WEBVTT 00:00:09.960 --> 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 --> 00:00:20.899 you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 00:00:20.899 --> 00:00:24.379 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.379 --> 00:00:28.679 message from our preaching team. It's my pleasure 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:31.120 today to read the Bible for you. If you have 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.380 a Bible and would like to read along. We are 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:42.899 starting in Acts 4 verse 32 to 37. Acts 4 32 00:00:42.899 --> 00:00:47.159 to 37. All the believers were united in heart 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:50.920 and mind and they felt that what they owned was 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:54.119 not their own. So they shared everything that 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:57.880 they had. The apostles testified powerfully to 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.759 the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:04.319 great blessing was upon them all. There was no 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:08.019 needy people among them, because those who owned 00:01:08.019 --> 00:01:10.540 land or houses would sell them and bring the 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:12.980 money to the apostles to give to those in need. 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:18.620 For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:21.680 nicknamed Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. 00:01:22.489 --> 00:01:25.709 He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the 00:01:25.709 --> 00:01:29.489 island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and 00:01:29.489 --> 00:01:34.890 brought the money to the apostles. We are gonna 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:42.909 jump now to Galatians. Galatians 3 verse 26 to 00:01:42.909 --> 00:01:49.409 29. For you are all children of God through faith 00:01:49.409 --> 00:01:53.969 in Jesus. and all who have been united with Christ 00:01:53.969 --> 00:01:58.890 in baptism have put on have put on Christ like 00:01:58.890 --> 00:02:02.170 putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew 00:02:02.170 --> 00:02:06.489 or Gentile, slave or free, male and female for 00:02:06.489 --> 00:02:09.909 you are all one in Christ Jesus and now that 00:02:09.909 --> 00:02:13.229 you belong to Christ you are the true children 00:02:13.229 --> 00:02:17.590 of Abraham. You are his heirs and God's promise 00:02:17.590 --> 00:02:20.620 to Abraham belongs to you. This is the word of 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:25.159 the Lord. Thank you, Steph. All right, let's 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:28.259 see if I can do this on the fly. Nope. Not a 00:02:28.259 --> 00:02:33.719 one -handed job. Okay. Howdy, everyone. Thanks. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:35.680 You skipped the next bit. You saved me a thing. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:37.360 For those who don't know me, I think most of 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:38.759 you in this room know me at this point, but my 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:43.099 name's Tex. I'm one of the pastors here. I am 00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:48.039 a husband and a father. and I am ruining these 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:49.659 rugs, man. All right, we're doing great over 00:02:49.659 --> 00:02:52.139 here. You, thank you. I'm also going to grab 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:54.360 my water. Why not? Let's start. It's been a bit 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:56.680 loose today at church. Everybody shake it out, 00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:58.699 man. We're going to be okay. We're going to hear 00:02:58.699 --> 00:03:01.639 the Word of God. It's a good church. That's right. 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:02.740 That's what we want. If we're going to be loose, 00:03:02.819 --> 00:03:04.300 let's be loose in the good way. Let's get nice 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:05.960 and responsive today as I destroy these rugs 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:09.780 again. Okay, so most of you know me in this room, 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.270 which I'm very thankful for. I genuinely destroyed 00:03:12.270 --> 00:03:15.289 the rugs immediately. My name is Tex. I am one 00:03:15.289 --> 00:03:17.409 of the pastors here. I am a husband. My wife, 00:03:17.669 --> 00:03:20.289 Kara, and I have been married for 17, almost 00:03:20.289 --> 00:03:24.530 18 years. We have, yeah, darn right, Wu. We have 00:03:24.530 --> 00:03:27.330 three beautiful kids, Cadence, Delilah, and Cecilia. 00:03:27.870 --> 00:03:31.069 Now, my middle daughter, Delilah, is obsessed, 00:03:31.090 --> 00:03:32.729 and some of you may have worked this out based 00:03:32.729 --> 00:03:35.689 on clothing and based on other things. She is 00:03:35.689 --> 00:03:38.550 obsessed with the character Stitch from Disney's 00:03:38.550 --> 00:03:43.099 Lilo and Stitch. Now, for those of you who don't 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:45.520 know, but I am in a room. I preached at Enfield 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.759 this morning, which was a slightly older crowd, 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:50.259 so I really had to dig in pretty deep with the 00:03:50.259 --> 00:03:52.840 lore of Lilo and Stitch. But I'm going to assume 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:55.280 you guys are ready to go right the way along 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:59.099 with me. So, I'll still do a brief recap. Film 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:01.500 focuses on a lonely girl, Lilo, being raised 00:04:01.500 --> 00:04:04.500 by her sister when an alien experiment, Stitch, 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:07.580 crash lands in Hawaii, and Lilo adopts him basically 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:10.900 as her pet. How am I going so far? Pretty good. 00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:14.439 That is a very like fine, right? Basically as 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:17.160 a pet now Stitch is sort of like a hyperactive 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:21.459 space dog He is unruly. He's pretty selfish because 00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:23.899 again, he's kind of like this weirdo experiment 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:29.459 dog and He he kind of is just a bit hectic but 00:04:29.459 --> 00:04:33.040 through Lilo's unwavering belief in Ohana, which 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:36.600 is the Hawaiian concept of Family, thank you. 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:38.540 We're playing along. We're doing mad libs today. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:41.939 Let's go. And Lilo's refusal to give up on Stitch. 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:44.680 Stitch's heart kind of begins to open. The penultimate 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.720 scene has Lilo kind of... Sorry, has Stitch going 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.220 out of his way to save Lilo from impending doom. 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:52.899 And the film climaxes with Stitch choosing to 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:55.620 stay on Earth with his found family rather than 00:04:55.620 --> 00:04:59.600 return to where he came from. How'd I go? Pretty 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:01.040 great. That's awesome. Eric's like, I've never 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:02.899 seen it. But if I say great, you will keep on 00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:07.199 going. Now... The film has become pretty widely 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:12.060 known for one quote in particular, which is, 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:16.939 Ohana means family, and family means nobody. 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:22.319 This is unbelievable work. Let me tell you, I 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.439 did not have the confidence to let that slide. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.680 Katie's reading it from behind me. Yeah, this 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.319 is so good. I didn't know how well Ash was going 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:31.480 to play along with me there. Ohana means family 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:34.279 and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:37.579 Now, I think that this is a pretty kind of broad 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.079 concept and a pretty beautiful sentiment for 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.779 a movie to share, which is effectively about 00:05:42.779 --> 00:05:48.279 an ADHD fugitive space dog. And it really does 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:50.519 open up a pretty beautiful thought and conversation 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:55.360 around what is family. What are the core characteristics 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.759 that we assign to the type of family that would 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.259 cause us to feel that sense of belonging that 00:06:00.259 --> 00:06:02.839 sense of ohana that would cause us to feel like 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:08.040 we both belong and want to be part of a Family 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:10.939 that we that will that we want to not leave behind 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:12.800 and that doesn't want to leave others behind 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.000 and you know It doesn't want to leave us behind 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:20.209 now according to the AI FS Nobody? No, I'm joking. 00:06:20.569 --> 00:06:23.269 The Australian Institute of Family Studies, this 00:06:23.269 --> 00:06:25.730 is a legit organisation, government organisation, 00:06:25.790 --> 00:06:28.410 they had a study from December 2024. Now what 00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:30.269 they did with this study is they did a report 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:32.149 where they wanted to talk about what are these 00:06:32.149 --> 00:06:34.230 six, or find out what are the most important 00:06:34.230 --> 00:06:37.209 attributes that people respond with when asked 00:06:37.209 --> 00:06:40.870 to define what is family. What attribute do you 00:06:40.870 --> 00:06:44.870 assign to family? And they came back with these 00:06:44.870 --> 00:06:48.110 results. Unconditional non -judgmental support. 00:06:48.589 --> 00:06:52.250 common experiences and activities, shared values, 00:06:52.769 --> 00:06:55.790 beliefs and activities, and traditions, sorry, 00:06:56.250 --> 00:07:00.089 legal ties or obligations, blood slash genetics, 00:07:00.649 --> 00:07:04.769 and number one with an absolute bullet was love. 00:07:07.009 --> 00:07:09.790 Participants were more likely to respond with 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:12.610 love as the most important characteristic of 00:07:12.610 --> 00:07:16.050 what defines for them a family than anything 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:18.269 else. It was actually the most important and 00:07:18.269 --> 00:07:20.930 highest rated response of anything as part of 00:07:20.930 --> 00:07:24.129 this study. Approximately 80 % leased it as very 00:07:24.129 --> 00:07:26.149 or the most important attribute of what they 00:07:26.149 --> 00:07:29.629 consider family. The second most important was 00:07:29.629 --> 00:07:33.939 unconditional support. Now what I think is really 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:36.019 interesting about this is that when I hear the 00:07:36.019 --> 00:07:37.920 word family, I'll be honest, my first thought 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:40.899 went to Kara, went to the kids. For you, you 00:07:40.899 --> 00:07:43.000 hear the word family. It may invoke your mum, 00:07:43.019 --> 00:07:45.319 your dad, a grandparent, an auntie, an uncle, 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:50.600 a niece, something like that. But only 13 % of 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:52.980 respondents nominated genetics or bloodlines 00:07:52.980 --> 00:07:55.579 as variable, which just kind of goes to prove 00:07:55.579 --> 00:07:59.420 that 10 of people responding with love, what 00:07:59.420 --> 00:08:01.720 we consider family runs far deeper than just 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.829 blood. And I think it's because of that that 00:08:05.829 --> 00:08:10.769 we use family language a lot in church. Brothers 00:08:10.769 --> 00:08:13.790 and sisters. Why don't you make encounter your 00:08:13.790 --> 00:08:16.670 home? Why don't you be part of our church family? 00:08:17.189 --> 00:08:19.410 I kind of in the past in at different stages 00:08:19.410 --> 00:08:21.230 I've often wondered like are these a bit rote? 00:08:21.269 --> 00:08:23.329 Like is this a bit much? Is this really what 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:25.709 we need to do? But the data that I've just shared, 00:08:25.769 --> 00:08:28.050 which was not from a Christian study by the way, 00:08:28.069 --> 00:08:30.410 this was just on a governmental family study, 00:08:30.649 --> 00:08:32.870 tells us precisely why we use that kind of language 00:08:32.870 --> 00:08:35.470 in church. It's because the people that we choose 00:08:35.470 --> 00:08:38.929 to love and that that choose to love us in return 00:08:40.099 --> 00:08:42.399 The reason that we feel a familiar relationship 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.120 with each other, the reason we call ourselves 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.600 a church family, and the reason that we mean 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:49.200 it is because nothing plays a bigger role in 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.379 who we view as family than how we love and how 00:08:51.379 --> 00:08:54.279 we feel loved. And that is what we do and we 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:57.980 get for each other within a church family. And 00:08:57.980 --> 00:08:59.799 I want you to keep that in mind as we dig back 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:02.100 into Acts a little bit, because this passage 00:09:02.100 --> 00:09:04.080 that we've just heard from Steph so beautifully 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:07.470 is about community, but it's about family. And 00:09:07.470 --> 00:09:09.289 it's about the family we choose and the family 00:09:09.289 --> 00:09:11.889 that chooses us, but more importantly as a result, 00:09:12.110 --> 00:09:17.750 that passage is actually about love. And as 1 00:09:17.750 --> 00:09:21.970 John 3, 18 tells us, dear children, let us not 00:09:21.970 --> 00:09:24.889 love with words or speech, but with actions and 00:09:24.889 --> 00:09:30.389 truth. Or as Pastor Nadia Mary Church of a church 00:09:30.389 --> 00:09:33.409 called Local Church in New Zealand puts it, no 00:09:33.409 --> 00:09:38.539 family words without family action. And Barnabas 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:42.500 Action talks to just that. We are in a church 00:09:42.500 --> 00:09:45.159 community that is forming in the post Jesus ascension 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:47.759 into heaven. They are focusing on, you've heard 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:49.740 this, this act, this model of this acts church. 00:09:50.019 --> 00:09:51.919 They are meeting together regularly. They are 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:54.639 worshipping, praying, learning, sharing in all 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:56.600 that they had, ensuring that nobody in their 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:00.710 community went without. And Acts 432 starts by 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.629 telling us all believers were united in heart 00:10:03.629 --> 00:10:07.230 and mind. Now let me be really clear here for 00:10:07.230 --> 00:10:10.110 a second. This does not mean that magically a 00:10:10.110 --> 00:10:12.769 group of 3 ,000 people just started agreeing 00:10:12.769 --> 00:10:16.549 about everything. I can't get this room of people 00:10:16.549 --> 00:10:19.090 to agree about everything, let alone can we get 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:21.210 3 ,000 random people and agree on everything. 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:25.600 That's not how humans work. But what this was, 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.740 was you had these people that had all come from 00:10:27.740 --> 00:10:30.879 all over to celebrate Passover. Despite differing 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:33.559 families of origin, homes in different lands, 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:35.980 different languages that were spoken, different 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:38.940 levels of wealth and social status, the one thing 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:41.139 they did all hold in common, the one truth they 00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:44.120 all held to, was a belief in the one true God. 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:47.779 Now, at their very core, they were at least united 00:10:47.779 --> 00:10:50.639 in that. But now they're learning what it looks 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:52.820 like to live in community with others. They're 00:10:52.820 --> 00:10:54.720 learning what it looks like to live in the saving, 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:57.580 in the light of a saving grace of Jesus, and 00:10:57.580 --> 00:11:00.740 they have been baptized into a new family. They 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:05.200 need to learn how to do that. And in order to 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:08.039 learn about how to forge a new family, a new 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:10.399 relationship, and learn how to go the distance 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:12.960 in this, you started doing some research, and 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.419 I found this beautiful study that Harvard University 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:17.379 did, where they talked with couples that have 00:11:17.379 --> 00:11:22.340 been together for 30 plus years. And what they 00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:24.100 wanted to know is, much like the study of what 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:26.320 defines a family, it was like, hey, what is the 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:30.159 tip to success for being together for the long 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:32.580 haul? How do we do this and hold together for 00:11:32.580 --> 00:11:36.610 30 years plus? The greatest indicator of success 00:11:36.610 --> 00:11:40.269 that this study showed was not that that couple 00:11:40.269 --> 00:11:46.669 agreed on everything. Praise Jesus. The greatest 00:11:46.669 --> 00:11:50.110 indicator of success was that they agreed to 00:11:50.110 --> 00:11:57.889 face everything together. Acts 434 tells us there 00:11:57.889 --> 00:12:01.889 was no needy amongst them. No needy why? Because 00:12:01.889 --> 00:12:05.240 they'd agreed to face the world together. They'd 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:06.940 agree that despite their differing backgrounds, 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.639 social and financial statuses, no one was going 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:13.559 to go without. Now the early church was no different 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:16.179 to this room, no different to any room. Some 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:18.980 were very wealthy. They were merchants and business 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:24.039 owners, lawyers and doctors, teachers. I was 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:25.480 just waiting to see the snap -ups from a few 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:28.840 heads be like, all right, there you go. Thank 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:33.480 you. And these people were forming a fresh community, 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:38.559 a fresh family with people who were not in that 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.200 same kind of financial stratosphere. They were 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.440 forming it with beggars, with servants, with 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.559 slaves, people who had nothing to offer financially. 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:51.259 But this is now a family that was forming really 00:12:51.259 --> 00:12:53.360 around that idea that there would be no family 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.779 language without family action. So possessions 00:12:56.779 --> 00:12:59.679 were sold, money was provided, none forgotten, 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:05.639 none left behind. And the bit that I love about 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:06.960 this, and it kind of is like a one line and you 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:08.919 keep on going, is that when all the possessions 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:11.200 were sold, they gave all the money to the apostles, 00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:15.539 to the leaders of the church to distribute. Now 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:18.059 I love this, not because I am a leader of a church, 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.480 although that's helpful. I love it because it 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:23.899 does actually two things. When you do it this 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:25.919 way, you're doing two things. The first is you 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:30.639 are removing any personal attachment or caveats 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.950 to what you want that money to be used for. There 00:13:34.950 --> 00:13:38.610 is a trust involved in doing so that the money 00:13:38.610 --> 00:13:41.470 will be used to help those that are needed. And 00:13:41.470 --> 00:13:43.809 the second is that it removes the preference 00:13:43.809 --> 00:13:47.419 for how it is used. When you're not only selling 00:13:47.419 --> 00:13:49.080 your possessions, but then handing those funds 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:51.159 to someone else to distribute and use as they 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:53.940 see fit, you are ensuring you're removing any 00:13:53.940 --> 00:13:56.820 sense of ego or pride that can come from that. 00:13:57.259 --> 00:13:59.980 Tim at The All In preached on the idea of the 00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:02.539 things that we turn into idols. So if you are 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:03.980 a Christian in the room, you've heard a lot about 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:06.919 this concept of idolatry. And when we sell something 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:08.639 and then we want to do, we want to do something 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.399 generous like that, but we want the credit for 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:12.419 it. There's a chance that we've either made the 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:14.980 money, the act, or the ego, the actual idol, 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.700 the reason. we've done this, when you hand over 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:19.759 those funds to somebody else and say, you go 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:22.419 and do something with this, you go and make this 00:14:22.419 --> 00:14:25.399 happen, you are ensuring that what the focus 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:30.779 is, is the result, not you. Now in verses 36 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:33.340 and 37, we hear how Joseph, now Barnabas, sold 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:35.480 a plot of land and gave that money to the apostles 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:40.059 in order to support the community. You're a bunch 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:41.639 of young people in the room who have been looking 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:44.000 at houses and land and stuff I bet you are pretty 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.100 confident the fact that if you have a plot of 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:48.559 land to sell that's probably worth a few bucks 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:53.580 That's probably not coming cheap There's no way 00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:55.379 that Barnabas selling this plot of land was not 00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:59.860 for a substantial amount of money What I love 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:02.379 again about this is it's not actually about how 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:06.440 much that is important It's that Barnabas has 00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:09.419 sold something that belonged to him He could 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:12.519 have done so to make himself wealthy. He could 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:14.899 have done so to fill the back pocket just in 00:15:14.899 --> 00:15:17.639 case for a rainy day. He could have done it to 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.519 do anything for himself. But no, Barnabas chose 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:24.059 to sacrifice any sense of personal gain in favor 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:26.200 of supporting this family that he was part of 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:32.139 and he was working desperately to love. And love 00:15:32.139 --> 00:15:39.559 sacrifices preference. No family language without 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:42.539 family action. Barnabas's family action declares 00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:45.899 exactly what choices and sacrifices he's willing 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:51.080 to take on for the sake of this family. And why? 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:54.860 Because this is the family he's chosen. It's 00:15:54.860 --> 00:15:57.659 the family that in turn has chosen him. But most 00:15:57.659 --> 00:16:00.159 importantly is that this is the family that God 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:03.759 has chosen for him because he has been chosen 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:08.419 by God. We're gonna reread. I'm gonna I want 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:10.379 to reread all of that passage from Galatians 00:16:10.379 --> 00:16:13.879 that we heard before Which is for you are all 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:16.620 children of God through faith in Christ Jesus 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:19.539 and all who have been united with Christ in Baptism 00:16:19.539 --> 00:16:22.039 have put on Christ like putting on new clothes 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:26.019 There is no longer Jew nor Gentile slave or free 00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:29.019 male and female for you are all one in Christ 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:33.419 Jesus and Now that you belong to Christ you are 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:36.940 the true children of Abraham You are his heirs 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:39.600 and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. 00:16:42.820 --> 00:16:48.259 Now this passage, this is Barnabas's why. This 00:16:48.259 --> 00:16:50.500 is why Barnabas sacrifices personal preference, 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:53.700 gain and ambition. This is why Barnabas chooses 00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:56.360 to face the world with his adoptive family, to 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.860 prioritize them and to choose love because that's 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:04.700 what God has done with and for him. Because through 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:07.299 baptism Barnabas has been adopted by God into 00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:09.579 his family, which means that Barnabas is not 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:12.140 only a child of God, but he now has brothers 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:15.779 and sisters that need taking care of. Because 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:20.779 God's family is his family too. And recognizing 00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:23.779 and living out of that truth is now what matters. 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:27.240 No more Jews, no more Gentiles, no male, no female, 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:30.920 no freemen, no slaves, united in Christ Jesus, 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:34.759 adopted into God's family, and families face 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:41.200 the world together. This is God's invitation 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.880 but it's also God's blessing to cast away prior 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:48.079 preference, to rid ourselves of our old clothes, 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:52.299 our old identities. All previous titles superseded, 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.519 all previous identities replaced with something 00:17:55.519 --> 00:18:01.420 better. Barnabas' sale of land and his substantial 00:18:01.420 --> 00:18:04.519 windfall all donated as an incredible act of 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:08.119 love, a commitment to community, to family, but 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:10.339 most importantly it was a faithful response to 00:18:10.339 --> 00:18:17.089 his identity as a child of God. Now these are 00:18:17.089 --> 00:18:19.470 the acts of a man who actually has the confidence 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:22.230 in a God that promises to bless and sustain him. 00:18:23.450 --> 00:18:25.390 And how does he know that? How does he know? 00:18:25.710 --> 00:18:28.230 How does he get? Where does he pull that confidence 00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:30.569 from that God is looking out for him, that he 00:18:30.569 --> 00:18:32.190 doesn't have to worry, that he will be blessed, 00:18:32.250 --> 00:18:36.329 that he will be sustained? Church, he gets that 00:18:36.329 --> 00:18:38.190 confidence because it's already been done for 00:18:38.190 --> 00:18:42.009 him. Because Jesus had already been to the cross 00:18:42.009 --> 00:18:44.960 for him. Not because of anything that Barnabas 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.880 had done, but purely as an act of grace and love, 00:18:48.380 --> 00:18:50.940 because this sacrificial act served as his adoption 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:54.700 into God's family, and with this sacrificial 00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:57.339 act of God giving his only Son, Jesus Christ, 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:00.299 allowed us to accept that new identity as children 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:03.259 of God, and to put on that identity like a new 00:19:03.259 --> 00:19:06.640 set of clothes. Barnabas can live from a position 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:10.160 of sacrificial love, because he himself has been 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:26.470 sacrificially loved. Now, I think the closest 00:19:26.470 --> 00:19:28.789 I've ever come to being able to understand that 00:19:28.789 --> 00:19:31.470 kind of sacrificial love was the day that Cadence 00:19:31.470 --> 00:19:36.450 was born. Some of you will know this story, but 00:19:36.450 --> 00:19:39.089 Kara was in labour with Cadence for basically 00:19:39.089 --> 00:19:41.869 minutes under 24 hours. It was almost a 24 -hour 00:19:41.869 --> 00:19:48.069 labour. Yeah, darn right. And it ended with an 00:19:48.069 --> 00:19:53.079 emergency cesarean. resulting in all this trauma 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:55.160 of that experience resulting in cadence actually 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:58.220 ingesting some of the meconium, which is basically 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:03.839 just pure toxins. So as Kara is recovering, laying 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:07.259 now, still in the surgery, still in the operating 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:10.500 suite, literally they're stitching her back up 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:13.259 and I have to give her a kiss on the head and 00:20:13.259 --> 00:20:16.779 follow my newborn baby out of the operating theatre 00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:20.960 with a flurry of nurses and doctors as they Take 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.339 us through a series of hallways and rooms and, 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:25.059 you know, little code, little doorways that need 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:26.880 little scanner things to go through. I have no 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:28.779 idea where I am at this point. I have no idea 00:20:28.779 --> 00:20:31.400 where Kara is anymore and I have no idea where 00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:36.019 we're going. And I watch as they pricked Cadence's 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:38.180 heels and hands with a series of needles where 00:20:38.180 --> 00:20:41.220 they put tube and stuff into the back of her 00:20:41.220 --> 00:20:44.460 hands and then they placed her in a humidity 00:20:44.460 --> 00:20:52.240 crib and proceeded to keep her on oxygen. And 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.880 as I sat there staring at her, this little baby 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.700 that had been in my life for literally minutes 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:04.779 at this stage, she had never opened her eyes. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:11.440 She'd never done anything. She'd never cuddled 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.680 me. She'd never sidled up to me and said her 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:23.250 first, I love you, dad. But I remember thinking, 00:21:23.289 --> 00:21:25.069 I remember looking at this little baby and just 00:21:25.069 --> 00:21:28.849 thinking I would give anything to trade places 00:21:28.849 --> 00:21:36.089 with you right now. If I could make all of this 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:44.329 go away, if I could take your place, I wouldn't 00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:50.910 hesitate for a second. In that moment, I loved 00:21:50.910 --> 00:21:54.769 her in a way that redefined what I thought, previously 00:21:54.769 --> 00:21:59.609 thought love was. What I previously thought love 00:21:59.609 --> 00:22:08.809 had meant was a blip. She was mine. I was hers. 00:22:12.049 --> 00:22:14.089 Nothing else mattered. She was my daughter. I 00:22:14.089 --> 00:22:21.410 was her father. That was it. And that That is 00:22:21.410 --> 00:22:23.750 the kind of love actually that Barnabas was acting 00:22:23.750 --> 00:22:28.930 out of. Because that's the kind of love that 00:22:28.930 --> 00:22:31.029 God had for him and that is the kind of love 00:22:31.029 --> 00:22:35.910 that God has for you. Because you and me, we're 00:22:35.910 --> 00:22:42.210 His. He's ours. He is our Father. We are His 00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:47.450 children. And no matter how well we think we 00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:51.539 understand that, we don't. We really don't. Our 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:53.720 lives as children of God are really just us trying 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:55.799 to reconcile and get an understanding of that, 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:59.200 try and get a glimpse of it. To receive a love 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:01.140 like that, a love in which nothing is needed 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:03.920 of us, in which we don't need to do anything. 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:08.559 A love the kind of which God is just a father 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:10.799 who simply wants to love his sons and daughters. 00:23:14.730 --> 00:23:17.589 Now, this is normally the part of a sermon series, 00:23:17.730 --> 00:23:20.269 or sermon, sorry, where I give you something 00:23:20.269 --> 00:23:23.490 to go and do. Here's your practical response 00:23:23.490 --> 00:23:29.269 going. Here's the action. Not this week, not 00:23:29.269 --> 00:23:32.329 in a big way. Not like that, not like normal. 00:23:32.670 --> 00:23:34.369 We're about to start Word Week, which I'm assuming 00:23:34.369 --> 00:23:35.869 everybody signed up for, and if you haven't, 00:23:35.930 --> 00:23:40.650 it's not too late. Now as you engage with your 00:23:40.650 --> 00:23:43.450 Bible this week, as you pray, as you reflect 00:23:43.450 --> 00:23:46.549 and as you read, every time you read that Bible 00:23:46.549 --> 00:23:48.609 passage and it uses language, you're gonna have 00:23:48.609 --> 00:23:51.450 to use a little bit of your kind of power to 00:23:51.450 --> 00:23:54.009 kind of deduce if it's appropriate here. But 00:23:54.009 --> 00:23:58.569 you're gonna see lots of talk of you, us, we. 00:23:58.869 --> 00:24:01.130 And every time you see that in context, I want 00:24:01.130 --> 00:24:05.130 you to replace it with your own name. I'll give 00:24:05.130 --> 00:24:06.990 you an example from 1 John which we're going 00:24:06.990 --> 00:24:13.950 to read so like spoiler alert 1 John 4 starting 00:24:13.950 --> 00:24:16.690 in verse 9 says this is how God showed his love 00:24:16.690 --> 00:24:21.509 among us he sent his only son into the world 00:24:21.509 --> 00:24:24.750 now here it says that we but he sent his only 00:24:24.750 --> 00:24:27.849 son into the world that come and might live through 00:24:27.849 --> 00:24:39.039 him this is love Not that Steph loved God, but 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:43.980 that he loved Steph and sent his son as an atoning 00:24:43.980 --> 00:24:54.880 sacrifice for Texas sins. Dear friends, since 00:24:54.880 --> 00:25:01.000 God so loved Joe, we also ought to love one another. 00:25:01.180 --> 00:25:05.359 We also ought to love Amy, we also ought to love 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:08.859 Emma, we also ought to love Charlie and Eric 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:18.099 and Dan and Josh and Ashley. I need you as you 00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:20.039 engage with your Bible this week to think of 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:26.940 how the word is speaking to you directly. The 00:25:26.940 --> 00:25:30.420 Bible is a loving father, father placing words 00:25:30.420 --> 00:25:33.509 in front of your eyes. into your ears and onto 00:25:33.509 --> 00:25:39.029 your heart. The Bible is a personal story because 00:25:39.029 --> 00:25:44.890 ours is a personal and relational God. I want 00:25:44.890 --> 00:25:48.769 His truth to speak to you directly because I 00:25:48.769 --> 00:25:51.069 want you to reclaim your identity as a child 00:25:51.069 --> 00:26:02.410 of God. Because it's in response to that truth 00:26:02.410 --> 00:26:05.549 that Barnabas sells a field and donates the money 00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:09.569 to help support his new adoptive family. It's 00:26:09.569 --> 00:26:11.869 in that moment that Barnabas makes a trade of 00:26:11.869 --> 00:26:14.349 worldly possessions for kingdom -centered love. 00:26:14.930 --> 00:26:17.390 It's in that moment that Barnabas chooses on 00:26:17.390 --> 00:26:20.960 earth as it is in heaven. Barnabas action being 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.059 one that speaks to his confidence in God's love 00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:26.500 for him as his son. Old titles, Levite, Cypriot, 00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:29.299 wealthy landowner, sinner, all replaced with 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:32.700 the only title that matters. Beloved child of 00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:36.680 God, loved like a tiny baby in a humidity crib. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.480 Nothing to offer, but nothing required to receive 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:45.509 a love beyond comprehension. An unimaginable 00:26:45.509 --> 00:26:48.809 sacrifice of a father sacrificing his only son 00:26:48.809 --> 00:26:51.390 so that we too could be his sons and daughters. 00:26:54.670 --> 00:26:58.230 The reason we do all of this, the reason we gather 00:26:58.230 --> 00:27:00.150 here on a Sunday, if you're part of the team 00:27:00.150 --> 00:27:02.690 here and you serve, if you ask somebody that 00:27:02.690 --> 00:27:04.609 is in any of our ministry areas and you're doing 00:27:04.609 --> 00:27:06.950 this, the reason we do any and all of it is because 00:27:06.950 --> 00:27:09.480 of that identity. It's not about what we do, 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.000 it's about how we're loved. We are loved because 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.359 we are children of God, because that is our identity, 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:19.279 because that has already been done for us. And 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:21.640 it is about time we remember that and live out 00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:25.339 of that. So that's what we're going to pray about. 00:27:25.380 --> 00:27:28.940 I'm going to pray now. And if you'd like to, 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:32.009 you can stand now ready to worship. If you're 00:27:32.009 --> 00:27:33.809 someone who goes, man this has stirred something 00:27:33.809 --> 00:27:36.049 in me today, I would love to pray for you. We 00:27:36.049 --> 00:27:37.410 have our prayer team at the back of the room, 00:27:37.470 --> 00:27:40.170 they would love to pray for you. I said it today 00:27:40.170 --> 00:27:42.490 to our team earlier, we are a praying church 00:27:42.490 --> 00:27:44.349 and we're gonna live like that. We are gonna 00:27:44.349 --> 00:27:47.289 act like that. This is a church that does not 00:27:47.289 --> 00:27:50.029 do family words without family action. If you 00:27:50.029 --> 00:27:51.690 are not sure where you have a home, if you are 00:27:51.690 --> 00:27:53.549 not sure where your family is, if you are not 00:27:53.549 --> 00:27:56.089 sure about your identity, it is here in God with 00:27:56.089 --> 00:28:01.809 us, in this family, in this house. Nobody gets 00:28:01.809 --> 00:28:05.210 left behind. Nobody goes without. Nobody has 00:28:05.210 --> 00:28:07.930 a need that we can fulfill that we don't fulfill. 00:28:10.650 --> 00:28:16.470 That is family action. Heavenly Father, we thank 00:28:16.470 --> 00:28:18.650 You so much for the fact that You love us so 00:28:18.650 --> 00:28:25.289 much that You went through with the most unimaginable 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:28.500 sacrifice of all time. that You allowed Your 00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:30.539 Son, that You loved to come here, that You loved 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:32.420 us so much, that You allowed Him to come here 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:39.019 and take our place. Father, we thank You so much 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:41.339 that in doing so, that You adopted us into Your 00:28:41.339 --> 00:28:49.160 family as Your sons and daughters to become each 00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:52.180 other's brothers and sisters, Father, all united 00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:58.410 under the love of Christ Jesus. That we are able 00:28:58.410 --> 00:29:01.410 to slip on our new identities of child, children 00:29:01.410 --> 00:29:08.769 of God, because of that act. And I pray that 00:29:08.769 --> 00:29:12.809 we never forget. And I pray that when we lose 00:29:12.809 --> 00:29:14.569 our way, that that is where we remember to come 00:29:14.569 --> 00:29:22.710 home to. In the heavenly name we pray. Amen. 00:29:26.779 --> 00:29:29.339 Thanks so much for tuning into this week's message. 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:33.099 If you felt challenged or need prayer, we'd love 00:29:33.099 --> 00:29:35.480 to hear from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:38.440 Or if you're interested in how you can support 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:42.359 this ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:46.559 .com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:46.940 you.