WEBVTT 00:00:09.859 --> 00:00:12.919 Hi everyone, this is Emma from Encounter Church, 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:15.900 Henley, and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:19.059 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.079 --> 00:00:21.760 you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.359 change your life. And now, get ready for an inspiring 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:30.219 message from our preaching team. Holy Spirit, 00:00:30.219 --> 00:00:33.920 we just come before you tonight. We just want 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:35.640 to put aside the things on our hearts and our 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:38.700 minds that are distracting us this morning, tonight, 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:42.659 this evening, this afternoon. And we just want 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:44.619 to focus our hearts, our minds and attention 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:46.259 on you, Lord, because we truly want to hear from 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:49.380 you today. And so we just pray you remove every 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:51.719 obstacle, every barrier from us hearing our word 00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:54.880 from you and encountering your presence. And 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:56.780 we just pray you would come, Holy Spirit, and 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:01.960 move today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Beautiful. 00:01:02.060 --> 00:01:04.079 Well, thanks, Tim, for such an encouragement. 00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:06.959 That was very kind. So yeah, I'm Nathan. I'm 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.799 a pastor at Waypoint United Church. I've been 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.879 doing that for a while now. I've been doing ministry 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:17.640 there for a fair while. And I am married to Darcy, 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:20.500 my wife, and this very noisy child is our daughter, 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.700 Eleanor. And it's such a pleasure to be here 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:25.560 with you guys. Are we going with afternoon or 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:29.950 with night? What's the vibe? Afternoon. You'll 00:01:29.950 --> 00:01:32.969 have to correct me if I get that wrong. So anyway, 00:01:33.069 --> 00:01:35.670 yes, I used to live with Tim and Ash, which was 00:01:35.670 --> 00:01:37.709 a joy and a pleasure. There was lots that I loved 00:01:37.709 --> 00:01:41.390 about it, lots that I didn't love about it. Like, 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:43.989 I remember Ollie, when they were training her 00:01:43.989 --> 00:01:46.870 to sleep and she was just screaming. And I was 00:01:46.870 --> 00:01:48.650 like, what is this child doing? Like, what is 00:01:48.650 --> 00:01:51.549 this horrible thing? Anyway, now I live with 00:01:51.549 --> 00:01:55.540 that, with my own child. But anyway, so Tim and 00:01:55.540 --> 00:01:58.040 Ash were a part of introducing me to Darcy, and 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:00.079 I would love to tell that story because it's 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.799 fun, but it really, I think it applies to tonight, 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:08.199 this afternoon sermon. So not long before I moved 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:11.000 in with, sorry, not long after I moved in with 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:13.979 Tim and Ash, before I met Darcy, there was this 00:02:13.979 --> 00:02:15.539 one night where Tim and Ash were heading out 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:17.879 to this party of a mutual friend. I wasn't invited, 00:02:17.900 --> 00:02:20.400 obviously, so I probably wasn't close enough 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.150 to him, which was great. Anyway, I was sick, 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:25.870 so I didn't want to go. That was fine. But sometime 00:02:25.870 --> 00:02:28.409 during the day, Ashley turns to me and she says, 00:02:28.490 --> 00:02:30.409 hey, Nath, do you want to come along tonight 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:32.110 to this party? You know, like we can get you 00:02:32.110 --> 00:02:34.370 in. That'd be fine. But there's this pretty cool 00:02:34.370 --> 00:02:36.870 girl there who I think you guys would just really 00:02:36.870 --> 00:02:39.669 get along. And I was like, no, this is weird. 00:02:39.789 --> 00:02:42.289 No, thank you. I mean, I'm pretty sure I said 00:02:42.289 --> 00:02:45.020 actually that let me think about it. And I was 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:47.400 suspicious because not long before this, some 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:49.919 of my other friends tried to set me up with this 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:51.599 other girl, and it was the weirdest experience 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:53.900 I've ever been through. And I was like, I don't 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:57.139 want to be set up again. This is weird. But then 00:02:57.139 --> 00:03:00.379 something happened during the day. And so I was 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:02.159 sitting alone in my usual thinking place, which 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:06.199 was the bathtub. And I was chatting with God 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:08.599 about, you know, this invitation to a party. 00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:11.039 And I was weighing up the pros, the cons. I was 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.180 talking to God about why is it just so difficult 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:16.659 to meet someone. And then God began to speak 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:20.020 to me right there in the bath. And he reminded 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:21.759 me of this joke and you've probably heard it. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.060 I might butcher it. But the joke goes like this. 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.099 There's this guy stuck on a desert island. He's 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:29.199 in the middle of nowhere, no help at all. And 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:31.439 he prays, God, would you save me? Would you come 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:35.419 and get me out of this desert island? And so 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:37.759 God sends this plane across and this plane flies 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:38.960 by. Hey, do you need some help? And he's like, 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:41.659 no, no, don't worry about it. God's got me. And 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:43.879 so the plane flies off. Next he gets a boat and 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:46.000 they come out for help and he says, no, no, thank 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.560 you. God's got me. And then a helicopter comes 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.020 and he says, no, not for me. Eventually the guy 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:53.819 dies. He passes away, no food on the island. 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.460 And he gets to heaven and he sees God and he 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:59.250 says, God, why didn't you save me? And then God 00:03:59.250 --> 00:04:01.789 just says, dude, I sent you a plane. I sent you 00:04:01.789 --> 00:04:04.050 a helicopter. I sent you a boat. You didn't want 00:04:04.050 --> 00:04:07.909 any of that. And anyway, that's what God shared 00:04:07.909 --> 00:04:09.849 with me. And I think this is what he was saying 00:04:09.849 --> 00:04:12.849 to me. He said, you want me to help you meet 00:04:12.849 --> 00:04:14.789 someone to love and to follow Jesus with your 00:04:14.789 --> 00:04:18.230 whole life, but you won't take any of the opportunities 00:04:18.230 --> 00:04:21.069 that are presented to you to actually go out 00:04:21.069 --> 00:04:25.149 and meet someone. And that really convicted me. 00:04:25.949 --> 00:04:28.519 And so, you know what? I went to the party. and 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:31.759 I had a very minimal contact with Darcy the whole 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.480 time and somehow by God's grace we're now married. 00:04:37.660 --> 00:04:39.480 Tim would claim that it was the loaf of bread 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:41.180 that he gave me and he said you have to give 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:44.240 this to her and she will fall in love with you. 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:51.819 It worked. I share this story to highlight to 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:54.600 us I think a very important fact and the fact 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:58.370 is that God is a God who speaks. That in this 00:04:58.370 --> 00:05:01.769 wild world that we live in, full of chaos, we 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:04.290 follow a God who wants to speak into that chaos. 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:07.290 The chaos of our lives so that we might hear 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:09.490 His voice, that we might be encouraged by God, 00:05:09.550 --> 00:05:12.569 that we might find wisdom and guidance from our 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:14.829 Lord and Saviour. That we might experience healing 00:05:14.829 --> 00:05:17.750 and freedom from God. And that we might hear 00:05:17.750 --> 00:05:19.930 from God and know His love for each and every 00:05:19.930 --> 00:05:22.750 one of us that we're so desperately looking for. 00:05:23.149 --> 00:05:25.449 And so God is a God who speaks. And He speaks 00:05:25.449 --> 00:05:28.199 to us in all sorts of different ways. He speaks 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:30.579 to us through His Word, through the Bible, the 00:05:30.579 --> 00:05:32.139 written Word that we have, that we hear preached 00:05:32.139 --> 00:05:34.540 from each week. He speaks to us through His people, 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:36.779 the Church, His body of believers with different 00:05:36.779 --> 00:05:39.480 gifts and talents and skills, wisdom and knowledge 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:42.560 to speak on God's behalf. And He speaks through 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:45.160 His Spirit, which He uses to the people, but 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:47.379 He also speaks to us through visions, through 00:05:47.379 --> 00:05:51.680 words, through moments in bathtubs. And my guess 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:53.439 is that for many, if not all of us here today, 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.279 we actually want to hear from God. We actually 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:59.439 want to hear what God has to say in our lives. 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:02.579 We want to hear His words of encouragement, of 00:06:02.579 --> 00:06:04.420 guidance, of healing so that we can actually 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:07.019 move forward in our lives, forward in our journey 00:06:07.019 --> 00:06:09.420 of following Jesus and sharing His love with 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:12.220 the world. Maybe for you there's a situation 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:14.240 going on in your life and you've been crying 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.000 out to God again and again just hoping that He 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.060 would finally speak into that moment and bring 00:06:20.060 --> 00:06:23.120 healing, bring a way forward. Maybe you've got 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:25.079 some really big decisions in your life, some 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:27.300 big events coming up and you want to hear from 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:29.899 God about what choice to make. Is this right 00:06:29.899 --> 00:06:33.540 for you? What is the plans he has for you? Or 00:06:33.540 --> 00:06:35.500 maybe you're here and you don't actually know 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.220 if there really is a God and you feel lost. You 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:40.720 feel hopeless and you're looking for something 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:43.819 greater than yourself to give you the answers. 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:48.560 Now we just read together the story of Martha 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.759 and Mary, which is a wonderful story. In it, 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:54.060 as Jesus is traveling, this lady named Martha 00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:57.339 welcomes Jesus into her home alongside her sister 00:06:57.339 --> 00:07:19.019 Mary. In verses 39 to 40, it says, Does anyone 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:22.680 else here resonate with Martha? Does anyone else 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:26.160 see a bit of yourself in Martha's story? It says 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.459 that Martha was distracted by her many tasks 00:07:29.459 --> 00:07:31.860 and one commentator says this about the word 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:34.540 distracted. He says that the Greek word properly 00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:38.279 signifies to be drawn different ways at the same 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:42.300 time and admirably expresses the situation of 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:45.540 a mind surrounded with so many objects of care 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:48.810 that it hardly knows which to attend to. first. 00:07:49.350 --> 00:07:51.910 Does anyone else feel like that? So much going 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:54.069 on in our hearts, our minds, the world around 00:07:54.069 --> 00:07:57.949 us, we don't know what to go to first. And so 00:07:57.949 --> 00:07:59.769 I think of Martha and I imagine that this is 00:07:59.769 --> 00:08:02.889 a big moment for her. Her rabbi, her teacher 00:08:02.889 --> 00:08:05.589 Jesus, her Lord and Saviour has stopped to be 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:07.389 with them. He's going somewhere, probably really 00:08:07.389 --> 00:08:09.970 important, but he's stopped to be with them. 00:08:11.490 --> 00:08:13.689 But for Martha, there was so much that had to 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:15.529 be done. You know, when you have royalty in your 00:08:15.529 --> 00:08:18.470 house, there's a lot of work to be done. And 00:08:18.470 --> 00:08:20.410 so maybe she was there preparing this mighty 00:08:20.410 --> 00:08:22.930 feast to have a meal with Jesus. And so she's 00:08:22.930 --> 00:08:25.149 busy in the kitchen, slaving away, cleaning everything. 00:08:26.149 --> 00:08:27.910 Or maybe this was a very last minute thing. And 00:08:27.910 --> 00:08:29.649 just along the way, she says, hey, Jesus, why 00:08:29.649 --> 00:08:32.289 don't you come have lunch with us? And so she's 00:08:32.289 --> 00:08:34.169 busy cleaning the house because she didn't expect 00:08:34.169 --> 00:08:37.710 Jesus to be there. Whatever it was she was doing, 00:08:37.850 --> 00:08:40.950 her mind and her body were being torn in different 00:08:40.950 --> 00:08:43.549 directions as she was just pushing to get everything 00:08:43.549 --> 00:08:46.470 done so she could go and sit at the feet of Jesus. 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:50.629 And I think for us today, we might even struggle 00:08:50.629 --> 00:08:54.549 with this very same issue. Like Martha, we can 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:57.669 be so distracted, so overwhelmed by the different 00:08:57.669 --> 00:09:01.320 tasks and responsibilities in our lives. All 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:03.679 incredibly important things like university, 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.059 things like work, our family, our close friendships. 00:09:08.100 --> 00:09:10.720 We get so distracted by these things that we 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.080 struggle to make space to actually hear from 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.799 God. Tyler Staten in his book, Praying Like Monks, 00:09:16.940 --> 00:09:19.539 Living Like Fools, he says this. He says, instead 00:09:19.539 --> 00:09:22.460 of slowing down and harnessing technology to 00:09:22.460 --> 00:09:25.759 free up leisure time, we suffer from what mental 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:29.149 health professionals call hurry sickness. A behavioral 00:09:29.149 --> 00:09:32.289 pattern characterized by continual rushing and 00:09:32.289 --> 00:09:35.730 anxiety. In a society that prizes efficiency 00:09:35.730 --> 00:09:39.549 and productivity above all else, that uses time 00:09:39.549 --> 00:09:42.090 like a tool rather than a limit, hurry isn't 00:09:42.090 --> 00:09:45.169 an occasional necessity, it is the new normal. 00:09:46.110 --> 00:09:49.529 Does anyone else feel that? Hurry is the new 00:09:49.529 --> 00:09:53.100 normal? When you look at the world today and 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.179 how far we've come in technology, you would think 00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:56.919 that we'd have all this free time, that we'd 00:09:56.919 --> 00:09:59.559 be free up to do the things we love, spend time 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:02.279 with our friends, our family and focus on what 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:05.419 really matters. But it's actually, I think, pushed 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:08.080 us to do more and more. We've got free time from 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:11.200 this and so we can fill it with this. It's pushed 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:13.299 us to do all this stuff until we have nothing 00:10:13.299 --> 00:10:16.519 left in the tank and we're overwhelmed and we're 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.960 burdened. I think this is a big challenge for 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:23.000 us today and being able to hear from God through 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.139 His Word, His people and by His Spirit. I just 00:10:26.139 --> 00:10:31.080 think that we are too busy. Like Martha, everything 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:34.360 on our to -do list is important to us. And so 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:37.059 we push and we push to get it all done. And by 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:39.039 the time we get it all done, it's 7pm on a Monday 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.399 night and all we feel like doing is putting on 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:43.740 Netflix, that next episode of our favourite show 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:47.610 and winding down for the night. We just go through 00:10:47.610 --> 00:10:50.169 the motions again and again until it's the next 00:10:50.169 --> 00:10:53.389 day and we have more stuff to do. Our time gets 00:10:53.389 --> 00:10:56.769 filled with so, our time gets so filled that 00:10:56.769 --> 00:10:58.789 time with God just becomes this after thought, 00:10:58.990 --> 00:11:01.309 after thought that, oh, I wish I had more time 00:11:01.309 --> 00:11:04.169 in my day to spend with him. Or it becomes a 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:06.929 rush job that we tick off on how to do this in 00:11:06.929 --> 00:11:09.269 the morning so that we can get on the rest of 00:11:09.269 --> 00:11:13.269 our busy day. I've been there. Business gets 00:11:13.269 --> 00:11:16.250 in the way of us hearing from God. And we see 00:11:16.250 --> 00:11:20.230 this with Martha. So the question is, what is 00:11:20.230 --> 00:11:23.950 the solution? How do we remedy this? Well, let's 00:11:23.950 --> 00:11:28.009 look at Martha. Unlike her sister, Martha, Mary 00:11:28.009 --> 00:11:31.690 doesn't seem to be stressed. Mary doesn't seem 00:11:31.690 --> 00:11:33.909 to be hurried. She doesn't seem to be overwhelmed. 00:11:34.909 --> 00:11:38.070 Mary was right where she needed to be. And honestly, 00:11:38.070 --> 00:11:39.470 you don't really hear much from her in this story. 00:11:39.490 --> 00:11:41.429 And I think that's just because she's right in 00:11:41.429 --> 00:11:45.330 the right spot. It says that Mary sat at the 00:11:45.330 --> 00:11:48.509 Lord's feet and was listening to what he said. 00:11:49.669 --> 00:11:52.309 Now this is the language of a student with their 00:11:52.309 --> 00:11:56.529 rabbi or teacher sitting at his feet giving him 00:11:56.529 --> 00:11:59.350 her full attention as if he's the only person 00:11:59.350 --> 00:12:02.370 in the room so that she would not miss a single 00:12:02.370 --> 00:12:05.990 word that he says. And hear what Jesus says to 00:12:05.990 --> 00:12:09.009 Martha. When she starts getting mad that Mary's 00:12:09.009 --> 00:12:10.490 sitting there doing nothing while she's trying 00:12:10.490 --> 00:12:14.090 to clean up, listen to what Jesus says. He says, 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:18.710 Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about 00:12:18.710 --> 00:12:22.330 many things. Insert your name in there. You are 00:12:22.330 --> 00:12:26.730 worried and upset about many things. But one 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:30.629 thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice 00:12:30.629 --> 00:12:35.409 and it will not be taken away from her. Jesus 00:12:35.409 --> 00:12:39.009 says that one thing is necessary. And we see 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:43.710 Mary sitting at Jesus' feet, hanging on His every 00:12:43.710 --> 00:12:47.809 word. Now you might hear this story and you might 00:12:47.809 --> 00:12:49.909 start to think, well, Martha was actually doing 00:12:49.909 --> 00:12:51.929 the hard work of getting everything done so she 00:12:51.929 --> 00:12:54.429 had the space to sit with Jesus. You know, she 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:56.350 was getting the jobs done so that she could be 00:12:56.350 --> 00:13:00.289 at peace and just rest in Jesus' arms. That the 00:13:00.289 --> 00:13:02.870 busyness was actually important so that she could 00:13:02.870 --> 00:13:06.259 stop and be fully present. and listen to her 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:09.100 Rabbi. And how often do we feel that way? If 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.240 only I just get through everything. If only I 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.580 get through all to -do lists, then, then I'll 00:13:13.580 --> 00:13:16.639 be able to spend time with Jesus. But the question 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.059 is, where do the important things stop? When 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:22.399 does that list get finished? The problem with 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.539 hurry sickness is that many of us live into this 00:13:25.539 --> 00:13:28.360 hurry sickness. It convinces us that every single 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:31.580 thing we do is important. There's a matrix, I 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:33.500 can't remember everything on it, but to help 00:13:33.500 --> 00:13:35.799 you define what task is important, urgent, and 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.779 can wait till next week. And how easy is it for 00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:40.879 us to put everything in that urgent box, even 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:44.840 if it's as simple as replying to an email. And 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:48.759 not only is everything important, but everything. 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:52.919 And when we lean into this way of thinking, the 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:55.840 list of important never stops. It keeps growing 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:01.460 and growing until we sleep or we die. At some 00:14:01.460 --> 00:14:03.679 point we have to see the point that Jesus was 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:07.379 trying to get across to Martha. When Jesus is 00:14:07.379 --> 00:14:10.120 in the room with you, there's only one thing 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:15.559 that's necessary. Being with Jesus. Sitting at 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:19.559 His feet. When your Lord and Saviour is right 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:23.669 there, there's nothing else that matters. And 00:14:23.669 --> 00:14:26.409 Jesus would say that it's this necessary time 00:14:26.409 --> 00:14:28.730 with Him that actually empowers and strengthens 00:14:28.730 --> 00:14:31.190 us to go and do what's important. And we forget 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:34.370 this so often. It's the time delighting in the 00:14:34.370 --> 00:14:36.750 Lord, sitting at His feet, that keeps us filled 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:40.129 with His love and His joy. It keeps us focused 00:14:40.129 --> 00:14:43.129 on Jesus throughout the rest of our day. And 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:45.909 it helps us to remain focused on what's truly 00:14:45.909 --> 00:14:48.509 important because we're hearing it straight from 00:14:48.509 --> 00:14:51.340 our Lord. This is important. This is on my heart 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:54.600 and we can stay focused. You've probably heard 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.379 this passage before, but in John 15, 4 to 5, 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.600 it says this, it says, remain in me, and that's 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:04.799 Jesus, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:08.120 to produce fruit by itself unless it remains 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:12.039 on the vine, neither can you unless you remain 00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:16.159 in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. The 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.679 one who remains in me and I in him produces much 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:23.299 fruit because you can do nothing without me. 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:27.100 Listen to that last line. You can do nothing 00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:32.580 without me. Jesus is not only the one that we're 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:34.799 working hard for. He's not only the one that 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.259 we're trying to be good parents, good brothers 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:40.179 and sisters, good friends, good co -workers for. 00:15:41.009 --> 00:15:44.330 But He is the one that sustains us, brings us 00:15:44.330 --> 00:15:47.590 hope, fills us with joy, peace, and He gives 00:15:47.590 --> 00:15:50.269 us the strength to press on even when things 00:15:50.269 --> 00:15:53.529 get hard. We live in a crazy world with so much 00:15:53.529 --> 00:15:57.210 going on. And Jesus is the one that we can come 00:15:57.210 --> 00:16:00.909 to to sustain us and to help us through it. If 00:16:00.909 --> 00:16:03.470 we are not remaining in Jesus and regularly sitting 00:16:03.470 --> 00:16:06.350 at His feet to be with Him, to hear His thoughts 00:16:06.350 --> 00:16:10.340 and to just delight in being with Him. then what 00:16:10.340 --> 00:16:12.279 we're doing is we're working in our own strength 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:14.899 in all the other stuff that we're doing. We are 00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:16.799 trying to do the things that God has called us 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:22.080 to do without the One who called us. And when 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:25.639 we do that, we miss something beautiful. We miss 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:30.360 Jesus Himself. I wonder how many times we've 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:32.460 been in a room trying to do things for Jesus 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:35.379 that we miss Jesus in our presence, right there. 00:16:37.529 --> 00:16:39.330 And I really feel like this is the main thing 00:16:39.330 --> 00:16:40.870 that God wants to speak to us tonight. So if 00:16:40.870 --> 00:16:43.029 you forget everything else, this is what I want 00:16:43.029 --> 00:16:45.850 you to hold on to. God doesn't want to just speak 00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:48.529 to you like some distant father who you come 00:16:48.529 --> 00:16:50.730 to when you need something or who's there at 00:16:50.730 --> 00:16:53.830 some occasions but hardly says anything. He doesn't 00:16:53.830 --> 00:16:56.529 want to speak to you as just some spiritual guide 00:16:56.529 --> 00:16:59.789 who will tell you the wise words of how to get 00:16:59.789 --> 00:17:02.730 through this situation and the next step. God 00:17:02.730 --> 00:17:05.690 wants to speak to you from a place of deep and 00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:08.559 loving relationship with Him. The context is 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:12.000 relationship for God. Because the truth is, God 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.900 loves you. God delights in you. I know you may 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:17.380 believe that God doesn't love you, or that if 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:20.140 you don't work hard enough, God's not there to 00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:22.920 love you, but actually He loves you anyway. This 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:25.559 is why He sent His Son Jesus to come to earth 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:28.460 and to die for our sins, because He loves you. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.869 He loves each and every one of us. We have an 00:17:31.869 --> 00:17:35.670 amazing God who sees our sin every time we rebel 00:17:35.670 --> 00:17:37.750 against God and do our own thing, build our own 00:17:37.750 --> 00:17:40.690 kingdom. And He sees how we push Him away from 00:17:40.690 --> 00:17:44.049 us. And He knew that there was nothing we could 00:17:44.049 --> 00:17:47.710 do on our own to make our way back to Him. And 00:17:47.710 --> 00:17:50.150 so He made the way through Jesus. He reached 00:17:50.150 --> 00:17:53.329 out to us when we didn't deserve it. He made 00:17:53.329 --> 00:17:56.089 a way for us to meet with God, to hear from God 00:17:56.089 --> 00:17:58.670 in close, loving relationship with Him. And we 00:17:58.670 --> 00:18:01.529 see this displayed all throughout Jesus' ministry. 00:18:01.829 --> 00:18:05.009 He draws near to the broken, to the lost, to 00:18:05.009 --> 00:18:08.089 those who don't deserve Him because He loves 00:18:08.089 --> 00:18:12.750 them. There's a guy named Strahn Coleman, and 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:15.049 he has a book called Beholding, which I think 00:18:15.049 --> 00:18:17.529 everyone should read this book. But he describes 00:18:17.529 --> 00:18:19.490 this kind of union that I'm talking about with 00:18:19.490 --> 00:18:21.670 God in a very beautiful way. He describes it 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:25.180 as beholding. And he says beholding is prayer, 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:28.500 but it's much more than that too. It's about 00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:32.440 holy existence. And how beautiful does that sound? 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.480 Holy existence. It takes prayer out of the small 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:39.319 pockets of conscious mental dialogue, the small 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:41.700 conversations we have with God, the small arrow 00:18:41.700 --> 00:18:44.779 prayers we shoot up when we need help. And it 00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:48.200 makes it a life lived out fully in the Trinity. 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:52.950 Beholding is the practice of gazing into God, 00:18:53.309 --> 00:18:59.130 gazing into us, gazing back into Him. So I want 00:18:59.130 --> 00:19:02.089 you to know this afternoon that God doesn't just 00:19:02.089 --> 00:19:04.789 want your ears. He doesn't just want your mind. 00:19:04.809 --> 00:19:06.910 He doesn't just want you to hear from Him so 00:19:06.910 --> 00:19:09.650 you can know how to take those next steps. But 00:19:09.650 --> 00:19:12.769 God wants all of you. And He was willing to give 00:19:12.769 --> 00:19:16.630 all of Himself so He could get all of you. He 00:19:16.630 --> 00:19:19.960 longs to be close with you. to walk beside you 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:21.960 throughout your life through the good days and 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:26.039 the bad days. And it's in that space, the relationship 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:29.339 with God, the entry into the whole Trinity that 00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:32.259 He wants to speak to you. Not as a father who 00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:34.799 is sitting at the back of the room just kind 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.700 of nodding or whatever, but He wants to be your 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:42.000 Saviour, your Lord and your friend. And the good 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:44.880 news is we don't need to strive. like the world 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.779 tells us to strive. We don't need to give in 00:19:46.779 --> 00:19:49.740 to hustle culture and hurry sickness. We don't 00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:51.960 need to burn ourselves into the ground to be 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:55.880 worthy of God's love and forgiveness. I mean 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:58.640 the truth is none of us are worthy and there's 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:02.279 nothing we can do to become more worthy. But 00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:04.859 there's nothing that we can do, no working hard, 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:07.400 no keeping busy, that will make God love you 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.460 more because He has chosen to love you. This 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:12.960 is the covenant we live in that He chooses to 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:18.880 love even though none of us deserve it. And so 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:20.460 if you're here tonight and you've been flogging 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:22.380 yourself with busyness because you're believing 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:24.579 some lies about yourself and your relationship 00:20:24.579 --> 00:20:27.339 with God. The lie that you need to earn God's 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:30.740 love for you. The lie that God only cares what 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:32.619 you have to offer and if you give Him the right 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:34.960 things He will love you and answer your prayers. 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:38.539 Or even the lie that God's not answering my prayers 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:42.059 because I'm not doing enough for Him. If that's 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:43.859 you tonight, I want you to hear these words from 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:46.980 King Jesus who has done everything required for 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:49.640 you to be forgiven and to be in right relationship 00:20:49.640 --> 00:21:06.519 with God. He says this in Matthew 11, and you 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:11.000 will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:19.660 easy and my burden is light. My plea to you this 00:21:19.660 --> 00:21:24.019 afternoon is don't miss the person of Jesus right 00:21:24.019 --> 00:21:26.160 there with you in the room in the middle of this 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.680 chaotic world. Don't miss Jesus himself. Don't 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.240 just settle for his voice or his direction. when 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:38.039 he wants to give you his whole self. Over the 00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:40.980 past few months, our senior minister Barry Littleford, 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:43.440 Tim's dad, has been on a long service leave. 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:45.460 He's been enjoying himself across the world. 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:48.839 It's been great. And so I've been looking after 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.859 both of our waypoint campuses. And over this 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:54.019 time, I have just felt stretched, which is good. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.900 I've also felt busy, too busy for my liking. 00:21:58.019 --> 00:22:00.000 But now that Barry's back, I've been reflecting 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.259 about what I've learned over that time and what 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:04.140 God's been doing, and there's one thing I realize 00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:06.400 that I regret not doing more of in that time, 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:10.680 and that's spending time with Jesus. If I could 00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:13.519 go back in time, I would make more time for Him, 00:22:13.539 --> 00:22:15.900 and I would protect that time as the most important 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:18.799 thing for my week. Instead of doing what I did 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:20.920 and just kept working and finding things to do 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:24.759 and finding big problems to solve, but actually... 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:27.059 delighting in His presence, letting Him delight 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:30.119 in me and being filled for the tasks before me. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.480 And so I could focus on what was truly important, 00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:36.059 because I don't know, you know, all the pastors 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:38.039 in the room, I guess. If you're in church ministry 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:42.380 anyway, everything seems important, but not everything 00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:46.539 is. And so I'm not sure what you're going through 00:22:46.539 --> 00:22:47.859 at the moment. I don't know what things have 00:22:47.859 --> 00:22:50.059 been happening in your life. I don't know what 00:22:50.059 --> 00:22:52.579 unanswered prayers you're sitting with, but there 00:22:52.579 --> 00:22:56.339 might be many. And so my encouragement to you 00:22:56.339 --> 00:22:59.900 this afternoon is prioritize time within your 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:03.460 days to simply just be with Jesus, with no agenda, 00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:06.200 with nothing that you're bringing to Him as if 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:10.059 you could, offering anything special, but simply 00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.940 sitting at Jesus' feet, being with Him and leaning 00:23:13.940 --> 00:23:16.940 into Him. The truth is, when it comes to hearing 00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:19.839 God, we can't force Him to speak. There's no 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.400 magical formula that will make God speak to you, 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:24.619 you know? We see different things in Scripture 00:23:24.619 --> 00:23:27.180 that maybe helps, putting out a fleece, you know, 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:30.099 getting to a tall mountain. But we can't force 00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:33.480 God to speak no matter what we do. He speaks 00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:37.160 when He wants to. The thing that we can do is 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:39.779 be intentional about making space in our lives, 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.319 in our day -to -day lives, to draw near to God 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:47.099 in that deep and loving relationship. We can 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:49.799 make space to prepare us to hear from Him and 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.299 to listen to His words. And even if He doesn't 00:23:52.299 --> 00:23:55.390 speak, we can still have had a great time being 00:23:55.390 --> 00:23:59.109 with our Lord, just being in His presence. So 00:23:59.109 --> 00:24:00.769 my question for you today is what might this 00:24:00.769 --> 00:24:03.569 look like for you? If you were to think of the 00:24:03.569 --> 00:24:06.230 week coming up, what might this look like to 00:24:06.230 --> 00:24:11.069 put this into practice in your week? Maybe for 00:24:11.069 --> 00:24:13.990 you it's only watching one episode of your favorite 00:24:13.990 --> 00:24:15.410 show. What's people's favorite show? I've got 00:24:15.410 --> 00:24:17.349 on here Seinfeld. Does anyone watch Seinfeld? 00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:22.039 Well, that's awkward. Maybe it's watching your 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:24.859 favorite show, whatever that is. Instead of watching 00:24:24.859 --> 00:24:27.500 three episodes, maybe watch one and give that 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:29.920 last hour of the day to be with God, sitting 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:32.440 with His word, beholding Him and letting Him 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:35.720 speak to you. Or maybe it's finding a new rhythm 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.380 in your mornings where you start your morning 00:24:37.380 --> 00:24:39.819 in a time of prayer, before you get to the to 00:24:39.819 --> 00:24:41.980 -do list of the day, not feeling rushed, but 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:45.539 get yourself comfy, be still, and simply pray, 00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:48.440 Holy Spirit come and just sit and see what God 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.750 does. Maybe if you were going for a walk on your 00:24:51.750 --> 00:24:54.609 lunch break during your work day, once or twice 00:24:54.609 --> 00:24:56.450 in the week, and just talking to God about what's 00:24:56.450 --> 00:24:58.789 going on, what's on your heart, what are you 00:24:58.789 --> 00:25:01.049 wrestling with, what are the things you want 00:25:01.049 --> 00:25:03.829 to bring to Him, and just letting Him be with 00:25:03.829 --> 00:25:06.029 you and hear that, whether He speaks or not is 00:25:06.029 --> 00:25:09.569 up to Him. Or maybe if you were booking a regular 00:25:09.569 --> 00:25:12.990 spot in the prayer room, maybe this is the thing 00:25:12.990 --> 00:25:17.809 that you need to get booked in there. As we step 00:25:17.809 --> 00:25:20.630 into Monday morning tomorrow, what could it look 00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:22.750 like for you to take Jesus seriously this week? 00:25:23.789 --> 00:25:25.930 What could it look like for you to live as though 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:29.230 Jesus is in the room, just waiting for you to 00:25:29.230 --> 00:25:34.390 notice Him, to come and sit at His feet? How 00:25:34.390 --> 00:25:36.970 could you make space in your day -to -day life 00:25:36.970 --> 00:25:39.410 to tend to the most important relationship in 00:25:39.410 --> 00:25:42.759 your life? A life -giving relationship with God 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:45.779 who made you, who loves you and who empowers 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:48.700 you to love other people well. How could you 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:54.799 make space for God this week? Thanks so much 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:57.519 for tuning in to this week's message. If you 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:00.279 felt challenged or need prayer, we'd love to 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:02.940 hear from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. 00:26:03.380 --> 00:26:06.119 Or if you're interested in how you can support 00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:09.900 this ministry, please go to our website. encounteradelaide 00:26:09.900 --> 00:26:13.380 .com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless 00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:13.740 you.