the key. There is no 158 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:36,160 judgment against anyone who believes in him, but anyone who does not believe in him has already 159 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:41,680 been judged for not believing in God's one and only son. And the judgment is based on this fact, 160 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:47,680 God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light. For their actions 161 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:54,160 were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be 162 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:59,840 exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what 163 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:12,800 God wants. No strings. Here's the rub. When we believe, when we're truly saved, when we're truly 164 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:20,720 reborn in Christ, if we're truly following Jesus, we have a need and a desire to bring those dark 165 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:29,520 things into the light. Mother Angelica has this quote, which is simply believing in the existence 166 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:35,360 of God is not exactly what I would call a commitment. After all, even the devil believes that God 167 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:45,760 exists. Believing has to change the way we live. We are so loved and safe and secure that we no 168 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:51,920 longer need to fear the truth, not of the world, not of our sins, not of our Savior, not of God. 169 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,560 Because when you're living in that kind of love and that kind of freedom, Jesus isn't going to 170 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:05,600 force your hand into better behavior. He's not going to force you to read your Bible more. 171 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:11,440 But when you live in that light and when you live in that safety, the kind that has been and can 172 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:17,360 only be provided through Jesus, those things become the deepest desires of our very heart and soul. 173 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:25,040 There's no law that says I should be completely honest with my wife or to treat her with respect 174 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:31,920 or to prioritize spending time with her or going out for dinner and acting in a way that shows respect 175 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:38,400 and honor and love. Man, it makes for a heaps better marriage when I do these things. Doesn't it? 176 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:46,880 People are like, does it? It does. Sorry. Thank you. Can't confirm. I hear that. I 177 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:53,440 receive that. Even then, even then, I'll give one back for you back here. Even then, when I do these 178 00:18:53,440 --> 00:19:00,880 things, because I don't always get that right. This is a quote you've heard before from Willard. 179 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,840 You've heard it definitely in this room before. You're going to hear it many, many more times 180 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:11,680 over the years. Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. Effort is action. 181 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:18,160 Earning is attitude. You have never seen people more active than those who have been set on fire 182 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:29,360 by the grace of God. Now, my marriage certificate is an earthly assurance of our relationship, 183 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:37,360 mine and car. I'm sure I could just, I guess, rely on that and fall back on that to cover over every 184 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:43,120 mistake. Every issue, every shortcoming that I've got, and I've got plenty. But my actions in the 185 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:49,120 light of that truth and in the light of that are what tells you about my posture and the desires of 186 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:57,920 my heart. Now, encounter can and will continue to run good programs. We're in the middle of Word 187 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:05,200 Week right now. You're not too late. You should sign up. We ran 24-1 prayer day yesterday. Tim and I 188 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,200 are going to stand up on this platform all year and we're going to talk to you about the virtues of 189 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,920 prayer and daily scripture reading and believing the best in people and helping the needy and 190 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,760 building good relationships and all these other things that are really good for us. Why are they 191 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:22,160 good for us? Because they have Jesus' fingerprints all over them, which is normally a very good place 192 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:30,640 to start. But we do these things because we believe in Jesus, because we can trust and believe in that. 193 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,720 But I need to make it really, really clear. None of those things, that laundry list of stuff we 194 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:43,360 just read out, none of that is designed to get you into heaven. That's done. That's secured 195 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:49,200 through the very act of belief in Him. That's all it takes. That's all it's ever taken. That's all it 196 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:57,040 will ever take. But we do these things because they've been born out of that love and out of 197 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:05,600 a desire to be closer to someone that we love and that loves us. Soul altering, trajectory, 198 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:16,640 shifting, earth, shattering, love. I'm going to invite the band back up. That's okay. 199 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:26,320 Now, I thought that I had things pretty well figured out. I was mostly a good person. I was 200 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:31,760 living the middle class Australian dream. I mean, I swore a bit too much and I yelled a bit too much 201 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:36,880 and I drank a bit too much and I was semiish, considerate of others, ish sometimes. But I was 202 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,200 mostly a good person, right? By most people's definition. You didn't know me back then. You'll 203 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:48,400 have to take my word for it. Don't ask Cara for more specifics. And then what happened? What changed? 204 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,560 Well, my daughter and my wife invited me to church. 205 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,640 Now, in saying that, cadence at the time was eight years old. 206 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:03,040 A reminder, that flip of the script that we had earlier with Nicodemus and Jesus, right? 207 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,960 My eight-year-old daughter, this is the one I meant to be guiding. This is the one I meant 208 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:13,840 to be teaching. And she showed an interest in something and forced me to reconsider something new. 209 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:21,520 And then my wife, who I love and loves me, endorsed it. Now, these are two people that I 210 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:29,760 loved that I trusted offering me a new way to view things. So I too humbly went to a teacher. 211 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,240 Now, unlike Nicodemus, I didn't have the privilege of going straight to Jesus at that 212 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:40,880 point in time. Well, not to sit down in front of him. So I went to my wardrobe instead. It could 213 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:49,440 have been worse. And through that teaching, my life too was dramatically and irreversibly changed. 214 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:55,680 A touch of the Holy Spirit, a flurry of tears and the recognition that I definitely had some new things to consider. 215 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:03,520 I knew that my life was changed forever. I went back as part of this, by the way. And I found the 216 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:08,960 messenger message that I sent Mike the day of Encounters' launch at Prospect, funnily enough. 217 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:16,640 And this is, as I'm sure you can imagine, as someone who is a man of very few words most of the time, 218 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,320 I'd written this very lengthy message to Mike that is too hearty a laugh, Jacob. 219 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,360 I sent this really lengthy message to Mike and it basically signed off with, 220 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:30,480 I have no idea what happened to me in that room tonight, but I know that I cannot ignore it. 221 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,360 And then I took Mike like four days to respond and I wondered if I'd said something wrong. 222 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,200 Genuinely, I was like, oh no, do I send another one? Anyway, 223 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,040 the birth of Jesus, his message, this gifting from God has changed everything. 224 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:53,920 Everything that we had thought we knew wasn't and isn't as it was. 225 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,520 A relationship with Jesus again is all that we need and it's all we've ever needed. 226 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,920 I love this. God's love didn't just feel for the plight of a fallen world. 227 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:10,480 God did something about it and he gave the most precious thing that he had to give. 228 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:17,920 His only begotten Son, this Son Jesus becoming both the expression and the gift of God's love. 229 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,000 And we talk so often about how we need to look to Jesus like a child would, 230 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,160 hearts full of expectation and love and eyes full of wonder and we're not doubting. 231 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,080 But why? Why do we do this? Why are we looking at Jesus like a child? 232 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,400 We look to Jesus and it's a God like a child because God comes to us as a father. 233 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:40,400 Not an earthly father like me who makes mistakes and misplaces his frustrations 234 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,800 onto his children, but as a heavenly father who paid the ultimate price for our shortcomings. 235 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:51,760 For our failures and for our sins, with the full knowledge that if we were the only sin 236 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,360 on earth, he would have done exactly the same thing in exactly the same way. 237 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:00,480 Thanks so much for tuning into this week's message. 238 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,400 If you felt challenged or need progress, please contact us at www.global.org. 239 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:09,120 If you felt challenged or need prayer, we would love to hear from you on Instagram, 240 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:14,000 at Encounter Hindley. Or if you're interested in how you can support this ministry, 241 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,240 please go to our website, EncounterAdelaide.com.au. 242 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:35,680 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.