1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,760 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church Henley and thanks so much for tuning 2 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,000 into our podcast. 3 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,680 Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 4 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:22,800 change your life. 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:28,320 And now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team. 6 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,800 When I was 24 I was knocked back at selection panel. 7 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,000 Last year I was ordained as a minister in the United Church and selection panel is basically 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:41,280 the big job interview that's on the road to becoming a minister. 9 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:47,400 They do a big like a full psych workup, a physical, you have this interview where you walk in 10 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,360 and then you're surrounded by like 10 to 15 people in a circle and they're all taking 11 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:52,880 turns at asking you questions. 12 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:53,880 It's great. 13 00:00:53,880 --> 00:01:00,320 They're trying to find out can we affirm this person has both the maturity and the call 14 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,000 for the church to invest in them as a candidate for ordination. 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,440 It is quite an investment. 16 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,200 And I didn't. 17 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:10,200 I had the call. 18 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:16,200 I just couldn't really articulate it very well but I definitely did not have the maturity. 19 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:21,480 And so I was told basically don't come back until you've worked on your emotional resilience. 20 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,160 This was fair, didn't feel at the time. 21 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,600 I was not very resilient. 22 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,800 I would run in the opposite direction from too much stress, too much work, too much of 23 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,600 anything that encroached on me in my time. 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,720 I loved the comfort zone. 25 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:39,200 I wanted to stay there forever. 26 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,840 It's nice in the comfort zone. 27 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,440 Anything I didn't feel like doing I would kind of find my way around it. 28 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,440 And even though at the time I would have found this very hard to hear that meant that I was 29 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:53,040 very fragile, I cracked easily. 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:54,800 I shattered easily. 31 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:55,800 I broke easily. 32 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:01,840 All it took was a little difficulty and it would take me out of the game. 33 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,440 That was about seven years ago. 34 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,920 Some of us here are fragile like I was. 35 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:14,680 You might find that jarring language as I would have. 36 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:15,680 But this is what it means. 37 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,600 The difficulty comes, you crack easily. 38 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,880 You run, you avoid, you get mad, you stay in bed. 39 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:26,680 Takes you months to recover. 40 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,520 Some of you here are resilient. 41 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,520 When difficulty comes, you bounce back quickly to where you were before the difficulty came. 42 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,240 You can ride the wave. 43 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:41,560 I had a horrific day yesterday, but today is a reset, no lasting damage. 44 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,920 And some of you are anti-fragile. 45 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:51,240 When I told Tex last night at 9.30 he had to rewrite his communion, he did it. 46 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:59,520 When difficulty comes, if you're anti-fragile, you don't just bounce back, you get better. 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,520 And Tex's communion was great. 48 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,720 Anti-fragility is a concept popularized by Nassim Nicholas Tlaib. 49 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:13,760 And the premise is that some systems, they're actually not weakened by a chaos or disorder 50 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,840 or by difficulty, but they're strengthened. 51 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:19,920 Difficulty actually makes them better. 52 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:24,760 And resilient people are like, you know, forks from Harry Potter, the Phoenix Bird. 53 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,520 Whenever it dies, it's reborn from its ashes, exactly the same. 54 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,480 It's still a bird. 55 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:36,360 But anti-fragile people are like the Hydra, that myth Greek mythological snake. 56 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:37,440 It's a multi-headed snake. 57 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,040 And when you cut off one of its heads, what happens? 58 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,680 Two grow back in its place. 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,920 A Hydra, when it faces difficulty, gets better. 60 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:54,800 And the easiest example of an anti-fragile system is something that when difficulty comes, 61 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,720 it gets better is your muscles. 62 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:05,080 When you work out, and clearly Isaac has, you put your muscles under difficulty. 63 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:11,040 And you overload them beyond what they currently can handle. 64 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,840 And by doing this, you actually tear the muscles on a micro level. 65 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:16,120 You tear the muscle fibers. 66 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,240 And your body's response to this is to be sore because you've torn muscles. 67 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:21,560 But then it begins to repair them. 68 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,240 And it repairs them by actually making them thicker and stronger. 69 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:30,560 And so the result of putting your muscles under difficulty are bigger and stronger muscles. 70 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:32,640 Your muscles are anti-fragile. 71 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:38,160 They still break like a vase would break under difficulty, but very unlike a vase or however 72 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:39,800 you want to say it. 73 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:45,720 It's the breaking that makes them grow. 74 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:51,360 Today we are in the second week and we're doing a six week series on revival, which is a really 75 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,760 exciting series. 76 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:59,160 Revival, we talked about this last week, is a quickening of God's ordinary work to put 77 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:00,880 everything right. 78 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,560 All of creation and us as well. 79 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,160 Now putting all of creation right is something God is doing slowly. 80 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,400 And sometimes it's so slow that it feels imperceptible. 81 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,000 But through, and he's doing it through salvation, he's doing it through justice, he's doing 82 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:21,760 it through reconciliation, through healing, through freedom and through love and more. 83 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,080 He's doing this all the time. 84 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:30,360 But in revival, God does these things quickly and dramatically. 85 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,760 And last week we talked about needing to clear the fields of our heart through forgiveness, 86 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,520 to make room for what God wants to do in us and through us. 87 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:43,840 Because God won't bring revival out there or out here in our church until he first brings 88 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:47,760 revival in here, in our hearts. 89 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:49,560 And we want to see revival here and encounter. 90 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:50,560 We want to see it in Adelaide. 91 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,400 We want to see it in Australia because we need it. 92 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,320 We need things to be put right. 93 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:57,400 And so we want revival. 94 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,080 We rightly want revival. 95 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,440 Revival is exciting and amazing. 96 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,640 And people are falling in love with Jesus en masse. 97 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:07,720 Longstanding feuds are reconciled. 98 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,200 You see tangible change in society and genuine revivals. 99 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:17,080 You see people genuinely just growing into more people of love in the way of Jesus. 100 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:22,440 But I, like, it's cool to talk about revival, but I don't think people really think about 101 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,440 what revival would mean for us. 102 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:32,080 We want the idea of revival, but in reality, revival would demand a lot of us. 103 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,480 Because revival is intense and demanding in reality. 104 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:41,240 I'm not just speaking about the practical implications, because the practical implications 105 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:42,840 of revival are staggering. 106 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:48,640 For example, in 1904, there was a revival in Wales, a Welsh revival, 100,000 people 107 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,600 came to faith in Jesus. 108 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,440 That was 10% of the population at the time. 109 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,080 They did that in one year. 110 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,480 100,000 people in one year. 111 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:03,240 There's 100,000 people that need to be taught to follow Jesus and integrated into regular 112 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,040 loving Christian community. 113 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:10,560 Imagine if even 100 people came to faith through this church and a genuine move of God. 114 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,720 Every single Christian in the room is taking one or two to go and teach them how to follow 115 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:16,120 Jesus and invite them into your lives. 116 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,120 Because I can't do 100 in a week. 117 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:19,680 Like, we're going to have to spread the load. 118 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:24,800 We're going to have to take, everyone's going to have to take two. 119 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:29,000 Revival brings significant practical implications. 120 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,320 But there are personal implications as well. 121 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:38,800 As God's spirit comes to put things right, we're going to get put right too. 122 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:40,160 We're going to get put right. 123 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,760 You speak to anyone who's been a Christian a long time. 124 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:49,200 And it's like every year you discover a new way that your heart is disobedient, selfish, 125 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:50,200 sinful and prideful. 126 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,720 You never noticed it before, but now you do. 127 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:55,960 It's like every year, here's a new thing. 128 00:07:55,960 --> 00:08:02,080 God in His kindness is slowly revealing these things to us and invites us to work with Him 129 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:03,920 to deal with them. 130 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,520 This year I'm realising just how strong will, I never would have called myself a strong 131 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:08,680 willed person. 132 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:15,160 But I'm finding that I actually have a strong will and my heart finds it difficult to surrender 133 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,440 that will to God, to His will and to His love. 134 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:20,640 And I had never noticed that before. 135 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:21,640 But here we are. 136 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,880 God's inviting me to come and deal with that and lay that down. 137 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:31,080 You see, God does this all the time to all of us if we're open to it, slowly putting 138 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:32,080 us right. 139 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:36,880 But if you read any history of revival, there's a common thing. 140 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:42,560 And it's this, when the spirit comes in power, sin and unforgiveness and compromise, God 141 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:45,600 just does not tolerate that on any level. 142 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:50,640 In revival, women and men, they cannot stay in the presence of God without dealing with 143 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,880 those things. 144 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:59,000 God often does a decade of inner work in a day in a revival. 145 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,440 And sure, you may spend that day on your face covered not just with the presence of God 146 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,840 but your own snot and tears as well. 147 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:12,240 But God will have put a whole lot right in that day. 148 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:14,200 You have forgiven that person from your heart. 149 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,080 You will have sought forgiveness from that person you hurt. 150 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,920 You have convicted of some sin and made steps to cut it out of your life. 151 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,680 You will experience incredible inner and possibly outer healing. 152 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:28,800 You will understand God's vision and intention for your life. 153 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,720 You'll see things about yourself that you didn't even notice before. 154 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,480 But here's the problem. 155 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:42,240 Both the personal and the practical implications of revival can be really, really hard. 156 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,760 Like so difficult. 157 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:54,920 And yet that regular pace, that slow pace of God putting everything right, the practical 158 00:09:54,920 --> 00:10:00,360 and the deeply personal in us, that itself, without even bringing in revival, that regular 159 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:07,000 slow pace, that can feel to us difficult and overwhelming as it is. 160 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:16,120 So we want revival but reality right now is overwhelming. 161 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:21,640 For a lot of us, it's the ordinary difficulties of ordinary everyday life that can throw us 162 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:22,640 off. 163 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,560 Throw us off being in community and church. 164 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:27,720 Throw us off spending time talking with God. 165 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,640 Throw us off filling our hearts and minds with God's word. 166 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,840 Throw us off becoming more and more a person of love. 167 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:40,560 And that's before you add revival in, before you add God's power come and just to mess 168 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:41,560 everything up. 169 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:48,120 And if we want to see a genuine move of God in our time in our church and steward it well, 170 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:52,680 we have to become women and men who will not break under difficulty and not just return 171 00:10:52,680 --> 00:11:02,800 to how we were before the difficulty but women and men who get better, who do not burn 172 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:07,880 up under the heat of the sun but grow in the sun. 173 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:13,360 Who like a sunflower that grows not just in the sun but towards the sun. 174 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:20,400 We've got to become people who come out of the other side of difficulty, not just better 175 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,480 but actually closer to Jesus. 176 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:24,520 So how do we do this? 177 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:25,880 Because we need to do this. 178 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,360 How do we become anti-fragile? 179 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:34,240 Well gladly and gratefully scripture can help us here. 180 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:39,640 Today our teaching texts we see Moses and he's just under immense difficulty. 181 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:44,080 Pharaoh has just let God's people go and they camp down by the Red Sea but Pharaoh and the 182 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:50,000 leaders of Egypt have changed their minds and decided to pursue Israel with their army. 183 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:55,280 And so here Moses is, he's got a sea behind him and the army of the Egyptians coming in 184 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:56,280 the distance in front of him. 185 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,080 And I think the technical term for this is just a real pickle. 186 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,080 Like he is in trouble. 187 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,600 You can't run, probably can't fight. 188 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,840 It just looks like they're doomed. 189 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,600 And so the people, they're panicking, they've been whipped up into a panic. 190 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:16,160 They come at Moses, they go, bring us out here to die in the wilderness. 191 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,320 This is your fault basically. 192 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:19,520 Were there enough graves in Egypt? 193 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:20,800 But what have you done to us? 194 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,000 Why are you doing this to us? 195 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,640 And under this kind of pressure, you know, this is a people that Moses has just let out 196 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:33,960 a slavery by the power and hand of God and they're attacking him for what they were just 197 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:35,960 rejoicing about. 198 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:40,840 I wonder how you would respond to that kind of difficulty. 199 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,480 Would you panic? 200 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:45,400 Would you run? 201 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,000 Would you freeze? 202 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,240 Would you counter attack? 203 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,800 Are you serious? 204 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,880 God, didn't you just see what God did? 205 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:05,320 But Moses stays calm and he is not anxious in the face of the people's anxiety. 206 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,440 He says, do not be afraid. 207 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,880 Just stand still, watch the Lord rescue you. 208 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:12,840 The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 209 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:14,720 The Lord himself will fight for you. 210 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,560 Just stay calm. 211 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:25,120 How can anyone pin between the sea and an army coming full force out you to kill you 212 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,640 be this calm? 213 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:29,040 How can he be this calm? 214 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,360 Well, Moses has been on a journey since the burning bush. 215 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:37,440 You know, God speaks to him out of this perpetually burning bush and tells him he's going to use 216 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:41,760 him to save his people and his response is, I really couldn't. 217 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:42,760 I couldn't possibly. 218 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,000 It's not really for me. 219 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,440 You probably should find someone else. 220 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,800 But back and forth he goes, look, I'm just not a great public speaker, you know, got 221 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:53,000 a bit of a stutter. 222 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,440 You really should find someone else. 223 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,360 That's what Moses is like when God calls him. 224 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:04,680 And yet here he is with the sea behind him and staring down the barrel of an army and 225 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:12,360 his response is to be basically say, get out the popcorn boys and girls, we're going to 226 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,440 see a show. 227 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,240 That is a staggering change. 228 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:18,600 Everything has shifted in Moses. 229 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,400 And I think it's a key shift that we need to make in order to become the kind of people 230 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:28,320 who can grow under difficulty, who can grow in the sun. 231 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,520 You see, Moses at the burning bush, he's trying to avoid difficulties coming up with 232 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:38,280 excuses about why he shouldn't go and do what God wants and why God actually has a really, 233 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,520 he's just really, it's just not a good plan. 234 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,840 And it's somewhat understandable because God wants him to basically harass the most powerful 235 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:51,000 man in the world for an extended period of time in order to get him to free his people. 236 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:56,080 It's not exactly a desirable job. 237 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,000 Moses is in the comfort zone out in the wilderness. 238 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,200 He's got his family. 239 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:02,560 He's got a job, looks after sheep. 240 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,000 He's probably got a nice tent. 241 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,480 You know, God, and God's just trying to rip him out of the comfort zone. 242 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,120 And Moses initially resists. 243 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,320 He knows that it's saying yes means it's going to be, it's going to be hard. 244 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:18,480 It's going to cost him, but God can be very persuasive. 245 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,360 I don't know if you've realized that in your life. 246 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:21,960 I sure have. 247 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,560 And so Moses goes. 248 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:32,120 So contrast that Moses to this Moses that we see here in our teaching text. 249 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,720 Moses no longer avoids difficulty. 250 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,720 Moses embraces it. 251 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:40,520 Moses is undergoing a mindset shift. 252 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:48,560 He's moved from avoiding difficulty to embracing difficulty. 253 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,000 He expects difficulty. 254 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:53,000 And this is wise. 255 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,240 You know, life will never be free of difficulty. 256 00:15:55,240 --> 00:16:01,040 You can pick up any self-help book from a bookshelf or from Dimmicks and you will get 257 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:02,240 that one idea. 258 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,720 Life is never free of difficulty. 259 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,320 But Moses has a difference. 260 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,000 Not only does he expect difficulty. 261 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,720 He expects to God to bring him through the difficulty. 262 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:21,280 Meaning he expects God to be with him in the difficulty. 263 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:26,320 And because he expects God to be with him in it, he knows that all will be well and 264 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,400 all will be well and all manner of things will be well. 265 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:31,880 So an army's coming at him. 266 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:33,480 No stress. 267 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:34,480 Enjoy the show. 268 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,000 God's going to sort this one out for us. 269 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:37,800 Just calm down. 270 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:43,200 Actually, how can he say that? 271 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:45,920 How has Moses made that shift? 272 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:50,720 Because before he didn't know God. 273 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,200 He didn't really trust God. 274 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,920 But now he knows God. 275 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:56,920 And now he didn't trust God. 276 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:57,920 He trusts God's power. 277 00:16:57,920 --> 00:16:59,960 He trusts God's promise. 278 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:05,680 And they're pinned between the army and the sea because God instructed Moses to put them 279 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:06,680 there. 280 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:07,960 And this is in chapter 14 verse 4. 281 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:14,360 I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. 282 00:17:14,360 --> 00:17:15,360 Okay. 283 00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:21,280 So you might say, you know, sure, it is easier to trust God that he's got you when you know 284 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,840 you are where God wants you to be. 285 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:26,480 And to that I say, amen. 286 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:27,480 Yeah. 287 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:33,320 In life, in our lives, it is easier to trust God when you know you are where God wants 288 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:34,320 you to be. 289 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:40,160 But in the context of Moses in this situation, it's kind of a yes and a no. 290 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:45,480 Like trusting God here does still require him to put his neck essentially on the chopping 291 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:51,080 block to risk their life to trust God. 292 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:56,080 And that gives us an insight into the level that Moses trusts God. 293 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,360 He is willing to embrace the difficulty. 294 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,600 And he puts, so he puts the people in the, in a threatening and compromising position. 295 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:08,240 And I can't imagine Moses is going, yeah, this, this is a great, this is a great situation 296 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:09,560 by itself. 297 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:14,440 This army coming at us by itself, not great. 298 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:21,000 But with God, Moses expects that the fruit of the situation will be great. 299 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,640 Moses has had a mindset shift, you no longer avoids difficulty. 300 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,840 He embraces it. 301 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:31,760 And if we're going to become people who grow under difficulty, who grow in the sun, we 302 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:36,440 must become people who shift, make a shift towards embracing difficulty, who trust that 303 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:45,840 even though the difficulty I face is not great with God, the fruit of it will be. 304 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,840 So even though like a muscle, we may feel like we are just being torn apart in a thousand 305 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,400 places on a microscopic level. 306 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:57,960 We can repair and rebuild and grow because we no longer see difficulty as something to 307 00:18:57,960 --> 00:18:59,560 be avoided. 308 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:07,600 Instead, we see it as an invitation to be embraced, an opportunity to grow and to get 309 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,120 better. 310 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:16,480 Now you could write that down if anyone was taking notes and say, yeah, that's a good 311 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:17,560 idea. 312 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:22,400 I do want to make the shift from avoiding difficulty to embracing it. 313 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:23,800 That sounds like good. 314 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:27,720 But embracing difficulty isn't really something that can just be thought of and then just 315 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:28,720 left. 316 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:33,200 It actually must be lived out and practiced. 317 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:39,400 And that's hard because we like the comfort zone, don't we? 318 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:45,560 And to practice embracing difficulty will require us to leave it again and again and 319 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,680 again to learn how to embrace it. 320 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:56,840 But luckily for us, again, Moses gives us a blueprint to navigate anything that we face. 321 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,320 He gives us, in the way that he responds to this, he gives us a framework for how we can 322 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:07,840 embrace difficulty in the midst of any struggle, big or to the downright horrific. 323 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,040 Moses does three things in this passage. 324 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,040 First thing is this. 325 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:14,960 He stays calm. 326 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:22,000 In the face of attack, not just from an army, but from his own people, Moses keeps his head. 327 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,120 He expects difficulty to come. 328 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:26,400 He's not surprised by it. 329 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:31,480 He stays calm and because he stays calm, he actually gives his people an opportunity to 330 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,960 also stay calm. 331 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,920 Imagine if Moses had panicked as well, then it would have been all over. 332 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,280 They would have whipped up into a frenzy and no one would have been listening to God about 333 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,080 how he planned to get them out of this situation. 334 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,440 See anxiety breeds more anxiety. 335 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,840 Anxiety does not exist in a vacuum. 336 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:56,880 This applies to armies coming to kill you, all the way to mobs to your family and even 337 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,120 to this church. 338 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,800 You think about it, if a kid gets a paper cut and their parent freaks out about it, 339 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:07,480 then the kid will also start freaking out about it. 340 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:12,400 But if the parent is calm about it, it gives them all an opportunity to address the situation 341 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,400 calmly and efficiently. 342 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,640 And this is true if it is something much, much worse, like if the kid has cut their 343 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,680 finger off. 344 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:25,120 If the parent will keep their head and stay calm, it gives their kid an opportunity to 345 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:32,840 stay calm, which helps everyone to get that finger sewed back on. 346 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:37,840 To begin to embrace difficulty and grow, we have to learn how to keep our heads in the 347 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:38,840 difficulty. 348 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,280 We must learn how to stay calm. 349 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,160 Take a deep breath. 350 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:45,160 Remember who we are. 351 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:49,000 Remember what God has done in our lives and that through it all God is with us. 352 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,840 And that's the second thing Moses does is he stays connected. 353 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,240 Moses doesn't run away. 354 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:01,680 He stays connected not just to his people, but also to God. 355 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,240 His people are anxious and they're coming at him. 356 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:09,680 But God is the one who has led them there and the only one who can save them. 357 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,160 When we read the text, it doesn't show Moses crying out to God. 358 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,520 It says the people cry out, but it doesn't show Moses crying out to God. 359 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:23,240 But we know he is because God says to him in verse 15, basically stop crying out to 360 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,720 me, get moving. 361 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:33,720 Moses is calm on the outside, but he's praying like mad on the inside. 362 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:38,120 When difficulty comes, the answer is not to pretend it's not that bad and this is fine. 363 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,880 For that's just another way of running away from it. 364 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,840 Denying reality is unhelpful. 365 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,040 Moses was in a difficult situation and he knew it. 366 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,000 And so he takes it to God in prayer. 367 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,480 He cries out to God. 368 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:55,960 And when difficulty comes, we must stay calm and stay connected to what's going on and 369 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,360 who it's going on with, but also to God. 370 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:04,200 Whatever the difficulty, God is the one who has the power to get us through and save us 371 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:08,920 and we must stay connected with him in order to get through. 372 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:14,240 The last thing Moses does is he stays the course. 373 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,760 Even under significant difficulty. 374 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:23,840 He trusts God and he does what God asks of him anyway and God rescues them. 375 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:28,680 He tells Moses to pick up his staff and raise his hand over the sea. 376 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:34,200 And so he does and the wind changes and the strong east wind comes and blows against the 377 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:39,720 sea all night until the dead sea is pushed back on both sides and people can walk across 378 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,440 as if it was on dry land. 379 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,840 He's saved. 380 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,640 That's because Moses stayed the course. 381 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:53,720 Staying the course is something that is sometimes the last thing we want to do when we face 382 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:55,280 difficulty. 383 00:23:55,280 --> 00:24:02,080 When things get hard, it feels easier to bail, to cancel, to give up, to quit, to run away, 384 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,000 to lash out, to bunk it down. 385 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:05,800 It feels easier. 386 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,240 But Moses stays the course. 387 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,920 He's followed God up into this point and so he does this. 388 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,240 And here it is. 389 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:14,240 This is the important thing. 390 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,840 He does the next right thing. 391 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,160 He does the next right thing. 392 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,240 And with us in whatever difficulty we face, staying the course sometimes just looks like 393 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,200 asking yourself, what is the next right thing? 394 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,800 What is the next right thing I can do here? 395 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:37,200 And no matter how hard it is, holding your hand out over a sea might feel silly, but 396 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:38,200 it's effective. 397 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,760 Do the next right thing. 398 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:47,680 In the face of difficulty, if we'll stay calm, stay connected and stay the course, we can 399 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:53,040 not just survive anything, but we'll actually be able to embrace the difficulties that we 400 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,720 face and grow from them. 401 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:03,200 A couple of years after I was rejected from selection panel, told to go and sort myself 402 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:10,120 out, Ash got sick, really sick as many of you know. 403 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:14,200 At that time I was fragile, I was not resilient, I was not anti-fragile. 404 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,720 And the comfort zone that I have, I had just crumbled before my eyes. 405 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,760 You know, I'd spent my life up into that point chasing the comfort zone. 406 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,000 I didn't really know difficulty growing up. 407 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:27,160 I didn't lack anything as a kid. 408 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,040 I had no genuine real hardship during my school years. 409 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,440 And the result of that really was that I was just not a great person. 410 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:38,920 I was selfish, I was lazy, I was indulgent, I was stingy. 411 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:44,240 I avoided difficulty at all costs. 412 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:49,840 To the point where I can say like I was genuinely a bad husband and father at the start there. 413 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:54,440 I sought the comfort zone to the detriment of my own family and it was a sin that I 414 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,320 feel and have genuine regret about. 415 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:02,360 When Ash got sick, suddenly the comfort zone no longer existed. 416 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:08,880 I had to step up around the home with the kids in my marriage in a way that I hadn't. 417 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,040 Because Ash's illness just left me no choice. 418 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,400 I could not find a way around. 419 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:20,960 I had to learn to embrace the difficulty of my situation and our situation. 420 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,120 And in the early stages that absolutely rocked me. 421 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:26,360 I took like a month off work. 422 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:29,120 I was very well as me. 423 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:33,400 But I'll just knuckle it down until it gets better. 424 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,680 But then it didn't get better. 425 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,920 And I couldn't just push through and then collapse back into the comfort zone at the 426 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:39,920 end. 427 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:45,480 And I realized that if the situation wasn't getting better, then I needed to get better. 428 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:49,800 That I needed to leave the comfort zone permanently to meet the demands of my reality. 429 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:55,520 I realized for the sake of my family, I could not be fragile. 430 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,920 And so I cried a lot, I yelled at God and then I got over myself. 431 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,920 And I began to slowly embrace the difficulty. 432 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:08,000 I began to learn that I could actually stay calm regardless of what was going on. 433 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,480 I dug into my connection with God and relied on it like those oxygen masks that fall from 434 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,560 an airplane that's going down. 435 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,720 I was just plugged into God. 436 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:23,080 And I stayed connected with Ash and the kids. 437 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:24,640 I stayed the course. 438 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,320 I learned to do the next right thing, to be steady and to chip away faithfully, to not 439 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:33,520 let the situation take me off course of what God wanted me to do. 440 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:35,680 I did not do it all perfectly. 441 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:42,640 But over time, if I look back, I can see that I went from fragile to resilient, began to 442 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:44,480 be able to bounce back quicker and quicker. 443 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,440 And then I began to really grow. 444 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,960 And I started to become anti-fragile. 445 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:57,120 See my mindset has already shifted from avoiding that difficulty, realizing I had to embrace 446 00:27:57,120 --> 00:27:58,120 it. 447 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:06,080 But I really started to grow when my mindset shift became a paradigm shift for my life. 448 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,080 I went from I can't avoid this difficulty. 449 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:20,320 I must embrace this difficulty to difficulty is a good thing to be embraced in every area 450 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,440 of my life. 451 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:27,320 I started running because I wanted to teach myself to do something I hated and fasting 452 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:31,920 because I just love food way too much. 453 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,960 And ultimately saying yes to planning Henley was a decision that came out of a paradigm 454 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:40,440 shift for me because I knew it would be both hard and the best. 455 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,080 And as those who were here in the launch team, you know, church planning can't be done in 456 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,640 the comfort zone. 457 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,480 I had learned that difficulty actually promotes growth. 458 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,720 And in fact, nothing grows without difficulty. 459 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,720 Moses doesn't grow without the difficulty of Egypt. 460 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,240 Muscles don't grow without the difficulty of training. 461 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:04,320 Immune systems don't strengthen without the difficulty of a bacteria or virus. 462 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,760 And plants don't grow without the difficulty of the sun. 463 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,920 It's a universal principle. 464 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:19,840 For you right now, you might have a lot of difficulty with your family, with your job, 465 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:27,240 with your school, your health, your finances, with your house, your home, your kids. 466 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:32,160 Or you might have very little real difficulty. 467 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:40,880 The temptation for us all is to avoid difficulty and retreat into the comfort zone. 468 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:41,880 It's understandable. 469 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:42,880 It's comfy. 470 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,520 Comfy in the comfort zone. 471 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,760 But friends, nothing grows in the comfort zone. 472 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:50,880 Nothing grows. 473 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,920 You will not grow in the comfort zone. 474 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,920 And going back to the comfort zone is like going back to Egypt for the Israelites. 475 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,360 They wanted it in that moment. 476 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:05,040 Egypt was comfortable kind of, the grass was greener there, right? 477 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:10,000 But they forget that Egypt was slavery. 478 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,480 Egypt was slavery. 479 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:13,880 The grass was not greener. 480 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,760 You were a slave. 481 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:23,480 And the comfort zone is a kind of slavery, a slavery to your desires, a slavery to what 482 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:25,160 you like and what you want. 483 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:30,520 If you only ever do things because you want to do them because they feel good or they're 484 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,840 comfy, then you just waste away as a person. 485 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,360 Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. 486 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:40,240 What kind of life is that? 487 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:46,160 If you leave your life in the comfort zone, you will live a shorter and less fulfilled 488 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:47,160 life. 489 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:52,760 Because a comfort zone like slavery promises everything delivers almost nothing. 490 00:30:52,760 --> 00:31:02,360 Because nothing we most deeply or truly want in life comes easy or without difficulty. 491 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,440 Anyone with kids knows that's true. 492 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:11,000 The best things in life are long and hard fought for. 493 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:18,160 You simply won't grow in the comfort zone as a human being or as a follower of Jesus. 494 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:23,440 Now we generally cannot control the things that happen to us in our life. 495 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:28,720 The difficulties that we will face from the minor to the horrific. 496 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:34,160 But our response to those things kind of is our responsibility. 497 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:39,600 So the question I have for you today is what do you want? 498 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:40,600 What do you really want? 499 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:42,760 Now what do you surface level want? 500 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:49,000 What do you want in the deepest parts of your being? 501 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,080 The deepest parts of your heart. 502 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,440 What do you want? 503 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,840 Do you want to be the kind of person who runs towards the comfort zone regardless of the 504 00:31:58,840 --> 00:31:59,840 difficulty? 505 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:07,360 Or do you want to be the kind of person who runs towards difficulty? 506 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,520 To embrace it so that you can grow? 507 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:20,560 Do you want to live your life in the shade or do you want to grow in the sun? 508 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:28,920 There was another one like Moses who was placed in a life and death situation. 509 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:33,880 There was another who God intended to display his glory through. 510 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:38,040 There was another who embraced difficulty. 511 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,560 I'm talking about Jesus. 512 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,720 Jesus had the ultimate comfort zone. 513 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:49,040 He was with God the Father since forever and for forever. 514 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:57,080 And yet he abandoned the comfort zone to become one of us, to take on human flesh, to live 515 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:04,840 our experience of being hungry, sick and thirsty, to experience pain and suffering. 516 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,760 Jesus abandoned the comfort zone to live that life. 517 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,880 And he abandoned the comfort zone to die. 518 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:17,760 And to not die a nice comfortable death surrounded by friends and family. 519 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:20,920 He was surrounded by friends and family kind of. 520 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:27,240 And he died an excruciating and humiliating public death. 521 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:33,760 And he did it for you and he did it for me. 522 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:38,520 So that we could be reconciled to God forever. 523 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,560 You know Jesus went to that cross out of sheer love for you and for me. 524 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:47,160 Jesus abandoned the comfort zone out of sheer love for you and for me. 525 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,440 So that we could be with God and have life with him forever. 526 00:33:51,440 --> 00:34:01,880 And as a follower of Jesus, I look at Jesus, what he did on the cross, what he willingly 527 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:04,920 went through for me. 528 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:16,440 And I think if I was brought into the family of God by such willing suffering, such blatant 529 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:29,560 abandonment of the comfort zone, how could I be so concerned with staying there? 530 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:36,720 How could I be at home or a church or a work or at school drop off and be so focused on 531 00:34:36,720 --> 00:34:46,280 what I want, what's good for me, what serves me, what feeds me, what's nice for me? 532 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:57,880 The more and more I experience the love of God and the more that I love God, the more 533 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:04,640 ashamed I feel about getting mine and doing what's best for me. 534 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:08,880 That's not the path that Jesus took. 535 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:14,680 And I'm just utterly convinced that the comfort zone just has to die in me. 536 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:17,640 It just has to die. 537 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:25,360 And my friends, if you want to grow, if you want to see revival, if you want to see God's 538 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:30,440 kingdom come in Hanley as it is in heaven, it's got to die in you too. 539 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:34,160 It's got to die in you too. 540 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,480 You've got to get out of the comfort zone. 541 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,720 You've got to get out of the comfort zone. 542 00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:47,960 You know, when they're young, they grow towards the sun, which means they track the sun in 543 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:49,880 the day. 544 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:54,480 And that is what we want for each of you. 545 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,000 That you would become people who not just grow in difficulty towards Jesus. 546 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:02,480 You're not just growing difficulty, but you're growing in difficulty towards Jesus, towards 547 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,360 the Son of God. 548 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,960 But to do that, you've got to leave the comfort zone. 549 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:13,840 I have here a bowl of sunflower seeds. 550 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:22,680 Bunnings tells me there's 150 in here, but that is a straight up lie. 551 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:31,600 There's probably 45, which means there's one for everyone in this room. 552 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:37,240 You are like this sunflower seed. 553 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:39,680 We all are. 554 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,440 And this bowl is like the comfort zone. 555 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,040 These seeds are nice and comfy in here. 556 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:46,040 They're hanging out. 557 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:47,040 They're having a good time. 558 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:48,540 The bowl's nice. 559 00:36:48,540 --> 00:36:55,080 But this seed will never grow into a plant until it leaves the bowl. 560 00:36:55,080 --> 00:37:00,960 It goes into the soil and dies. 561 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:05,680 And we will never become the people that God has created us to be unless we will leave 562 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:14,200 this comfort zone and go out into the world and pick up our cross, deny ourselves, follow 563 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,520 Jesus, unless we will also die. 564 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:25,600 Bonhoeffer has an amazing, Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who was executed by Hitler 565 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,160 in the Second World War. 566 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:35,200 And he has this amazing line which says, when Christ calls a man or a woman, he bids him 567 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:39,080 come and die. 568 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:46,480 Invites us into his death so that he can also invite us into his life. 569 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:50,280 And so I want to give you an opportunity to, and an invitation to respond today. 570 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:51,680 You do not need to do so. 571 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:57,360 But if you would like to, if you want to commit and say, you know what, yeah, I'm going to 572 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:06,640 do the hard work of leaving the comfort zone for the sake of my friends, for the sake of 573 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:17,440 my family, for the sake of my kids, for the sake of Henley, my neighbourhood, my community. 574 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:18,440 I'm going to do the hard work. 575 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:19,960 I'm going to leave the comfort zone. 576 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:21,880 I want to grow in the sun towards Jesus. 577 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:26,720 I'm going to put this over here when we sing some worship and I want you to come and grab 578 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:29,040 one, just one. 579 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,760 Take your seed out of the comfort zone. 580 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,280 Take it out and take it with you. 581 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:37,720 You can put it in your wallet or on your desk or plant it in your garden. 582 00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:42,640 Use it as a reminder of your decision that I'm going to leave the comfort zone. 583 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:43,640 I'm going to do that. 584 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:44,840 I'm going to be that kind of person. 585 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:48,760 I'm going to embrace difficulty and I'm going to grow. 586 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:59,000 But I want you to not do this lightly because it's there because you like sunflower seeds 587 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:05,880 because God sees these little symbolic decisions that we make. 588 00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:11,560 If you say, I'm going to step out of the comfort zone and grow, He's going to make you step 589 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,800 out of the comfort zone and grow. 590 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:19,080 You may have the comfort zone ripped out from under you if you come and grab one of these 591 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:20,240 sunflower seeds. 592 00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:24,080 But what do you want? 593 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:31,400 Do you want to grow? 594 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,920 You may not always enjoy the difficulties of your life. 595 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:39,440 But if you become someone who grows in the sun, you'll look back and you'll say, yeah, 596 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:41,880 that was really bloody hard. 597 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:43,800 And I wouldn't wish it on anyone. 598 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:48,280 But look what God did. 599 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:54,200 Look what God did. 600 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:57,120 Thanks so much for tuning into this week's message. 601 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:03,400 If you felt challenged or need prayer, would love to hear from you on Instagram at EncounterHemmy. 602 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:11,800 Or if you're interested in how you can support this ministry, please go to our website, EncounterAdelaide.com.au. 603 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:12,800 Thanks again for listening. 604 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:13,800 God bless you.