WEBVTT 00:00:09.900 --> 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 --> 00:00:19.010 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.030 --> 00:00:20.890 you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 00:00:20.890 --> 00:00:24.370 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.370 --> 00:00:31.570 message from our preaching team. Thank you. Amen. 00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:36.009 Amen. Thank you so much. for having me. It's 00:00:36.009 --> 00:00:38.310 such a joy to be in Adelaide. I am from Melbourne, 00:00:38.630 --> 00:00:42.009 but no complaints, Adelaide is the best. I love 00:00:42.009 --> 00:00:44.869 getting to visit. And so yeah, it's such a joy 00:00:44.869 --> 00:00:47.490 to be here and to share on that passage as well. 00:00:47.710 --> 00:00:49.810 But I wanted to give a little bit of context 00:00:49.810 --> 00:00:53.009 on who is Open Doors? How did we begin for those 00:00:53.009 --> 00:00:56.030 who maybe have never heard of us before? And 00:00:56.030 --> 00:00:58.869 so Open Doors has been serving the persecuted 00:00:58.869 --> 00:01:01.770 and strengthening the church for over 70 years. 00:01:02.130 --> 00:01:05.689 So a little bit before I was born, maybe some 00:01:05.689 --> 00:01:09.109 of you were around, I don't know. But it began 00:01:09.109 --> 00:01:13.450 back in 1955 by the name of Brother Andrew was 00:01:13.450 --> 00:01:16.049 our founder. So some people have heard of Brother 00:01:16.049 --> 00:01:19.659 Andrew or the book God Smuggler. But we began 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:23.500 back in 1955 where Brother Andrew was a young 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:27.299 27 -year -old Dutch missionary and he began smuggling 00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:30.560 Bibles behind the iron curtain to get them into 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.180 the hands of believers who were under oppressive 00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:36.760 communist regimes. Not just to deliver Bibles, 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:40.359 but to deliver hope, to remind the body of Christ 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:43.180 who were remnant. They were just a few Christians 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:47.290 by themselves. who were isolated and alone, and 00:01:47.290 --> 00:01:49.989 to remind them that the body of Christ was actually 00:01:49.989 --> 00:01:52.629 praying and standing with them. So that's him. 00:01:53.109 --> 00:01:55.890 And then the next slide is the blue beetle car. 00:01:56.689 --> 00:01:59.790 And he would pray this famous prayer, which became 00:01:59.790 --> 00:02:02.310 known as the smuggler's prayer. And he would 00:02:02.310 --> 00:02:05.310 pray this at every border. He would say, Lord, 00:02:05.329 --> 00:02:08.810 you make blind eyes see. Now I'm asking you to 00:02:08.810 --> 00:02:13.319 make seeing eyes blind. pretty bold prayer to 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:16.620 go up to the border with a car full of Bibles. 00:02:17.139 --> 00:02:18.919 He would have them in the front, he'd have them 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:21.580 in the back, he even would have them on the passenger 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:25.360 seat just to really test if they would see them. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.400 But miraculously they would open up suitcases 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:32.460 and not see the Bibles sitting right there. And 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:35.120 there's a famous interview of him 20 years into 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.900 the ministry where the interviewer asked him, 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:41.810 Bibles ever been discovered and he says by God's 00:02:41.810 --> 00:02:44.750 grace not one Bible has ever been discovered 00:02:44.750 --> 00:02:48.389 and So so many Bibles were able to get into the 00:02:48.389 --> 00:02:51.009 hands of believers from the very beginning of 00:02:51.009 --> 00:02:54.370 the ministry And so these days we have different 00:02:54.370 --> 00:02:57.639 types of Bibles We have these, which are audio 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:00.960 Bibles. And so what's really cool about these 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.439 is when if they're discovered, you can just take 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:06.340 out the little SD card and it looks like a radio. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.280 And so our team is very creative these days. 00:03:09.379 --> 00:03:12.000 We have little ones, big ones, solar paneled 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.219 ones for people who are illiterate. There's no 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:17.599 point giving them an actual Bible if they can't 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:21.759 read. And so it's all context based. um as well 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.560 which is really awesome so $20 gets a bible into 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:28.039 the hands of a believer um which is really amazing 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:30.139 that that can happen so there'll be an opportunity 00:03:30.139 --> 00:03:33.180 to give later today if you'd like to a bible 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:36.719 um but we also don't just deliver bibles we also 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:39.620 do a few other things so we do discipleship and 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:42.800 training so believers who come from other religions 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.639 don't know the word of god they they have the 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:47.479 heart to serve they have the heart to pastor 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:50.680 but we give them theological training. We also 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:53.080 give them persecution preparedness training. 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:56.520 So preparing them for persecution, that it's 00:03:56.520 --> 00:03:58.439 actually not a bad thing. It's actually can be 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.639 a byproduct of following Jesus. And how do we 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:05.500 respond? We pray, we forgive those who persecute 00:04:05.500 --> 00:04:08.120 us. And so that's very radical when you've grown 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:11.629 up in a culture where it's you. you turn back 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:15.530 and you attack them too, but teaching them what's 00:04:15.530 --> 00:04:18.870 the biblical response to persecution. We also 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:22.290 provide practical support. So believers are often 00:04:22.290 --> 00:04:25.189 the last to receive aid. So it goes through the 00:04:25.189 --> 00:04:27.589 government or it goes through the mosque. And 00:04:27.589 --> 00:04:30.910 so Christians can be specifically excluded from 00:04:30.910 --> 00:04:34.110 support. This includes like rebuilding churches 00:04:34.110 --> 00:04:39.019 that are bombed or burnt down. help rebuild them. 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:41.060 And then finally, one of my favorite things we 00:04:41.060 --> 00:04:44.120 do is what we call presence ministry, which is 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:48.199 in -person visits. So you might be the only Christian 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.339 five hours away from another church. You won't 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:53.920 get the opportunity to gather on a Sunday, but 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.220 our teams will travel hours just to meet with 00:04:56.220 --> 00:04:59.160 one Christian family or one believer to pray 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:01.879 with them, to sit with them, to encourage them. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:04.680 And we know that just makes such an incredible 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:07.620 difference. That's kind of a bit of an overview 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:10.839 of some of the different ways that we work. One 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:12.759 of the things that we also do as a ministry is 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:15.279 we put together what we call a world watch list. 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:18.620 As you can imagine, there's a lot of need. And 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:21.639 so what we do is we put together the top 50 most 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.560 dangerous places to be a Christian. So I think 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:28.829 that's the next slide. Yes, perfect. crushing 00:05:28.829 --> 00:05:32.129 it. This is the top 50. I know it's really small, 00:05:32.149 --> 00:05:34.569 but I have a bunch of cool booklets out there 00:05:34.569 --> 00:05:37.529 that you can grab. Does anyone want to guess 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:46.050 what is number one? He's on it. North Korea is 00:05:46.050 --> 00:05:48.170 number one. And there is the next slide, which 00:05:48.170 --> 00:05:50.790 is the top 10. There you go. A little bit easier 00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:53.470 to see. But this is the top 10 most dangerous 00:05:53.470 --> 00:05:55.990 places to be a Christian. So this is based on 00:05:55.990 --> 00:05:59.610 both pressure and violence. And so we put this 00:05:59.610 --> 00:06:02.089 together every year. And it's the most authoritative 00:06:02.089 --> 00:06:05.290 list on Christian persecution worldwide, which 00:06:05.290 --> 00:06:07.790 is really amazing. And so this helps us direct 00:06:07.790 --> 00:06:10.290 the attention to where is the greatest need. 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:15.560 because we estimate there's 388 million believers 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:18.480 who face high or extreme forms of persecution. 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:22.579 So one in seven Christians around the world face 00:06:22.579 --> 00:06:25.139 this high or extreme forms of persecution for 00:06:25.139 --> 00:06:28.420 their faith. And that since I began in Open Doors 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:33.180 three years ago, that's gone up 30 million since 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:37.300 2023. And so we know that persecution continues 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:40.430 to increase. And you might be wondering, are 00:06:40.430 --> 00:06:44.629 you seeking to end persecution? We're not. We're 00:06:44.629 --> 00:06:46.709 not seeking to end persecution because we know 00:06:46.709 --> 00:06:51.790 it's promised. 2 Timothy 3 verse 12 says, anyone 00:06:51.790 --> 00:06:54.370 who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted. 00:06:55.089 --> 00:06:57.350 And so we read throughout scripture, persecution 00:06:57.350 --> 00:07:00.230 is promised. So we don't seek to end it, but 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:02.970 we seek to stand alongside believers in the midst 00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:06.040 of it. We want to encourage them. We want to 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:08.199 strengthen them. We want to support them because 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:11.519 they are on the front lines of evangelism. They're 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.240 in these dangerous places to be a Christian and 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.560 they choose to go out and share the gospel with 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:18.220 people around them. And so I'm going to share 00:07:18.220 --> 00:07:20.639 a bit more about that. But that's the heart of 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.839 our ministry is to strengthen what remains. And 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:25.639 so I wanted to share a little bit about Asia 00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:28.600 specifically, because I know that's a particular 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:32.639 heart of yours. And so across Asia, two in five 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.160 Christians face high or extreme forms of persecution. 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:39.800 It's a region that's not just marked by dramatic 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:43.160 violence, but what we kind of call squeeze persecution. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:47.600 So when you have pressure to conform back to 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.399 your original religion, so you can maybe meet 00:07:51.399 --> 00:07:53.620 in an underground church, you can maybe meet 00:07:53.620 --> 00:07:57.350 with a few other believers, but From the outside 00:07:57.350 --> 00:08:00.449 it can seem calm and it can seem normal But there 00:08:00.449 --> 00:08:03.470 is this constant surveillance constant squeeze 00:08:03.470 --> 00:08:06.970 that's going on around you And so believe is 00:08:06.970 --> 00:08:10.009 a facing intense pressure through surveillance 00:08:10.009 --> 00:08:13.629 through intimidation discrimination and restrictions 00:08:13.629 --> 00:08:17.009 Designed to kind of squeeze the faith out of 00:08:17.009 --> 00:08:19.970 your daily life out of your daily walk with the 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:22.769 Lord And so for those interested about North 00:08:22.769 --> 00:08:26.250 Korea, it's once again number one for many, many 00:08:26.250 --> 00:08:29.970 years. And every citizen is classified under 00:08:29.970 --> 00:08:33.309 three different places, three different categories 00:08:33.309 --> 00:08:37.529 under the system son ban. And the three categories 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:41.389 are the core, the wavering and the hostile. And 00:08:41.389 --> 00:08:44.309 so you can guess which the one the Christians 00:08:44.309 --> 00:08:48.309 fall into is the hostile. So you're deemed hostile 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:51.159 to the state if you're a Christian. This doesn't 00:08:51.159 --> 00:08:54.580 just affect you, it can affect up to three generations 00:08:54.580 --> 00:08:58.059 of your family. So if you're caught to be a Christian, 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:01.340 you don't just go to a concentration camp or 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:03.559 a labour camp, or you could either get killed 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:06.919 on the spot, but three generations of your family 00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:10.220 are affected as well, simply because you choose 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:14.629 to follow Jesus. In China, which is number 17th 00:09:14.629 --> 00:09:17.649 on the World Watch List, the pressure is systematic. 00:09:17.889 --> 00:09:20.370 You may have heard last year there was a coordinated 00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:25.230 attack to arrest a number of key pastors within 00:09:25.230 --> 00:09:29.450 China from the underground church and so 30 key 00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:32.990 pastors were arrested in the space of one week 00:09:32.990 --> 00:09:37.950 and they were arrested with indefinite sentences 00:09:37.950 --> 00:09:42.409 and put in prison because they were pastoring. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:46.039 and also recently a law has been put in place 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:50.100 so under 18 year olds are banned from attending 00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:54.179 church completely forbidden and so you can imagine 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:57.340 that is the whole next generation of the church 00:09:57.340 --> 00:10:01.460 forbidden to go to church and hear the gospel 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:04.940 and yet we still are seeing testimonies so about 00:10:04.940 --> 00:10:08.379 a month ago one of those Chinese pastors was 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:11.539 actually miraculously released from prison, which 00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:14.179 we praise God for. He was miraculously released 00:10:14.179 --> 00:10:17.200 and was able to be reunited with his family, 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:20.139 which was incredible. And so that is the testament 00:10:20.139 --> 00:10:23.899 to the power of prayer is that we're seeing pastors 00:10:23.899 --> 00:10:26.460 be released from prison, which is really, really 00:10:26.460 --> 00:10:28.879 amazing. And so that's a bit of context into 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:31.919 Asia. I also wanted to give you a bit of a bigger 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.509 scope of a little dive into. Africa as well. 00:10:35.850 --> 00:10:38.370 And so there's a beautiful one minute video that 00:10:38.370 --> 00:10:41.570 I'd love to share. Just a heads up, it's a little 00:10:41.570 --> 00:10:45.990 bit confronting. So yeah, just be warned, but 00:10:45.990 --> 00:10:48.629 I'll give you a bit more insight. So thank you. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:53.820 Yeah, so that those are our brothers and sisters 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:58.600 in Christ. And that's just a small glimpse into 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:02.549 as you saw 12 Christians a day are killed. in 00:11:02.549 --> 00:11:05.789 Nigeria simply because they're a Christian. And 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:08.870 so in light of the passage I'm going to share 00:11:08.870 --> 00:11:11.830 on today, I wanted to remind us that this isn't 00:11:11.830 --> 00:11:15.210 a hypothetical passage for the persecuted church, 00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:19.529 where King Jehoshaphat is hearing about a vast 00:11:19.529 --> 00:11:22.529 army that's coming against him, that's surrounding 00:11:22.529 --> 00:11:26.009 them, that's coming to attack them. This is not 00:11:26.009 --> 00:11:29.529 a false nice little story for the persecuted 00:11:29.529 --> 00:11:32.639 church. It's a reality. they're having people 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.820 come and specifically attack them because they 00:11:35.820 --> 00:11:38.879 follow Jesus. And so whilst we are surrounded 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:43.360 by different challenges and obstacles and very 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.799 real situations here, we can be reminded by the 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:50.580 persecuted church what is their response and 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:53.240 what can we learn from this passage. Because 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:56.879 what does it look like to actually continue pastoring 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.549 when your life is being threatened? What does 00:11:59.549 --> 00:12:02.470 it actually look like for your family to continue 00:12:02.470 --> 00:12:05.870 to follow Jesus when your kids are being persecuted 00:12:05.870 --> 00:12:08.970 in their school? They won't get the marks that 00:12:08.970 --> 00:12:11.750 they want because they're a Christian. They won't 00:12:11.750 --> 00:12:14.169 get to play with other kids. They won't get to 00:12:14.169 --> 00:12:17.710 live to their school because they're a Christian. 00:12:18.629 --> 00:12:21.210 And so how do believers actually continue to 00:12:21.210 --> 00:12:23.649 stand strong when they're watching loved ones 00:12:23.649 --> 00:12:27.059 be killed right in front of them? They're identifying 00:12:27.059 --> 00:12:30.919 their loved ones by their clothes after fleeing 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:35.919 their communities. And so what I love is that 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.539 King Jehoshaphat is not standing in front of 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:41.860 a theoretical problem either. He receives news 00:12:41.860 --> 00:12:46.419 that a vast army is coming to attack the kingdom 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:49.059 of Judah. And the first thing that we see in 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:54.279 the scripture is Jehoshaphat was afraid. I love 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:57.539 that he wasn't super brave. He didn't have it 00:12:57.539 --> 00:13:01.480 all together. He was afraid. And I think sometimes 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:03.720 we also can think that the persecuted church 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:07.460 is cool, calm and collected. But they're afraid. 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:10.059 They're afraid for their lives. They're afraid 00:13:10.059 --> 00:13:12.860 for their loved ones. They would love to live 00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:17.440 a comfortable life. He was the king. He was the 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.980 king. He was meant to have it all together. And 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:23.500 yet he was afraid. And a little bit of context 00:13:23.500 --> 00:13:27.460 for you, he was a godly king. He did some amazing 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:30.279 work. He established religious and civic order 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:34.220 in Judah. Earlier in 2 Chronicles 17, we're told 00:13:34.220 --> 00:13:37.200 that he walked in the ways his father David had 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.000 followed and that his heart was courageous in 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.940 the ways of the Lord. The Lord had established 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:46.509 the kingdom. He had great riches and honor. And 00:13:46.509 --> 00:13:48.970 in fact, because of the fear of the Lord, the 00:13:48.970 --> 00:13:51.830 surrounding kingdoms did not war against Judah. 00:13:52.429 --> 00:13:54.950 And so this attack would not have been expected. 00:13:55.730 --> 00:13:57.669 They had done all the right things. They were 00:13:57.669 --> 00:14:01.309 following Jesus. They were following Him. And 00:14:01.309 --> 00:14:04.529 yet this attack comes. And as I mentioned earlier, 00:14:04.549 --> 00:14:06.990 when we do persecution preparedness training, 00:14:07.450 --> 00:14:09.649 it's because sometimes we can forget that following 00:14:09.649 --> 00:14:12.980 Jesus actually can come with persecution. It 00:14:12.980 --> 00:14:15.960 doesn't, God doesn't promise us an easy life. 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.679 He doesn't promise us a life free from suffering, 00:14:19.059 --> 00:14:21.779 but he promises to be with us in the midst of 00:14:21.779 --> 00:14:26.100 it. When we read John 16 33, it's Jesus talking 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:29.200 to his disciples saying, I've said, told you 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:31.759 these things so that you might have peace for 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.600 in this world you will have trouble, but take 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:38.139 heart, I have overcome the world. And so he doesn't 00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:41.480 promise us a life free from suffering, but he 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:44.440 promises to be with us. And so the first thing 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:48.820 that we see in this passage is Jehoshaphat resolved 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:52.299 to inquire of the Lord. Mike, get the passage 00:14:52.299 --> 00:14:55.419 up. It might be helpful, thank you. He resolved 00:14:55.419 --> 00:15:00.080 to inquire of the Lord. He resolved not to go 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:03.059 to the military officials, not to figure out 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:06.230 a great strategy in human strength. he resolved 00:15:06.230 --> 00:15:09.370 to inquire of the Lord. And if you read throughout 00:15:09.370 --> 00:15:12.070 the Old Testament, there's the kings that inquired 00:15:12.070 --> 00:15:14.090 of the Lord, and there's the kings that did not 00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:17.289 inquire of the Lord. And we all know which works 00:15:17.289 --> 00:15:21.570 out better. So he inquired of the Lord. He knew 00:15:21.570 --> 00:15:24.450 that unless the Lord Almighty intervened on their 00:15:24.450 --> 00:15:27.490 behalf, there was no way they could defeat these 00:15:27.490 --> 00:15:29.629 armies. Because in case you didn't notice, there's 00:15:29.629 --> 00:15:33.370 actually three. three armies that have combined 00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:36.889 efforts to come against one. So three against 00:15:36.889 --> 00:15:40.309 one doesn't usually work out very well. But they 00:15:40.309 --> 00:15:43.110 sought the Lord, they looked to Jesus and they 00:15:43.110 --> 00:15:46.429 set their gaze towards the Lord. The people of 00:15:46.429 --> 00:15:48.929 Judah came together to seek help from the Lord. 00:15:49.309 --> 00:15:52.049 Indeed, they came from every town in Judah to 00:15:52.049 --> 00:15:55.669 seek Him. They sought the Lord, they set their 00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:58.610 face towards Him. And I love when we look at 00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:02.230 Isaiah 50 verse seven, this is a beautiful passage 00:16:02.230 --> 00:16:05.210 because it says, the sovereign Lord helps me. 00:16:05.570 --> 00:16:08.730 I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set 00:16:08.730 --> 00:16:12.009 my face like Flint and I know I will not be put 00:16:12.009 --> 00:16:16.960 to shame. Set your face like Flint. And this 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:19.659 picture of sometimes when we think looking, it's 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:22.879 just a glance. But it's actually an active decision 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.580 that he made to turn away from something and 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:29.120 turn towards something. He had to turn away from 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:32.340 looking at the armies that were very close to 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:34.700 attacking. They weren't far away. He didn't have 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:38.659 a lot of notice. They were imminent. But he turned 00:16:38.659 --> 00:16:42.259 away from the present situation and he turned 00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:45.600 to look towards Jesus. Because we can't do both. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:49.019 The premise of looking means that you have to 00:16:49.019 --> 00:16:52.320 turn away and you have to look towards. You can't 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:56.440 do both at the same time. And so we see that 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:59.539 picture of setting our face like Flint. We also 00:16:59.539 --> 00:17:02.659 see this in Hebrews 12 as to fixing our eyes 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:05.859 on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:09.299 Such a beautiful picture of as we look to Jesus, 00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:12.579 he is the one who is the author and perfecter 00:17:12.579 --> 00:17:16.099 of our faith. And I love that because the responsibility 00:17:16.099 --> 00:17:18.740 isn't for us to suddenly get a lot of courage 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:21.440 or get a lot of faith, but it's actually as we 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:25.279 look to Jesus, He is the one who is the one who 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:28.619 perfects our faith and perfects our belief. And 00:17:28.619 --> 00:17:31.799 we also see this with Jesus. When He was walking 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:35.180 on the earth, He was resolved to do the Father's 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:39.240 will. He resolved to follow the will of the Father. 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:42.539 He inquired of the Father on what to do, on how 00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:46.279 to respond. And then we also see this, yeah, 00:17:46.579 --> 00:17:49.640 throughout scripture. And we have the choice, 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:53.279 what are we looking towards? Because it's very 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:57.160 easy to look towards the present situation, to 00:17:57.160 --> 00:17:59.940 look towards the obstacle, to look towards the 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:03.420 diagnosis, to look towards the pain. to look 00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:07.339 towards what is being magnified around us. But 00:18:07.339 --> 00:18:09.940 would we make the decision as Jehoshaphat did 00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:14.960 to look towards Jesus? Because you cannot continually 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:17.940 fix your attention on Jesus whilst allowing your 00:18:17.940 --> 00:18:21.039 circumstance to have the final word over your 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:24.400 perspective. You cannot look at the things around 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:28.140 you and be magnifying them and also look towards 00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:31.630 Jesus. You have to choose. What are you going 00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:34.650 to look towards? And that is going to be the 00:18:34.650 --> 00:18:36.730 decision of you're going to have to turn away 00:18:36.730 --> 00:18:39.009 from things. You're going to have to turn away 00:18:39.009 --> 00:18:42.650 from the situations and magnifying them. He had 00:18:42.650 --> 00:18:45.410 to make the choice, turn away from the armies 00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:48.430 that were about to approach and make time to 00:18:48.430 --> 00:18:52.690 look to Jesus. I love this particular verse was 00:18:52.690 --> 00:18:55.670 what brought me to this passage. And it's full 00:18:55.670 --> 00:18:58.710 in this particular passage. This was the one 00:18:58.710 --> 00:19:02.109 verse that stood out to me. For we have no power 00:19:02.109 --> 00:19:05.109 to face this vast army that is attacking us. 00:19:05.430 --> 00:19:09.009 We do not know what to do but our eyes are on 00:19:09.009 --> 00:19:13.720 you. We do not know what to do but our eyes are 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:17.599 on you. Charles Spurgeon says of the words look 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:20.420 unto me he said it's one of the shortest texts 00:19:20.420 --> 00:19:23.200 of scripture but it contains the whole gospel. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.259 It contains the whole gospel because when we 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:29.559 follow Jesus we look towards Jesus. We decide 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:33.430 to go all of my old life is done, I'm turning 00:19:33.430 --> 00:19:36.690 towards Jesus. But sometimes as we grow in our 00:19:36.690 --> 00:19:39.569 relationship with the Lord, we choose to continue 00:19:39.569 --> 00:19:43.029 to start looking at our situations, at our circumstances, 00:19:43.430 --> 00:19:46.349 at what's happening around us. And we forget 00:19:46.349 --> 00:19:49.609 to look to Jesus. And I want to encourage you 00:19:49.609 --> 00:19:53.420 today that... So much of what enables our brothers 00:19:53.420 --> 00:19:56.700 and sisters in Christ to continue to go through 00:19:56.700 --> 00:19:59.779 these challenging situations is because of where 00:19:59.779 --> 00:20:02.980 their focus is. It's because of what they're 00:20:02.980 --> 00:20:05.519 magnifying. The more you behold something the 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:09.420 more you magnify it, the more you begin to reflect 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:13.150 it. But when we behold Christ, we reflect Him. 00:20:13.670 --> 00:20:16.150 And when we behold the light of the world, the 00:20:16.150 --> 00:20:20.170 darkness of the world around us grows dim. I 00:20:20.170 --> 00:20:23.029 know some of you might know the hymn of, and 00:20:23.029 --> 00:20:25.190 the things of earth will grow strangely dim in 00:20:25.190 --> 00:20:28.410 the light of His glory and grace. And that is 00:20:28.410 --> 00:20:31.589 the evidence of really what we see with our brothers 00:20:31.589 --> 00:20:34.880 and sisters in Christ. It's not that the suffering 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.880 disappears, it's not that the persecution disappears, 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:41.279 but what they behold, what they are fixated on, 00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:44.200 enables them to see it through a proper perspective, 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:48.559 through the light of Jesus. And so I want to 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:51.039 encourage us that, yeah, what we give our attention 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:55.319 to informs our perspective. As we behold something, 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:58.559 we become like it. And we want to behold Christ. 00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:02.380 And I think also what we see in this next part 00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:05.859 of this passage is it's really easy to spend 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:09.420 a lot of time and energy thinking about the problem 00:21:09.420 --> 00:21:12.759 and actually spending really little time seeking 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:16.000 the Lord about it. We can talk a lot about the 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.460 problem and we can talk a lot about the challenge 00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:21.099 and we can actually spend a really small amount 00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:24.779 of time asking the Lord about it. But I love 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:28.480 this prayer that King Jehoshaphat prays. I'd 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.220 love to encourage you to read it because when 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:34.940 he begins praying, it's striking how little time 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:38.220 he spends talking about the army and how much 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:41.220 he spends talking about the greatness of God. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.599 He begins with who God is. He says, Lord, the 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.740 God of our ancestors, are you not the God who 00:21:48.740 --> 00:21:51.980 is in heaven? You rule over the kingdoms of the 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:55.400 nations. Power and might are in your hand and 00:21:55.400 --> 00:22:00.559 no one can withstand you. At the midst of this 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.839 crazy situation of having three armies coming 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:07.039 against you, he begins his prayer by saying, 00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:12.269 you are great. No one can withstand you. And 00:22:12.269 --> 00:22:16.250 it's just incredible because It's not, once again, 00:22:16.549 --> 00:22:19.190 not diminishing the problem, but seeing it through 00:22:19.190 --> 00:22:23.130 the lens of how great God is. He remembers what 00:22:23.130 --> 00:22:26.569 God has done. He speaks about the faithfulness 00:22:26.569 --> 00:22:29.670 of God as, did you not drive out these enemies? 00:22:29.869 --> 00:22:32.869 Did you not achieve this? Did you not come through 00:22:32.869 --> 00:22:35.730 in this situation? And I want to encourage us 00:22:35.730 --> 00:22:39.289 as we pray, are we dwelling on the situation 00:22:39.289 --> 00:22:41.950 or are we reminding ourselves of who God is, 00:22:42.329 --> 00:22:44.529 of what He's done, of what He's accomplished, 00:22:44.650 --> 00:22:47.829 of who He is? Because I can promise you our brothers 00:22:47.829 --> 00:22:50.890 and sisters in Christ are stirring their faith 00:22:50.890 --> 00:22:53.869 by reminding themselves of who God is and what 00:22:53.869 --> 00:22:57.329 He's done. Whether small or big, that might be. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:59.880 whether it's just you had a good week or you 00:22:59.880 --> 00:23:03.480 had some sunshine come out on an afternoon, whatever 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:06.740 it might be, can we magnify the Lord together? 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.160 And can we remember His power? And can we view 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:13.160 the problem through the lens of how great God 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.039 is? I saw this displayed when I got to visit 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:20.359 some of the team in Southeast Asia and we met 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:24.109 this incredible woman and She was sharing about 00:23:24.109 --> 00:23:27.210 how it was an Easter Sunday a few years ago and 00:23:27.210 --> 00:23:30.069 this man came to the church with a backpack on. 00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:33.009 They all were gathered together in a church similar 00:23:33.009 --> 00:23:36.789 to this and all of a sudden he came in the back 00:23:36.789 --> 00:23:39.329 of the building. The associate pastor was sitting 00:23:39.329 --> 00:23:42.450 on the front row. He quickly became disturbed. 00:23:42.470 --> 00:23:45.349 He turned around. He saw this man had entered 00:23:45.349 --> 00:23:47.690 the back of the building, put his arm around 00:23:47.690 --> 00:23:50.609 the man, walked him out and all of a sudden the 00:23:50.609 --> 00:23:54.690 bomb went off. completely exploded. A bunch of 00:23:54.690 --> 00:23:57.069 motorbikes were lined up outside the front of 00:23:57.069 --> 00:23:59.809 the church and because of the fuel in them they 00:23:59.809 --> 00:24:03.670 lit on fire. And so within moments the whole 00:24:03.670 --> 00:24:07.690 church was on fire. There was 200 people inside. 00:24:08.349 --> 00:24:11.069 The kids had gathered for breakfast that morning 00:24:11.069 --> 00:24:16.250 and within moments many of them had died. passed 00:24:16.250 --> 00:24:19.250 away and they had to break the church in three 00:24:19.250 --> 00:24:23.269 parts to get everyone inside out. And so this 00:24:23.269 --> 00:24:26.789 woman that we spoke to, she lost 34 of her close 00:24:26.789 --> 00:24:30.190 friends. A number of them were small children 00:24:30.190 --> 00:24:35.450 that day. And yet we spoke with her and we heard 00:24:35.450 --> 00:24:40.089 her story and she said, God is in control. We 00:24:40.089 --> 00:24:42.710 may not understand it. We don't know why this 00:24:42.710 --> 00:24:47.930 happened, but God is in control. She saw this 00:24:47.930 --> 00:24:50.670 situation through the lens of God's sovereignty. 00:24:51.390 --> 00:24:55.230 She said that these two young kids actually slipped 00:24:55.230 --> 00:24:58.710 down a crevice of a stairwell and were protected 00:24:58.710 --> 00:25:02.509 from the fire. She kept testifying of the Lord's 00:25:02.509 --> 00:25:05.650 goodness, and it wasn't the absence of pain and 00:25:05.650 --> 00:25:08.970 suffering, but it was through the lens of seeing 00:25:08.970 --> 00:25:12.130 God is sovereign. Even when I don't understand, 00:25:12.569 --> 00:25:17.220 I trust that He is Lord. And so I want to encourage 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:20.940 us that it's not an absence of fear, but in the 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:23.880 fear that Jehoshaphat was experiencing, he turned 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:27.380 to Christ. He didn't turn to his own man -made 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:31.099 efforts. He didn't turn to controlling the situation. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:35.259 He turned to Jesus. He turned to the one who 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:38.599 could do the impossible, who could move on their 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:43.809 behalf. And we see that. One of the other things 00:25:43.809 --> 00:25:47.809 I see often when I speak to persecuted Christians 00:25:47.809 --> 00:25:50.970 is we'll ask them about persecution. We'll ask 00:25:50.970 --> 00:25:53.109 them, what kind of persecution do you face? Obviously 00:25:53.109 --> 00:25:56.569 our teams know, but we're asking them and often 00:25:56.569 --> 00:26:00.210 they make this comment of saying, minor troubles, 00:26:01.009 --> 00:26:04.369 minor afflictions. They're just minor afflictions. 00:26:04.710 --> 00:26:07.349 And I've often wondered, how can you say that? 00:26:07.369 --> 00:26:10.609 Because they'll list things that we would not 00:26:10.609 --> 00:26:14.589 consider minor. at all. But I'm reminded that 00:26:14.589 --> 00:26:17.309 they're viewing it through this verse in 2 Corinthians 00:26:17.309 --> 00:26:21.789 4, where Paul writes, So we do not lose heart, 00:26:22.210 --> 00:26:24.750 though our outward self is wasting our way, our 00:26:24.750 --> 00:26:28.150 inner self is being renewed day by day. For this 00:26:28.150 --> 00:26:31.890 light momentary affliction is preparing for us 00:26:31.890 --> 00:26:35.690 an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 00:26:36.210 --> 00:26:38.950 as we look not to the things that are seen, but 00:26:38.950 --> 00:26:43.279 to the things that are unseen. This light momentary 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:47.279 affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:52.119 of glory beyond all comparison. And so they call 00:26:52.119 --> 00:26:56.599 these things momentary afflictions in light of 00:26:56.599 --> 00:27:00.799 the glory of eternity. And this is the perspective 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:04.160 that our brothers and sisters bring to us, something 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:08.519 that we can forget, the weight of knowing eternity. 00:27:09.210 --> 00:27:11.809 The things of earth grow strangely dim in the 00:27:11.809 --> 00:27:14.690 light of his glory and grace because of eternity, 00:27:14.849 --> 00:27:17.930 because of the completed work of Christ. And 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:20.509 so when we read through this passage in Second 00:27:20.509 --> 00:27:24.029 Chronicles 20, we know the ending. We read it, 00:27:24.029 --> 00:27:26.829 you know, just a few verses later. But in the 00:27:26.829 --> 00:27:29.650 midst of that situation, it looked impossible. 00:27:30.660 --> 00:27:33.859 They had three armies coming against them. And 00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:36.519 yet if you continue to read the passage, they 00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:40.599 stepped out in praise. That's all they did was 00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:44.079 step out in praise and all of a sudden the three 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:48.160 armies turned on each other and then the kingdom 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:50.960 of Judah just got to step in and collect the 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:53.779 spoils of the battle they didn't even need to 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:57.410 fight. And I was reminded of this in the context 00:27:57.410 --> 00:28:00.670 of the new covenant that we get to live in. The 00:28:00.670 --> 00:28:04.890 kingdom of God that we get to walk in, the victory 00:28:04.890 --> 00:28:07.250 that we get to walk in because of the work of 00:28:07.250 --> 00:28:11.410 Jesus on the cross. The price that we should 00:28:11.410 --> 00:28:15.250 have paid, the debt that we deserved, Christ 00:28:15.250 --> 00:28:18.730 won the victory for. He won the victory for. 00:28:19.170 --> 00:28:21.369 And so when we think of the persecuted church 00:28:21.369 --> 00:28:24.950 looking at eternity, they're reminding themselves 00:28:24.950 --> 00:28:27.869 of the victory on the cross. They're reminding 00:28:27.869 --> 00:28:32.130 themselves that whilst the war around them is 00:28:32.130 --> 00:28:35.690 real, the attacks, they are surrounded. They 00:28:35.690 --> 00:28:38.289 are intimidated. They experience surveillance 00:28:38.289 --> 00:28:41.789 on every level. And yet they're reminded that 00:28:41.789 --> 00:28:44.930 the ultimate victory, the ultimate battle has 00:28:44.930 --> 00:28:48.009 already been won. It's already been decided. 00:28:48.210 --> 00:28:51.230 It's not a contentious battle. It's not a like, 00:28:51.329 --> 00:28:54.529 maybe it'll work out. No, the battle has been 00:28:54.529 --> 00:28:58.619 won. The victory has been secured in Jesus. And 00:28:58.619 --> 00:29:02.259 so they can have confidence that despite not 00:29:02.259 --> 00:29:05.200 understanding the situation they're in, despite 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:08.599 the challenges they face, we can be assured that 00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:12.000 we are on the winning team, that Christ has won 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:16.460 the victory for us. And so whilst King Jehoshaphat 00:29:16.460 --> 00:29:20.140 stands there and he says, I don't have the answer. 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:24.000 I don't know what to do. He says, we do not know 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.099 what to do, but our eyes are on you. They're 00:29:28.099 --> 00:29:30.940 looking to Jesus for their strength, for their 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:34.319 hope, for their trust. And so I want to remind 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:37.900 us that the reason why we look to Jesus is because 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:41.740 He's victorious. And when we look to Him, we're 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:44.759 reminded that we're actually seated in heavenly 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:48.440 places with Him. That the same Spirit that raised 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:52.579 Christ from the dead lives in us. And so we ourselves 00:29:52.579 --> 00:29:56.140 can be victorious. in the midst of things going 00:29:56.140 --> 00:29:59.400 around us because we are sons and daughters of 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:03.099 the living God. I love how John Scott puts it 00:30:03.099 --> 00:30:06.519 he says the powers of evil are real but they 00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:10.059 are defeated powers. Christ reigns above them 00:30:10.059 --> 00:30:14.319 and his people share in his victory. This changes 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:17.480 how we see the natural because the temptation 00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:20.200 is to interpret heaven through what we see around 00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:24.279 us but we see through our scripture that it's 00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:27.019 important to interpret what we see through the 00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:30.420 reality of heaven and so that's why this prayer 00:30:30.420 --> 00:30:33.119 is so beautiful in second chronicles because 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:37.059 he starts the prayer with this is who god is 00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:40.200 this is what he's done this is what he's accomplished 00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:44.180 and through that lens i know you know what to 00:30:44.180 --> 00:30:48.779 do lord so our eyes are on you because we fight 00:30:48.779 --> 00:30:53.180 from victory not for victory we know that we 00:30:53.180 --> 00:30:56.559 already have the victory. And so we just invite 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:59.640 the Lord into the challenges that we're experiencing, 00:31:00.359 --> 00:31:03.279 knowing that we've already won the victory and 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:05.599 that the Lord wants to speak in the midst of 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:09.440 it. And so we then see later on in this passage 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:12.539 in second Chronicles, this beautiful moment of 00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:15.259 all the men, verse 13, all the men of Judah with 00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:18.180 their wives and children and little ones stood 00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:22.190 there before the Lord. They waited on His instruction. 00:31:22.650 --> 00:31:25.069 They waited to see, what are you going to say, 00:31:25.210 --> 00:31:27.130 Lord? We're not going to act. We're not going 00:31:27.130 --> 00:31:30.410 to freak out. We're going to invite you in. And 00:31:30.410 --> 00:31:32.809 I want to encourage you that our teams, yes, 00:31:32.809 --> 00:31:35.670 we have great strategies. Yes, we have great 00:31:35.670 --> 00:31:39.210 teams that are working in over 70 countries around 00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:42.730 the world, all local teams. But one of the pillars 00:31:42.730 --> 00:31:47.230 of what we do is prayer. We pray. We ask the 00:31:47.230 --> 00:31:50.720 Lord, where should we go? Should we meet in this 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:54.119 place? Lord, would you help us to see the surveillance 00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:57.099 cameras? Would you help us to have wisdom and 00:31:57.099 --> 00:32:00.299 insight into where to meet, where to go? Because 00:32:00.299 --> 00:32:03.059 the Lord knows. He knows what's happening and 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:05.819 he wants to protect his people. And sometimes 00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:08.579 it's in ways that we don't expect. And we see 00:32:08.579 --> 00:32:11.900 this explained in this passage beautifully. It 00:32:11.900 --> 00:32:15.940 was not this great military strategy. It was 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:18.890 stand still. and I will fight the battle for 00:32:18.890 --> 00:32:22.769 you. Just go out and do not be afraid and do 00:32:22.769 --> 00:32:25.150 not be discouraged. But something I just want 00:32:25.150 --> 00:32:29.029 to point out is the spirit of the Lord came upon 00:32:29.029 --> 00:32:32.730 Jehaziel son of Zechariah, goes on his names. 00:32:33.490 --> 00:32:36.490 He was just an everyday person. He wasn't the 00:32:36.490 --> 00:32:40.210 king. He wasn't the military official. He was 00:32:40.210 --> 00:32:42.950 just someone in the crowd. He was a Levite. He 00:32:42.950 --> 00:32:46.160 was a worshiper. He's a musician. He was just 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:49.140 like you and me. He didn't have a title. He didn't 00:32:49.140 --> 00:32:52.380 have a particular role. But the Lord encouraged 00:32:52.380 --> 00:32:55.720 the people through him. He encouraged the people 00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:59.000 through the faith and the courage of this young 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:02.019 man to step out and say what the Lord wanted 00:33:02.019 --> 00:33:04.819 him to say. And I just wanted to encourage you 00:33:04.819 --> 00:33:08.799 and I that, yeah. He can use anyone. He can use 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:11.619 you and I to encourage one another. And whenever 00:33:11.619 --> 00:33:13.940 we meet with our brothers and sisters in Christ, 00:33:14.019 --> 00:33:16.759 they are so encouraged that people in Australia 00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:20.759 would be praying for them. They are blown away 00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:23.539 by the fact that we would be praying for them. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:28.720 And so I wanted to just close up by saying, please 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:31.859 read the rest of the passage. It's amazing. But 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:35.200 have we forgotten what Christ has already accomplished? 00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:39.619 Have I forgotten maybe where I'm seated with 00:33:39.619 --> 00:33:42.940 grass have I been overwhelmed by what I'm seeing 00:33:42.940 --> 00:33:46.460 around me And I don't want to diminish that in 00:33:46.460 --> 00:33:50.180 any way But you and I we have our own challenges 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:53.700 here The Lord wants to meet you just as he meets 00:33:53.700 --> 00:33:56.759 our brothers and sisters in grass He wants to 00:33:56.759 --> 00:33:59.140 meet with you. He wants to encourage you. He 00:33:59.140 --> 00:34:03.140 wants to Show you that you are not alone that 00:34:03.140 --> 00:34:06.220 God is with you and he wants to be present in 00:34:06.220 --> 00:34:09.619 your situation. And so I want to encourage you 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:12.059 when maybe you've gotten your attention fixed 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:17.320 on your situation, on the economy, on the market, 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:21.519 on sickness or disease, whatever it might be, 00:34:21.900 --> 00:34:25.409 would you turn your gaze back to Jesus? And that 00:34:25.409 --> 00:34:28.469 means turning away from some things that maybe 00:34:28.469 --> 00:34:31.409 you've been magnifying, maybe you've been trying 00:34:31.409 --> 00:34:34.329 to get research together, maybe you've been trying 00:34:34.329 --> 00:34:37.150 to be more informed. But I want to encourage 00:34:37.150 --> 00:34:41.090 you, Jesus has the answer. He's the one who can 00:34:41.090 --> 00:34:44.130 give you the insight that you need. He has the 00:34:44.130 --> 00:34:47.809 answer. And He, as we behold Him, we reflect 00:34:47.809 --> 00:34:51.110 Him, and we're reminded that the light is not 00:34:51.110 --> 00:34:55.070 overcome by darkness. It's not overcome by darkness. 00:34:55.650 --> 00:34:58.449 And so whilst persecution continues to reign 00:34:58.449 --> 00:35:01.650 around the world and continues to grow, we know 00:35:01.650 --> 00:35:05.570 that the victory is won, that Jesus is seated 00:35:05.570 --> 00:35:08.750 at the right hand of God. And we do not have 00:35:08.750 --> 00:35:12.849 to be afraid, but we should turn to Christ. And 00:35:12.849 --> 00:35:16.489 so we might not know what to do, but would our 00:35:16.489 --> 00:35:18.969 eyes and would our attention be on the Lord? 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:21.960 And so I have another short little video I want 00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:24.360 to play and I do want to encourage you if you 00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:27.739 do want to respond today, would you pray for 00:35:27.739 --> 00:35:30.099 the body of Christ? Would you pray for your brothers 00:35:30.099 --> 00:35:32.679 and sisters in Christ? We have some beautiful 00:35:32.679 --> 00:35:35.340 prayer guides that I can give you and you can 00:35:35.340 --> 00:35:37.800 sign up for every two months. You receive just 00:35:37.800 --> 00:35:40.539 a little prayer guide with a little line for 00:35:40.539 --> 00:35:43.579 each day to pray for. And if you'd like to give, 00:35:43.699 --> 00:35:46.860 as I said, $20 gets a Bible into the hands of 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:50.849 a believer. You'll see these on your seats. Simple 00:35:50.849 --> 00:35:53.309 QR code, you can put in whatever amount you like 00:35:53.309 --> 00:35:56.449 to give. Maybe you can give $2 a month. Like 00:35:56.449 --> 00:35:59.190 that's one Bible a year, whatever it works out 00:35:59.190 --> 00:36:02.050 to be. You can give that and just put in counter 00:36:02.050 --> 00:36:05.369 Church Henley and then we can update on the global 00:36:05.369 --> 00:36:08.909 collective impact. Or I've got card and cash 00:36:08.909 --> 00:36:11.849 out there as well. But I just love to encourage 00:36:11.849 --> 00:36:13.750 you. What does it look like for you? It might 00:36:13.750 --> 00:36:18.250 be different, but this is the body of Christ. 00:36:18.590 --> 00:36:21.449 and we get to encourage one another. And so I 00:36:21.449 --> 00:36:24.349 pray that their stories have encouraged you as 00:36:24.349 --> 00:36:26.750 much as our support and our prayers can encourage 00:36:26.750 --> 00:36:29.550 them. And that's the mutual partnership that 00:36:29.550 --> 00:36:33.440 we have. And so I'd love to just pray for each 00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:37.969 of us in this moment. Dear Heavenly Father, we 00:36:37.969 --> 00:36:40.510 just thank you for the privilege it is to gather 00:36:40.510 --> 00:36:43.929 together on a Sunday. Maybe we've taken that 00:36:43.929 --> 00:36:46.809 for granted, Lord. But we think of our brothers 00:36:46.809 --> 00:36:49.190 and sisters in Christ who don't get together 00:36:49.190 --> 00:36:53.050 freely, who might be sitting in their homes, 00:36:53.650 --> 00:36:57.389 worshipping you in secret under their breath, 00:36:57.590 --> 00:37:00.449 Lord. We think of them, God, who continue to 00:37:00.449 --> 00:37:03.889 go out and serve you, Lord, despite the challenges, 00:37:04.269 --> 00:37:07.599 despite the cost that comes with that. And so 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:09.699 Lord, we just think of them and we ask Lord that 00:37:09.699 --> 00:37:12.039 they would feel your love, they would feel your 00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:14.920 peace today. And we ask Lord that they would 00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:17.860 be reminded that you are King, you are Lord, 00:37:18.059 --> 00:37:21.480 you are sovereign. And even when we don't understand 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:24.380 what's happening around us, we know Lord that 00:37:24.380 --> 00:37:27.929 we can fix our attention on you. And so we pray 00:37:27.929 --> 00:37:30.289 for each and every one of us gathered here today, 00:37:30.590 --> 00:37:34.230 Lord. Maybe we've had our focus shift on what's 00:37:34.230 --> 00:37:36.670 happening around us and we've lifted our gaze 00:37:36.670 --> 00:37:40.170 off you. Think of Peter walking on water and 00:37:40.170 --> 00:37:42.869 the moment he lost sight of Jesus and looked 00:37:42.869 --> 00:37:46.190 to the waves around him, he began to sink. And 00:37:46.190 --> 00:37:49.429 so, Lord, we just invite you to encourage each 00:37:49.429 --> 00:37:51.909 of us, Lord, to turn our attention back to you, 00:37:51.989 --> 00:37:54.789 Lord, the author and perfecter of our faith. 00:37:55.099 --> 00:37:58.679 And so we give you this time together Lord and 00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:01.000 we ask Father that you would stir and encourage 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:04.519 our faith to step out in boldness and to continue 00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:07.579 to pursue you Lord. In your name we pray, Amen. 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:31.880 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.