WEBVTT 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:12.679 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:15.279 Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:20.839 you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:24.359 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:28.280 message from our preaching team. Our Bible reading 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:31.980 today comes from Acts chapter 9, verse 32 to 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:36.179 42. Meanwhile, Peter travelled from place to 00:00:36.179 --> 00:00:38.520 place, and he came down to visit the believers 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:43.119 in the town of Lydia. There he met a man named 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:53.259 Aeneas, who had been paralysed and bedridden 00:00:53.259 --> 00:00:58.179 for eight years. Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus 00:00:58.179 --> 00:01:02.439 Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your sleeping 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:07.569 mat. And he was healed instantly. Then the whole 00:01:07.569 --> 00:01:11.209 population of Lydia and Sharon saw Aeneas walking 00:01:11.209 --> 00:01:15.909 around and they turned to the Lord. There was 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:21.010 a believer in Joppa named Tabitha. Tabitha? Tabitha. 00:01:21.590 --> 00:01:25.769 Which in Greek is Dorcas. She was always doing 00:01:25.769 --> 00:01:28.010 kind things for others and helping the poor. 00:01:28.510 --> 00:01:33.590 That's nice. About this time she became ill and 00:01:33.590 --> 00:01:41.049 died. Her body was washed for burial and laid 00:01:41.049 --> 00:01:44.549 in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:48.290 that Peter was nearby at Lydia, so they sent 00:01:48.290 --> 00:01:53.189 two men to beg him, please come as soon as possible. 00:01:54.189 --> 00:01:56.950 So Peter returned with them. And as soon as he 00:01:56.950 --> 00:01:59.230 arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. 00:02:00.010 --> 00:02:03.310 The room was filled with widows who were weeping 00:02:03.310 --> 00:02:06.250 and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas 00:02:06.250 --> 00:02:09.969 had made for them. But Peter asked them all to 00:02:09.969 --> 00:02:14.930 leave the room. Then he knelt and prayed. Turning 00:02:14.930 --> 00:02:20.009 to the body, he said, get up Tabitha. And she 00:02:20.009 --> 00:02:24.069 opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat 00:02:24.069 --> 00:02:29.710 up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. When 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:32.229 he called in the widows and all the believers 00:02:32.229 --> 00:02:37.689 he presented her to them alive The news spread 00:02:37.689 --> 00:02:41.210 through the whole town and many believed in the 00:02:41.210 --> 00:02:48.909 Lord This is the word of the Lord Thank You Ash 00:02:48.909 --> 00:02:54.610 One of my core memories is I was 18 and I watched 00:02:54.610 --> 00:02:58.469 my friend jump from and repeatedly jump from 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:01.289 a a staircase landing, which was maybe six or 00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:04.509 seven steps high, onto the ground, just over 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:06.969 and over and again. And I remember it to this 00:03:06.969 --> 00:03:09.229 day, and it doesn't sound like a very significant 00:03:09.229 --> 00:03:11.789 memory, does it? Until you know what happened 00:03:11.789 --> 00:03:15.689 before that, because five minutes before this, 00:03:15.870 --> 00:03:18.969 this person was in a moon boot, like verifiably 00:03:18.969 --> 00:03:23.250 fractured, like six -week recovery kind of injury. 00:03:23.330 --> 00:03:25.310 It was so bad, they were just hobbling around 00:03:25.310 --> 00:03:28.129 even on the moon boot, you know, it tends to... 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:29.740 Support you a little bit. It was so painful. 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:34.000 But now the ankle was completely healed And it 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.419 was all because we were bored at a retreat and 00:03:37.419 --> 00:03:39.180 it was a Christian retreat And so what else was 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:42.060 there to do but to pray for people to be healed? 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:45.800 And minutes later they're jumping off this staircase 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:51.860 just to test it out Which is wild Now I lived 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:55.400 this but I wonder how you make sense of hearing 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:59.349 this Because it's frankly miraculous. Do you 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:02.669 believe me? Do you believe me because you know 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:04.949 me and you trust that I wouldn't lie to you? 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:07.870 Or do you believe me because you believe that 00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:11.509 miracles do happen? Or do you think I was mistaken 00:04:11.509 --> 00:04:14.090 or misguided? Maybe the injury wasn't that bad. 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:18.990 Or do you not believe me at all? You know, whether 00:04:18.990 --> 00:04:22.750 or not you believe me, funnily enough, has something 00:04:22.750 --> 00:04:27.230 to do with your generation. If you're a Gen Z, 00:04:27.329 --> 00:04:30.129 15 to 30 -ish, you're actually more likely to 00:04:30.129 --> 00:04:32.470 believe me because you're more likely to believe 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:35.730 in miracles. There's an article published on 00:04:35.730 --> 00:04:38.790 the ABC which is up there. What young people 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:44.189 believe. 44 % are sure that miracles happen. 00:04:45.329 --> 00:04:48.490 A further 28 % are open to it happening. So that's 00:04:48.490 --> 00:04:50.290 almost two thirds between those two categories. 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:53.449 And a further 20 % would say that they just don't 00:04:53.449 --> 00:04:56.230 know that it could happen or it could not. happen 00:04:56.230 --> 00:05:00.149 and only nine percent nine percent of gen z's 00:05:00.149 --> 00:05:01.930 who were sampled said they think it's unlikely 00:05:01.930 --> 00:05:05.930 or no way the miracles have nine percent so the 00:05:05.930 --> 00:05:08.430 cumulative openness to the existence of miracles 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:12.870 is really astoundingly high but by contrast to 00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:16.490 this the oldest bracket researched which was 00:05:16.490 --> 00:05:20.709 76 years and up significantly more skeptical 00:05:20.709 --> 00:05:24.610 about the existence of the supernatural So how 00:05:24.610 --> 00:05:27.769 do we make sense of this? You know I had a great 00:05:27.769 --> 00:05:29.649 quote this week, and I think it sums this up 00:05:29.649 --> 00:05:31.750 But I can't remember who said it or if I'm quoting 00:05:31.750 --> 00:05:35.529 it right, so I'm just gonna try anyway Gen Z 00:05:35.529 --> 00:05:38.529 have feasted on secularism, and they've had a 00:05:38.529 --> 00:05:46.410 gutful somebody probably said that Thank you 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:50.300 You see, Gen Z have taken in everything secularism 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:53.079 has to offer. And it's mainly this naturalist 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:55.699 philosophy that says that all there is really 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:59.459 in this world is what we can touch, see, examine, 00:05:59.779 --> 00:06:02.540 measure, and understand. That there really is 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:04.639 nothing supernatural, nothing other. There is 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:08.560 only the natural. But the longer you live into 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.519 a natural is all there is world view, the more 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:14.680 you see its limitations. We don't actually have 00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:16.899 explanations for everything. Things exist that 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:19.399 we cannot measure or completely understand. And 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:22.759 one enormous hole is human consciousness. So 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.079 I've got a quote here from an Australian philosopher 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:27.240 who's an expert in this area, not a Christian, 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:29.579 wouldn't say he's religious or spiritual at all. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.740 He said, this is the problem of consciousness. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.199 It's widely agreed that experience arises from 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:38.939 a physical basis. So we have a brain, but we 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:42.459 have no good explanation of. why and how it so 00:06:42.459 --> 00:06:47.560 arises. Why should physical processing give rise 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:51.560 to a rich inner life at all? It seems objectively 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.519 unreasonable that it should, and yet it does. 00:06:56.620 --> 00:06:59.199 You're probably not a secular cognitive scientist 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.939 struggling with the hard problem of consciousness. 00:07:02.509 --> 00:07:04.730 But for a lot of us, there comes times in our 00:07:04.730 --> 00:07:07.250 lives when we realize that the best of secularism 00:07:07.250 --> 00:07:10.410 and naturalism cannot help us. Sicknesses that 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:12.889 can't be treated, relationships that break down, 00:07:12.910 --> 00:07:15.069 things that happen that we just can't explain. 00:07:15.910 --> 00:07:18.269 And a purely natural worldview doesn't cut it. 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:22.750 We need the power outside of ourselves. We actually 00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:25.410 need the supernatural. And maybe you've come 00:07:25.410 --> 00:07:28.060 to that place yourself. And I would imagine, 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:30.819 and it's clear that our society has come to this 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:33.339 place because the rise of energy crystals and 00:07:33.339 --> 00:07:36.639 psychics, new ages, angels, astrology, alternative 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:40.220 healers, it shows us that people are hungry for 00:07:40.220 --> 00:07:44.120 a power outside of the natural. Hungry or desperate. 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:47.560 Because someone's sick, someone's hurting, someone's 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:51.439 estranged, someone's having a ridiculous series 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:57.250 of bad luck. What do you do? Today is the last 00:07:57.250 --> 00:07:59.329 week of our six -week series, Evangelism for 00:07:59.329 --> 00:08:01.829 Everyone. We looked at the habits of evangelism 00:08:01.829 --> 00:08:03.550 that we can practice to share the good news of 00:08:03.550 --> 00:08:05.970 Jesus. We've looked at hospitality, giving and 00:08:05.970 --> 00:08:07.910 receiving of hospitality. We've looked at asking 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:11.649 great questions, being a Christian, inviting, 00:08:11.689 --> 00:08:14.769 invitation, testimony. And this week we're looking 00:08:14.769 --> 00:08:17.370 at spiritual power. And you might be wondering, 00:08:17.629 --> 00:08:20.629 spiritual power as a habit. That's a bit interesting. 00:08:21.810 --> 00:08:24.610 Now if you think about it, All of Jesus' ministry 00:08:24.610 --> 00:08:27.569 and teaching came with demonstrations of spiritual 00:08:27.569 --> 00:08:30.470 power. See, Jesus was constantly healing people 00:08:30.470 --> 00:08:33.289 who were unhealable, driving out evil spirits 00:08:33.289 --> 00:08:36.169 that had devastated lives for decades. Jesus 00:08:36.169 --> 00:08:39.350 fed the multitudes, spoke words of supernatural 00:08:39.350 --> 00:08:41.350 knowledge, and even raised people back to life. 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:44.070 Jesus had access to this spiritual power and 00:08:44.070 --> 00:08:47.350 He used it in His ministry. And in our teaching 00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:49.629 text today, we see Peter, a disciple of Jesus, 00:08:49.769 --> 00:08:53.049 doing what his teacher did. Peter's traveling 00:08:53.049 --> 00:08:55.669 to encourage the church and he comes to the town 00:08:55.669 --> 00:08:59.389 of Lydia and there he meets Ananias. Dan, help 00:08:59.389 --> 00:09:03.629 me out. Ananias. A man who has been paralyzed 00:09:03.629 --> 00:09:06.110 for eight years. He's bedridden. And Peter says 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:09.649 to him, Ananias, Jesus Christ heals you. Get 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:12.409 up and roll up your sleeping mat. And he was 00:09:12.409 --> 00:09:16.149 healed instantly. And what happens? Well, a man 00:09:16.149 --> 00:09:18.730 who couldn't walk, who was bedridden, starts 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:22.590 walking around the town. You notice things like 00:09:22.590 --> 00:09:25.690 this. You would pay attention to this. You look 00:09:25.690 --> 00:09:28.570 at Aeneas wandering around and think to yourself, 00:09:29.169 --> 00:09:32.309 hmm, something's changed. I just can't put my 00:09:32.309 --> 00:09:38.009 finger on it. Maybe he's got a new haircut. There's 00:09:38.009 --> 00:09:40.809 a man who was paralyzed walking around. This 00:09:40.809 --> 00:09:42.730 would provoke questions for which the gospel 00:09:42.730 --> 00:09:46.409 is the answer. And the text says they saw him 00:09:46.409 --> 00:09:50.350 walking around and they turned to the Lord. And 00:09:50.350 --> 00:09:52.110 meanwhile, a little further away, there's a believer 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:55.210 named Tabitha, a woman of godly character and 00:09:55.210 --> 00:09:57.909 affection for the poor. She's died and her body 00:09:57.909 --> 00:10:00.210 is ready for burial. But the believers, they 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:02.049 hear that Peter is nearby, and so they beg him 00:10:02.049 --> 00:10:04.490 to come quickly, and so he comes. And he goes 00:10:04.490 --> 00:10:08.769 to where Tabitha is resting. And they're showing 00:10:08.769 --> 00:10:11.750 him all the things that Tabitha had made for 00:10:11.750 --> 00:10:14.970 them, just to communicate how dear and important 00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:18.350 this lady was. But the text says Peter just tells 00:10:18.350 --> 00:10:23.200 him to get out. And then he kneels and prays 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:25.559 and he turns to the body and says, get up Tabitha. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:32.879 And she opens her eyes. And then he calls all 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:34.759 the widows and the believers in and presents 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:38.200 her to them alive. So if you know that someone 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:41.379 has died and you've seen them prepared for burial 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:45.159 and there she is walking around, this is going 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:47.600 to provoke questions for which the gospel is 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:51.679 the answer. And the news of this spreads. And 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.000 it says that many believed in the Lord. So this 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:57.639 is one passage, two stories, two miracles that 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:00.919 causes people to believe. And this is what spiritual 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:04.000 power does. If you're skeptical about Christianity, 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:06.620 and you know someone who died a few days ago, 00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:09.279 and then you see them at the grocery store, you're 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.559 like, what is going on? And they're like, oh, 00:11:12.659 --> 00:11:14.440 well, you know, this guy brought me back to life 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:17.379 in the name of Jesus. You just might reconsider 00:11:17.379 --> 00:11:20.230 your skepticism, wouldn't you? See spiritual 00:11:20.230 --> 00:11:22.529 power, it cuts through whatever it is you might 00:11:22.529 --> 00:11:26.450 think, feel or believe about Christianity and 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:29.289 shows it to be true. And this is what the miraculous 00:11:29.289 --> 00:11:31.009 is for. This is what the miraculous has always 00:11:31.009 --> 00:11:33.769 been for. In the Old Testament prophets, in the 00:11:33.769 --> 00:11:35.889 ministry of Jesus and in the work of the disciples 00:11:35.889 --> 00:11:40.070 and the sharing of the gospel today. It authenticates 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:43.090 the message of the one bringing the miraculous. 00:11:43.509 --> 00:11:45.669 This is what John Wimber says, Christian signs 00:11:45.669 --> 00:11:48.639 and wonders are beyond rationality. but they 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.340 serve a rational purpose to authenticate the 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:55.440 gospel. Spiritual power has always been a factor 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:57.600 in evangelism, the spreading of the good news 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.340 of Jesus, that Jesus reigns over the universe 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:04.399 because it authenticates the message. The gospel 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.820 of Jesus is not just one story amongst many, 00:12:06.940 --> 00:12:09.679 one religion against many, one philosophy against 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.179 many. Spiritual power authenticates is a very 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:16.600 true story of the universe. Paul in his first 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:40.639 letter to the church in Corinth says, I relied 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:43.399 only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:45.460 so you would not trust in human wisdom but in 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:48.620 the very power of God. This is Paul's church 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:51.039 planting strategy. He comes with the simple gospel 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.519 of Jesus Christ crucified and with spiritual 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.799 power. So they were trusting God and not in the 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:00.090 wisdom or charisma or whatever of Paul. If you 00:13:00.090 --> 00:13:02.789 read church history, you see signs and wonders 00:13:02.789 --> 00:13:04.669 authenticating the gospel over and over again. 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:06.970 If you read stories of what the Spirit is doing 00:13:06.970 --> 00:13:09.769 in non -Western countries, signs and wonders 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:11.409 over and over again. There's a book on the bookshelf 00:13:11.409 --> 00:13:14.850 by Brother Ewan. Read it, you'll be amazed. You'll 00:13:14.850 --> 00:13:18.769 hear stories of miracles and signs and wonders 00:13:18.769 --> 00:13:22.009 authenticating the gospel. So the question is 00:13:22.009 --> 00:13:25.889 then, why do we only very rarely hear stories 00:13:25.889 --> 00:13:29.860 of signs and wonders in Western culture? Why 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:34.120 do we not see it so much? Here's what I think. 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:36.279 I think it's confronting because there's some 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:39.799 truth to it. We very rarely hear stories of spiritual 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:42.419 power because the church in the West has also 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:45.679 feasted on secularism. We have tried to reduce 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:48.179 the gospel down to, and even worse, Jesus down 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:51.360 to just rational, reasonable, this human teacher 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.840 had some pretty sweet teachings but couldn't 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:58.409 save a donkey let alone the universe. We've feasted 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:01.289 on secularism as the church in the West and as 00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:03.330 a result I think that we have churches filled 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:05.230 with Christians who if they haven't given up 00:14:05.230 --> 00:14:08.129 on the idea entirely They actually want to believe 00:14:08.129 --> 00:14:10.370 in miracles. They want to see spiritual power, 00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:14.110 but in their heart of hearts they doubt And hedge 00:14:14.110 --> 00:14:16.690 their bets with their prayers Pastor John Tyson. 00:14:16.690 --> 00:14:18.870 We were at a conference a couple weeks ago gave 00:14:18.870 --> 00:14:22.659 us an absolute whack He said we tend to pray 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:26.419 prayers that are so like almost unanswerable 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:31.179 by God because they're so vague. Right? Like 00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:32.799 God if you want to heal but no worries if you 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.559 don't like may you heal this person but you know 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:37.360 give them your peace even if you if you don't 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.000 want to like they're so vague and like not direct. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:45.080 He said where's your faith? Where's your boldness? 00:14:45.179 --> 00:14:49.059 Where's our confidence in Jesus? And I'm asking 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:51.639 friends like, I've seen this in my own heart. 00:14:52.179 --> 00:14:55.220 I hedge my bets in my prayer. I have doubted 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:58.179 as I've prayed for healing. And I've held back 00:14:58.179 --> 00:15:01.360 speaking out because of this soul sucking voice 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:05.960 of reasonableness. And I've had a gut full. Charles 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:07.980 Kraft, who was an anthropologist, he wrote a 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:09.500 great book, which I haven't finished reading, 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:12.940 but it's good, Confronting Powerless Christianity. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:15.279 He says he came to this conclusion that the tradition 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:18.610 that he was brought up in was a rather secular 00:15:18.610 --> 00:15:22.950 Christianity. Knowledge based and without power. 00:15:24.009 --> 00:15:26.490 Knowledge based and without power. I've had a 00:15:26.490 --> 00:15:28.570 gutful of secular Christianity, I wonder if you 00:15:28.570 --> 00:15:32.309 have too. In a world of content overload, knowledge 00:15:32.309 --> 00:15:34.629 fatigue, what the world needs from Christians 00:15:34.629 --> 00:15:37.769 are not lofty words and impressive wisdom or 00:15:37.769 --> 00:15:40.950 clever and persuasive speeches, but the simple 00:15:40.950 --> 00:15:43.309 gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for you and 00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:46.769 me in the very power of God. And I don't know 00:15:46.769 --> 00:15:48.929 about you, but after a week in the prayer room, 00:15:49.090 --> 00:15:52.169 I couldn't want anything more. I couldn't want 00:15:52.169 --> 00:15:54.730 to pray full of faith and willing to bet it all 00:15:54.730 --> 00:15:57.950 on Jesus more. And we've been talking about the 00:15:57.950 --> 00:16:00.409 habits of evangelism, and this one is hard because 00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:03.870 every other one that we can do, we can give and 00:16:03.870 --> 00:16:05.950 receive hospitality. We can ask great questions. 00:16:06.009 --> 00:16:08.210 We can be a Christian. We can invite people. 00:16:08.230 --> 00:16:10.840 We can share our testimony. But spiritual power 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.220 is not like a kind of magic where we're in control 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:16.179 of how it's used. Spiritual power belongs to 00:16:16.179 --> 00:16:19.100 God, but it can be used through us like a conduit 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:21.340 to do what God wants, which is to reconcile all 00:16:21.340 --> 00:16:23.919 people back to Himself. So what does it look 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:25.940 like to practice this habit of spiritual power? 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.440 Well, I want to give you a framework and then 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:32.330 one practical thing that you can do. To practice 00:16:32.330 --> 00:16:34.830 the habit of spiritual power requires a shift 00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:38.070 in us in our mindset From to see ourselves as 00:16:38.070 --> 00:16:41.389 being what Wimber puts it like this naturally 00:16:41.389 --> 00:16:45.570 supernatural Requires us to shift into a mindset 00:16:45.570 --> 00:16:49.210 that we are naturally supernatural To reject 00:16:49.210 --> 00:16:51.730 the assumptions of secularism to reject the framework 00:16:51.730 --> 00:16:55.000 that all there is is the natural and embrace 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:58.100 the framework of Jesus who to use an extreme 00:16:58.100 --> 00:17:01.279 example found it completely natural to be confronted 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:07.259 publicly by demons. Completely natural. Here's 00:17:07.259 --> 00:17:10.420 what secularism has done according to Leslie 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:13.299 Newbigin who was a missionary and I drew a picture 00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:19.160 so you could see maybe there we go. Secularism 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:22.220 has taken the claims of faith which have forever 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:24.339 and today been seen by the people who follow 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:28.500 it as public fact or truth and it shifted it 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:32.140 into the realm of private opinions and values 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:36.480 you may believe that it is factual and i do and 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.859 true that jesus rose from the dead in his body 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:42.859 secularism says it doesn't matter if you think 00:17:42.859 --> 00:17:45.420 it's factual that's your private opinion you 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:48.410 should keep it to yourself And this creates a 00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:50.750 dissonance within us, a disconnect, especially 00:17:50.750 --> 00:17:53.910 for those of us who've grown up feasting on secularism. 00:17:54.130 --> 00:17:56.670 Because I've seen miraculous healing. God speaks 00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:58.890 to me when I'm hanging out the washing. I have 00:17:58.890 --> 00:18:02.269 felt the literal hand of God touch me. And I've 00:18:02.269 --> 00:18:04.410 had all these spiritual experiences that are 00:18:04.410 --> 00:18:06.230 true and factual, and I imagine you've had some 00:18:06.230 --> 00:18:09.170 yourself. But I feel like I have to keep these 00:18:09.170 --> 00:18:12.450 to myself as my private opinion. I feel like 00:18:12.450 --> 00:18:14.410 I can't talk to people who don't have faith. 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:17.200 with the about these things because those experiences 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:21.859 they make claims about reality that belong belong 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:24.740 in the secularism category of a private opinion 00:18:24.740 --> 00:18:28.839 not to be shared so if i say god healed my friend 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:31.180 and i had a radical encounter with jesus as a 00:18:31.180 --> 00:18:34.660 teenager and god speaks to me i'm making claims 00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:36.940 about the existence of a jesus who does who does 00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:40.160 that but new begin argues and i'm synthesizing 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:44.140 this here the test of our belief in anything 00:18:44.619 --> 00:18:47.960 is our willingness to publish what we believe 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:50.900 and to invite others to consider and accept it. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.079 The test of my belief in what I know to be factual 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.900 and true that the good news of Jesus is the true 00:18:55.900 --> 00:18:58.660 story of the universe, is my willingness to publish 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:02.019 that belief and invite others to consider and 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:04.259 accept it. And this is the framework shift we 00:19:04.259 --> 00:19:07.240 need to make. To see talking about, practicing 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:10.240 and engaging with our faith publicly as a good 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:14.680 thing, not an arrogant imposition. but as publishing 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:16.740 what we believe and inviting others to consider 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:19.240 it, and maybe even accept it, which they may. 00:19:20.279 --> 00:19:22.799 And this is how we become naturally supernatural. 00:19:23.180 --> 00:19:25.380 We don't bury the supernatural worldview that 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:27.980 comes out on a Sunday here at church on a Monday. 00:19:28.819 --> 00:19:31.380 We let our Sundays invade our Mondays. You can 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:34.559 tick that off the Encounter Bingo. Here's how 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.359 this plays out. Last night, Ash and I, we had 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:40.019 dinner with Judah's best friend's family. These 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:41.480 are great people. We're trying to get to know 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:43.059 them. We're trying to invest in them because 00:19:43.059 --> 00:19:45.079 our boys are beautiful friends and our daughters 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:49.380 have scarily similar energy. Like, oh, they're 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:53.160 in a class together. Pray for that teacher. And 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:55.740 because I tend to obsessively reflect on social 00:19:55.740 --> 00:19:57.859 situations, I was reflecting last night afterwards. 00:19:58.579 --> 00:20:01.559 And there were multiple times where I was talking 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:04.180 to the dad. and he asked a specific question 00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:06.819 about faith or my work or how I got into ministry 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:08.960 or he shared something of his own experience 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:12.339 and I answered truthfully and honestly but I 00:20:12.339 --> 00:20:15.680 held back I held back I didn't ask the next question 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:19.380 I didn't give a full -hearted authentic response 00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:23.000 I tried to overly translate the Christian or 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.140 worse of all I changed the subject because I 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:28.380 anxiously assumed that he was just humoring me 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:31.579 and wasn't actually interested instead of publishing 00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:34.220 my beliefs for him to consider instead of being 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:36.420 natural about the supernatural things that I 00:20:36.420 --> 00:20:40.579 believe. For being willing to publish your beliefs 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:42.240 to each other is actually the only way for you 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.220 to have an authentic and genuine relationship 00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:47.619 with someone else. Now here's how I know it's 00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:51.420 gone too far in me. I would tell you people in 00:20:51.420 --> 00:20:53.019 this room who are part of this church with more 00:20:53.019 --> 00:20:55.299 excitement and more detail about what God did 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:57.420 in my heart in the hours I spent in the prayer 00:20:57.420 --> 00:20:59.579 room this week than what I would have shared 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:02.700 with that dad. See, my framework has to shift 00:21:02.700 --> 00:21:06.440 from being publicly natural and privately supernatural 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:12.420 to naturally supernatural. So here's one thing 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:15.519 you can practically do to be naturally supernatural. 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:20.119 It's this. Practice reflex prayer. You might 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:25.180 be wondering, what is reflex prayer? Thank you. 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:29.279 See, when anyone, Christian or not, When they 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:31.200 express a need to you when you're talking to 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:33.579 them, their kids are perpetually sick, their 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:35.000 family members are struggling with their mental 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:36.680 health, they're struggling to pay the bills, 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:40.039 their workplace is horrid. Reflexively, meaning 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:43.400 immediately and on instinct, offer to pray for 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:47.240 them, then and there. It doesn't have to be long 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:50.299 and flowery, it can be very simple. Come Holy 00:21:50.299 --> 00:21:52.220 Spirit this week, please give them unexpected 00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:54.000 money to pay the bills, in Jesus' name, Amen. 00:21:54.940 --> 00:21:56.700 Come Holy Spirit, please heal little Johnny, 00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:00.539 in Jesus' name, Amen. And they may say no to 00:22:00.539 --> 00:22:02.819 the offer and that's fine, but my experience 00:22:02.819 --> 00:22:06.279 is they almost always say yes. So why do this? 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:09.420 There's two reasons. By doing this, you publish 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:11.859 your belief that Jesus has the power to intervene 00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:15.480 in their lives. This is why it's powerful and 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:17.880 also why the thought of doing it may seem extremely 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.920 scary to you. You're inviting them to consider 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:27.640 your belief that Jesus is real and can work in 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:31.190 their lives. And the second thing is this, when 00:22:31.190 --> 00:22:33.789 we pray for someone, we're inviting Jesus to 00:22:33.789 --> 00:22:37.130 work in their life. Wimber said, we don't seek 00:22:37.130 --> 00:22:40.369 God's power. We seek His presence. His power 00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:42.269 and everything else we need is always found in 00:22:42.269 --> 00:22:44.990 His presence. By praying for someone in the name 00:22:44.990 --> 00:22:48.089 of Jesus, we invite the presence of God to come 00:22:48.089 --> 00:22:50.750 into this person's life. And where God's presence 00:22:50.750 --> 00:22:53.829 is, so is His power. And this is the example 00:22:53.829 --> 00:22:56.710 of Peter. In our teaching text today, both examples, 00:22:56.710 --> 00:22:59.630 he brings the presence of Jesus by prayer or 00:22:59.630 --> 00:23:02.710 by declaring healing in the name of Jesus. When 00:23:02.710 --> 00:23:05.410 you pray for people by reflex, for those around 00:23:05.410 --> 00:23:07.349 us, Christian or otherwise, we simultaneously 00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:10.289 publish our belief that Jesus is alive and active 00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:12.710 and we bring that person into the presence of 00:23:12.710 --> 00:23:15.250 Jesus who can work his spiritual power to bring 00:23:15.250 --> 00:23:19.069 about faith and the miraculous. So this is your 00:23:19.069 --> 00:23:21.529 Henley homework for this week. And Isaac, you 00:23:21.529 --> 00:23:23.569 can come up if you like, please do some little. 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:29.759 Things, little tinkly things. This is your Hanley 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.220 homework this week. And you're gonna listen because 00:23:32.220 --> 00:23:34.839 it's gonna be, I'm gonna share it with you with 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:36.599 the sound of music behind me, which just makes 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:40.980 it way more powerful. When someone expresses 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:44.359 a need, offer to pray for them then and there. 00:23:45.299 --> 00:23:49.019 And if they say yes, then actually do it. Pray 00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:51.259 for them then and there. Invite Jesus to work 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:54.299 in their life. I've called this reflex prayer, 00:23:54.700 --> 00:23:57.480 But the reality is it doesn't become reflex unless 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.460 you push yourself to practice it. When Isaac 00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:05.200 over here plays cricket, he plays a cover drive 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:10.039 reflexively, don't you? That's right. Why? He 00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:12.599 plays it on instinct because he has practiced 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:15.039 that shot over and over again. Right, Isaac? 00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:18.440 That's right. He's practiced the cover drive. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:23.279 Your brain won't do anything by reflex it's never 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:27.599 done before. You must practice, practice, practice 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:30.539 them. If I got out there in the middle of the 00:24:30.539 --> 00:24:32.220 wicket and tried to play a cover drive with no 00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:36.460 practice, I'd get clean bowled. Friends, we must 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:40.160 practice offering prayer in the face of need 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:43.079 until the groove in our brain, the new groove 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:47.259 is a highway and you offer it automatically without 00:24:47.259 --> 00:24:53.599 thinking about it. Do you realize that this practice 00:24:54.419 --> 00:24:56.119 Practice, practice, practice until something 00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:59.920 is automatic by reflex. This is the reason why 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:01.660 Peter can do what he does in our teaching text 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:04.900 today. You think about the two miracles he performed 00:25:04.900 --> 00:25:07.420 in the name of Jesus. He heals a paralyzed man 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:09.119 who he tells to get up and roll up your sleeping 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:12.519 mat. And he tells the body of a woman who's died 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:16.680 to get up and she does. And Peter's actions are 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:18.500 strikingly similar to what we see Jesus doing 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:21.680 in the Gospels. Jesus tells a paralyzed man to 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:23.670 pick up his sleeping mat and go home. as he heals 00:25:23.670 --> 00:25:26.490 him. He does it in gospel of Mark and Luke. Jesus 00:25:26.490 --> 00:25:28.410 tells a little girl to get up after she's died 00:25:28.410 --> 00:25:31.849 and she comes back to life in both Mark and Luke. 00:25:34.109 --> 00:25:36.809 Peter's simply doing what he has seen Jesus do. 00:25:37.650 --> 00:25:40.250 He's doing what Jesus has trained him to do. 00:25:41.309 --> 00:25:43.650 Peter's one of the 72 that Jesus sends out town 00:25:43.650 --> 00:25:46.029 to town to heal the sick and announce the good 00:25:46.029 --> 00:25:48.349 news that the Kingdom of God is here. Jesus has 00:25:48.349 --> 00:25:51.640 trained Peter. His neural grooves of spiritual 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:55.079 power are highways. So he doesn't hesitate. He 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:56.500 doesn't think about it. He just calls on the 00:25:56.500 --> 00:25:58.900 name of the Lord. He calls the name of Jesus 00:25:58.900 --> 00:26:02.619 to heal the sick and raise the dead. I just wonder 00:26:02.619 --> 00:26:06.220 if, thanks to this gutful we've all had of secularism, 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:09.460 we make this way more complicated than it needs 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:13.839 to be. John Wibber says this, we can't learn 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:15.720 how to heal the sick by reading a book. I feel 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:19.269 personally attacked by that. or mastering a technique. 00:26:20.410 --> 00:26:22.430 You believe what Jesus promised and then you 00:26:22.430 --> 00:26:26.029 get out and you do it. This is what Peter does. 00:26:26.049 --> 00:26:27.849 He saw what Jesus did, he believes what he said 00:26:27.849 --> 00:26:29.950 and so he goes out and does it, gets on with 00:26:29.950 --> 00:26:34.069 it. And I wonder what God would do in you and 00:26:34.069 --> 00:26:39.410 through you if you did the same. Earlier this 00:26:39.410 --> 00:26:41.250 year I had a layover in Sydney and my friend 00:26:41.250 --> 00:26:43.170 Sam, who I've spoken about many times before, 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:46.380 He came to the airport to see us and Sam is one 00:26:46.380 --> 00:26:48.819 of my best mates. He's not a Christian. He's 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:50.460 been having an issue with his health and he shared 00:26:50.460 --> 00:26:52.559 it with me. It's a scary new issue he's been 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:54.880 having. And so I did what I've been practicing. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:59.539 I offered to pray for him then and there. And 00:26:59.539 --> 00:27:01.380 that is the first time that I've ever done that 00:27:01.380 --> 00:27:04.420 in the 15, 16, I don't know how old I am, years 00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:08.200 that I've known him. And to my surprise, he said 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:13.500 yes. And so I prayed for him. And nothing happened. 00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:17.119 And I share this with you because spiritual power 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:20.779 is not magic. It's not our power. It's God's 00:27:20.779 --> 00:27:23.460 power to work in His time and in His ways. And 00:27:23.460 --> 00:27:26.220 this is the way it should be. And so you'll pray 00:27:26.220 --> 00:27:28.059 for people to be healed and they might not be 00:27:28.059 --> 00:27:31.779 healed. And that's okay. I believe in Jesus' 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:33.380 promise. I believe He still heals people today. 00:27:33.380 --> 00:27:36.920 We've seen this at church. And I've seen Him 00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:41.619 heal people today. But with my best mate in that 00:27:41.619 --> 00:27:44.240 moment, I published my belief to him that Jesus 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:47.559 heals today. And the rest I leave up to God. 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:52.000 I am just, after all, a conduit of his power. 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:55.559 God knows Sam better than he knows himself. God 00:27:55.559 --> 00:27:57.920 loves him more than he could ever hope or imagine. 00:27:58.539 --> 00:28:00.220 And of sheer grace and love, Jesus willingly 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:02.720 went to the cross to die for him. God's going 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:06.579 after him. He's inviting him home to come home 00:28:06.579 --> 00:28:09.759 to him to find life and life to the full. I don't 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:13.720 leave that with him. Spiritual power authenticates 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:17.299 the message of the gospel. Because I can't control 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:19.920 whether God moves in power here or there. But 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:22.000 I can control what I do. And you can control 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.900 what you do. You can publish your belief. You 00:28:25.900 --> 00:28:28.079 can be naturally supernatural. You can invite 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:30.720 the presence of Jesus into someone's situation. 00:28:31.539 --> 00:28:33.299 Because friends, if you pray nine times and on 00:28:33.299 --> 00:28:35.460 the tenth you saw a miracle, would it be worth 00:28:35.460 --> 00:28:39.490 it? If you prayed 99 times and on the 100th you 00:28:39.490 --> 00:28:43.990 saw a miracle, would it be worth it? Yeah. Yeah, 00:28:43.990 --> 00:28:48.970 it would be. Friends, we've been called out to 00:28:48.970 --> 00:28:50.950 be a conduit in which the spiritual power of 00:28:50.950 --> 00:28:54.390 God can flow out to the world. And the church 00:28:54.390 --> 00:28:56.230 is only the church when it exists for others. 00:28:57.289 --> 00:28:58.990 And the spiritual power of God is there to show 00:28:58.990 --> 00:29:02.470 the world that the gospel is true. But today, 00:29:02.950 --> 00:29:04.569 you might need to hear that God's power is there 00:29:04.569 --> 00:29:08.240 for you too. Healing is there for you as well. 00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:11.440 Grace is there for you as well. Provision is 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:14.000 there for you as well. The miracle you need to 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:37.859 see is there for you as well. Thanks again for 00:29:37.859 --> 00:29:39.400 listening. God bless you.