I was quietly encouraged. When I put my pants on this morning and they did up. Anyone else? I was just gonna like, just admit defeat and put on stretchy pants. But I went, no, no, I'm going in hope and I'm going in faith that they're still gonna fit. After some three weeks of um, You look great. Oh bless you. 25 years people, 25 years. So good. Alright, well, um, just in case you don't know, This is Luke and this is Adam. Yep, say hey everyone.
And so what we are What we're doing, um, this morning is, we're going to, we're starting a new series which we have called Behold. Look back, look up, look in and look ahead. And, uh, I had originally wanted to call this series Kazaa. Why would I want to call it that? Kazaa. Some of you are looking very puzzled. Don't look so puzzled. But, um, Um, Kizar is actually the Hebrew word for look.
You know, some Hebrew words, actually a lot of them, like, they've got their, just their simple meaning, but then when you actually dive into them, they're just so rich, right? And they often just encompass things that our English language just sometimes is just a little thin on, right? And, uh, so this Hebrew word, um, For look, it means to gaze at, to mentally to perceive, to contemplate, um, it's specifically to have a vision of. So it's so much more than just seeing and looking at a glance.
It's really, it is the word behold. It's taking in, but taking in with a sense of vision. And so the reason why, uh, we are stepping into this series, and it touches on what I've already talked about in, um, you know, in the announcement time there, is we really felt to lean in and honour the natural rhythms of these weeks over Christmas and into the New Year, uh, to adopt this posture of beholding, Hazaring, or Kazaring, depending on how you pronounce it.
But all with this sense of, helping us to form a vision for 2025. So we're looking back, we're looking, so today we're looking back, we're going to be reflecting over this year that was, and what God has done, what God has taught us, shown us, done in and through us. not just us personally, but us collectively as a church family.
And then, uh, next Sunday we're going to be looking up and then we'll have, we're looking in and then looking ahead and the beautiful, Oh, can I share this story with you? Yes, I will. Because I have the microphone and it doesn't matter what you say. I'm going to do it anyway. Uh, so when we were, contemplating what we were going to do, uh, for this series and for this time of the year. Uh, we had, you know, we were throwing around some thoughts, and we were seeing what was going to stick.
And, you know, I just looked up, I just thought, I failed to just Google, you know, what's the Hebrew word for look? And out came this great word, huzzah! And, um, I don't know why I say it like that all the time. Like it's a magic trick or something. You could probably just say it normally. But then it sounds like hazard, which is actually a lot of people call my son, so that's, anyway. Moving right along. And, and so that kind of got, you know, the wheels grinding in that direction.
I was like, oh, this is a really compelling word. And then if you remember, uh, for those of you who were here, for the Christmas services. I shared a little bit from Psalm 85 and, um, you know, just a beautiful little passage of scripture about, you know, God will speak peace to his people, to his faithful ones. And that beautiful part of that scripture that talks about, you know, righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
And, um, Then, you know, preparing for this, I just again felt prompted to, you know, go to Google, and I just typed in randomly, just typed in the words, look back, look up, look in, look ahead, and then boom, up pops this sermon on Psalm 85, and it breaks Psalm 85 down into those four things. Alright, oh, that's great. I'm taking that as confirmation, Lord, by going with this.
So, over the next four Sundays, we will be going through Psalm 85, piece by piece, looking at each one of these four ways of looking and seeing, in order, why? In order to help us form a compelling, godly vision for the year ahead, yeah? One that goes so far beyond just, um, Nice little New Year's resolutions about getting fitter or being more adventurous or losing weight or whatever, but a divinely inspired vision that you have that sense of, I've heard from the Lord on this.
I've seen where the Lord has taken me, where he's brought me in recent times. I've called upon Him. I've looked inwards to the state of my own heart and now I'm looking ahead with godly vision for what the Lord would say to me and for where He wants to lead me and us as a church family as well into this new year because there will be, because we are a church family here, so there will be a collective resonance.
It won't just be, oh there's your little individual plan and there's your little individual plan and there's your individual plan. There will be a collective resonance. about the vision for the way forward into 2025. Is that good? Wonderful. All right. Well, let me just read from the beginning of Psalm 85 here. And it says this, so the Psalmist begins this Psalm and he begins by looking back and remembering what God has done. You Lord, you showed favor to your land.
You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside your wrath and turned from your fierce anger. So the Psalmist here, he begins this Psalm. by looking back and remembering what God has done for his people. And so that's really what we're going to do a bit of this morning with the three of us reflecting on what God has done, uh, over this past year.
I know I just read, um, Psalm 145 this morning and, uh, You know, there's this one little verse, it says, I remember the days of old, I meditate on all that you have done, I ponder the works of your hands, I meditate on all that you have done. So very much this morning is about that. It's about a meditation on what God has done over these past 12 months.
And so how we're going to work this morning is we're just going to quickly, what we have set ourselves the challenge of is first coming up with a word or a phrase for us that, uh, defines what this past 12 months has been, how we have experienced it. And then, uh, we've just got to, you're going to share a few little testimonies from each of us. This is a significant moment.
Um, I guess moments of learning, of understanding, of formation, uh, little testimonies, um, that we felt appropriate to share in this context with you as we reflect on the year that was. Did you want to add anything? Sure. Can we centralise our chairs? I'm struggling that we're not central. It's the tism. Just hands up if you have an OCD issue in your life. Yep. Very good. Is that making you feel better? Are you at peace now? I'm at peace. I can see down the middle I feel.
I was thinking about that phrase, look back, and in the Ark of Scripture, I was like, oh, doesn't the Bible say don't look back? You know, this thing of like, you know, you think of Lot and his wife, you know, don't look back. Um, there's actually, Jesus says it as well, and the context is a little bit different, but he says, uh, in Luke chapter 962, and no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. So I was like, oh, what, what is this?
And then, but then there's, uh, in Deuteronomy chapter 8, there's a narrative that talks about do not forget the Lord, so look back at the Lord, and I think part of this conversation today is what we're not talking about today is looking back at the Lord. at things like, um, your old ways, your old habits, uh, old self, old sources that God has used in the past. Now he's changed things and there's a new thing that God is you doing and using.
Uh, don't look back at the old, look, uh, look back at the character of the father, look back at his goodness, look back at who he is, look back, uh, on who he is so that you can remain focused on God. on His calling for you, on His purpose for you. Um, don't be distracted by the past.
Um, but actually as we look back, I think it's important to recognize what God has done, what He has spoken, so that we can be encouraged, so that we can be focused towards what is, what, where is He taking me next? What is, what is God on the move for next in my life?
Um, I was also thinking about when we don't, we don't forget the Lord, if you actually look through Deuteronomy chapter eight, it's got this wonderful image and I reckon it's a Christmas image because it says, when your stomachs are full and your barns are brimming over, you know, is everyone's stomachs full at the moment? I'm still struggling from last night's dinner. Thank you at the back there.
Um, And it says, it actually says this phrase that when, uh, you experience that, don't conclude that my power, my strength, my wealth, my ability has achieved all these things. It's God who has given me the ability to produce wealth. Has everyone read that scripture? It's an amazing reframe, as we recognize, as we look back, don't forget the Lord. He is the one who gives us the ability to do, to earn, to have a job, to work, to celebrate, to have friends. He gives us, it's His grace.
Turn to the person next to you and say, it's His grace. It's his grace, Dale. It's his grace. You didn't say it to me. Because I don't really like it when you do that. I know you don't. Anyone else? Who loves it? It's called engagement. It's called activation. The brain. It's my quiet passive resistant. Yeah. 25 years, people. I'm so mature. So part of, um, what we wanted to do today also is just recognize what has God done, uh, in us personally.
And I think I've got kind of two ideas and, um, you're going to say something, I know you are. Yeah, I thought, because Luke hasn't said anything yet, so I thought Luke could start. Oh, okay, Luke. So yeah, what was your word or phrase Luke, to describe this past year or so? Yeah. So the, the welcoming that I suppose God took me on this year, um, the journey was to be present with others and present with Christ. And the learning that, um, to To be present was to probably change the pace.
Um, so slowness was the gift that I received this year. Very good. Yeah. Yeah. So presence. Presence. Is your word. Yeah, absolutely. Very good. All right, Adam, you can go now. So the first thing I kind of felt like this year for myself, uh, in terms of what God was speaking, was I'm going to phrase this idea as, um, boldness towards or in God's calling. Boldness in God's calling. Um, I have a scripture for this, actually, in Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 to 3.
And it says, As a prisoner of the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you've received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There's this, there's this word calling. And this year I have felt, um, I think, a sense of the Spirit calling me to be bold in the thing that He's called me to do.
And I think a lot of the time when we, I think, certainly being a Western Australian, we can actually submit to the narrative of our culture, which is, uh, you know, don't think too highly of yourself. You know what I mean? Like don't, uh, the tall poppy syndrome. Does everyone know what I'm talking about? This dynamic of, if you go after the calling, you don't want to look too higher than mighty because actually that's the. It's actually not the narrative of the kingdom.
There's actually a humility in going after the call of God. In January, I felt the Lord say that he gave me permission, um, to be or express, um, express creatively in a way that is potentially more assertive than you've been before. And I was like, what does that mean? And so I felt him giving me permission at the start of this year to, for the Easter walkthrough this year, to actually build this LED screen pillar, does everyone know what I'm talking about?
And have this expression that's always a little bit more, some may say aggressive, some may say assertive, I may say bold. bolder than potentially I'd gone before and I'd felt a real permission from the Father to say, be bold in what I've called you to do. Be bold in that. Don't, don't apologize for what I've called you to do. You don't need to apologize for who you are. You don't need to apologize how God's made you.
And as I talk like that, I think part of our narrative is like, how do you know when this thing has slipped into, oh, this is all about you now. Do you understand what I mean? How do you discern that? And I think the work of the Spirit does that, is a conviction of the Spirit in our hearts and minds. That's what wives are for too. That's what wives do as well, which is great. It's my calling.
But I think part of it was back at that scripture that I mentioned before in Ephesians 4, is that your calling? I'll be bold in it shall I? You don't need any encouragement in that, I don't know. I think so. Praise the Lord for wives, hey? It is. Your wives will help you to be, can you put it up again for me there? Ephesians 4. No, it says, Be completely humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love.
I think the first comment to make is how do you know it's not something, your calling's not all about you in terms of it, sort of, somehow it's flipping into the way you're getting an identity? It's in a way you're proving yourself? Like, how do you make sure that it's not that? It's actually when your motivation is love. When your motivation is a desire to inspire others, to love on others, that's one of the key reasons you know.
And I think part of, um, anytime you are stepping into your calling, if you believe you're doing that alone, in isolation, you're going to fall into trouble. You need to bring other others into that call, into your calling. Well, I'm not, not everyone's called the same way, but it doesn't mean you can't call others to bring advice, to bring wisdom, to bring insight.
If you can't bring others into the calling and empower others in relationship to that calling you have, there's a reason to ask the question whether you have made it all about yourself. Because when you bring others, you know what happens? They refine, they bring fire, they, they, they rub a bit the wrong way sometimes. And I think part of that is, is recognizing, yes, be bold, but invite others into it. Um, be humble in that. And so, this year we did, um, the series about the apest.
Remember the, uh, five fold, uh, ministry out of Ephesians chapter four? And, um, that dynamic of the apostolic, the prophetic, the evangelist, the shepherd, the teacher. And I'm looking back at this year and thinking, man, Lord, you've had us as a church family on a journey to stir our hearts towards being bold about what you've called us to do and how you've made us See, how God's made you is directly related to how He's called you.
And when we're actually aware of who we are, but not just who we are, but aware of who others are around us, we have more of a reason to be bold in how God's called us to operate. And how God's called us to be. And so a part of, as I say, you know, God's been speaking about boldness in the calling. Um, this is, I feel like this is not just for me. This is for us as a church family. God's calling us to be bold in what He's called you to do. Uh, and so that was my first kind of idea there.
Boldness in God's calling. Beautiful. Did you want to just keep going? Are you on a roll? What I want to do, before I go on a roll, I just want you to bow your heads for a second. And I want just to pray into that for a second, because sometimes we can talk about this on an informational level, but what we actually need is an impartation of the Spirit to cause our lives to be bold.
And so Holy Spirit, I just want to ask that in Jesus name for every single one of us, that there wouldn't just be a I need to try harder, be bolder, but actually Holy Spirit come and fan into flame the gift that is within us to cause us to see how that calling, how that gifting, how you've made us, how it magnifies God, how it points to you, Jesus. Lord, help us to Receive that today. A fresh fire from heaven to be exactly who you are called to be. Unapologetically so. Unashamedly so.
Holy Spirit stir confidence in who you are in us. Because it's you in us Father. Holy Spirit stir your presence in us more this coming year that we will be bold towards what you've called us to do in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Um, just before you go on, I just quickly just say, you know, when you hear someone like an Adam, who's strongly apostolic, talk about vision, sometimes when you're not wired that way, you can sit there going, Oh, what's wrong with my calling, my vision?
I don't, I don't know. I just like show up each day and like, and sometimes you can go, is there something wrong with me? I don't have a big compelling vision. Like, When it comes to calling, it's an incredibly diverse thing, and like Adam said, your calling will always be true to how God's wired you. I personally don't operate in this big vision world of, you know, the likes of say an Adam or did I say Cleon before? Did Cleon somewhere?
Like these big apostolically wired people who have these big visions and for the longest time I used to think Is there something wrong with me? Um, you know, my sense of calling tends to be in more just day-to-day, showing up kind of ways, like in the, in the ways of like preaching and just being a faithful presence here amongst this community or in the seasons of, you know, like of, of motherhood and of being a wife and of those things.
So. Yes, some of you have the big grand, um, breaking new territory kind of vision, starting new things, that kind of thing. And for others, you know, the calling can look a little bit different, a little more of that faithful day to day presence in the spaces that God has put you in. Does that make sense? Yeah. I think part of it is when you listen to me talk about this, you're hearing from someone who's wired apostolically.
So when someone says the same thing as I said, but they're wired as a shepherd, it comes across differently. Does that make sense? So, there's um, I think that awareness that Dale's just trying to say is, we're not all expecting you to be like me, right? You gotta be like you. Please no, because that would be very exhausting. Totally exhausting. And very chaotic. Totally. But see, Dale's called, because that's what the, um, the Ephesians 4 talks about, the calling aspect.
So Dale's called more in a teacher way. And so as a teacher, may she be bold in her calling towards being a teacher. Does that make sense? And that's, that's actually a vision. To have a vision to be that, uh, to empower others, uh, is generally the apostolic dynamic. Um, but yes, very good. Um, the second thing that happened this year, this year for many of you, and it has been for me, uh, and Dale, is it's been a really tough year.
It's very, being one of those years, 2024, it has been markedly difficult. And one of those dynamics is some things we'll share, some things we won't share, because some of them, as you know, require wisdom. Would you agree? So I'm standing here to you today going, I know, as I say, it's been a really tough year. Some of you don't know all the details of that, and, and, and it's wise actually not to give all the details at times.
But I want you to know, Church family, Adam and Dale have had a really tough year out of all the, the years that we've had. This has been one of those really difficult ones. And I think part of that is not just I think it's just been another one. Another one. Oh, that was his cumulative effect of them. Okay, I'm a melancholy personality, so I just, I lean into the dark side very easily and naturally. Yes, I see that hand back there. Um, yes, go on. But yes, it has been incredibly challenging.
Yeah, so I think part of that, for me, It accumulated just prior to Father's Day, and um, who remembers Father's Day? Me and Paul were sharing, does anyone remember Father's Day? Uh, we went through the stages of adulthood. Is everything back, okay back there? Yeah, I think they've got it. Yeah, if you could just check back, that would be great. Thanks, Mac. Um, Father's Day was quite a difficult, difficult day, and it kind of all landed at one time for me.
And I remember The Lord saying to me, very clearly, I want you to be faithful, even in the fire. I want you to be faithful in the difficult moment. I want you to be faithful even when it's hard. And, I think part of what I've been seeing since Father's Day, is, in me, just a continual call of God just to show up even when it's hard, just to show up when it's difficult.
And, uh, after looking back at this year thinking, you know, Oh man, it's so interesting that when you do show up when it is difficult, it's very much like you have not much to offer because you're in a very difficult space. But you do show up and what you do see is the power of God work through you because you are humble to the point where it's very difficult, right? It's very tough. And so I haven't got much to give.
Praise be to God, He is the one who flows through us when we're in that place. And it actually is one of those moments where He gets the glory, not us. Because we aren't presenting in a way that, I've got this all together and I'm on top here. Actually, no, I'm being crushed under the weight of something. But how much does that declare the goodness of God in those moments?
Because we, we all must then go, ah, when my weakness is evident, when my difficulty is present internally, even externally, man, His strength is made perfect in those moments when I am weak. And I think that's part of my scripture for this part is in Galatians 6, 9, Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in the due season you will reap if we do not give up. And so a call to faithfulness has been something that has been true to my, our heart this year. Very good.
All right, so as we go through this, just see what sparks for you, what perhaps get you thinking and reflecting. Um, you know, the last few days I've just been reading the book of Hosea, and uh, there's this word that is repeated throughout Hosea. And it's the word acknowledge and the thing that God is holding the people to account to through the prophetic writings of Hosea is the fact that they've failed to acknowledge God.
And look, this pace of life that we're in just moves so quick, doesn't it? And we can miss these opportunities to acknowledge what God has done, even when it's hard. And it has been an incredibly hard year, not just for us, but for many of you also.
When we were thinking about what word would you use to describe this year, I Kind of went to the word scoubalon, which if any of you know Greek, you'll understand what that word means, so I won't say it in polite company, but basically it's Greek for poo. Um, probably with a little more spice to it, let's just say. Pizazz. Uh, yeah, it's been, um, yeah, it's been a, I guess the phrase I came up with was a year of light in the darkness. There's been so much deep, deep pain, deep disappointment.
I'm not talking about us personally. I'm just talking about us collectively in a family. Now if you're sitting here and you're going, Man, I've had a great year. What's all this Debbie Downer stuff? Like that is fine. You rejoice in your glorious, favour ridden year. Like own it. Because your time will come. Um, Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Profit of doom, profit of doom. Um, but it's true, right? Um, this world is very broken and in this world we will have trouble.
This just seems to have been a lot of deep, deep painful stuff. I think one of the clearest memories for me. That defines, uh, the pain of this year, um, was our annual staff and leadership team prayer retreat.
And, uh, we didn't plan for this, but what ended up happening on one of our nights together, because literally every single one of us, as we shared over the course of the couple of days about what we had been going through, have Every single person that have been going through something deeply, deeply hard, and painful, and dark, and difficult. And it just ended up, this last night, just ended up this way. this time of just this communal lament.
We just wept together over the pain of what this year had brought to pretty much all of us. And then it just went into this place of worship, this beautiful place of worship, which is where lament should always go. Um, and so, but that so very much defines what this year has been. Deep darkness, but deep presence, God's presence, faithful presence of friends and those that are journeying the road with us. Um, so light in the darkness as well. And, um, and so that time was incredibly profound.
Um, but then I was also thinking too of women's retreats. this year. And again, this beautiful moment of, um, on our final night together of just this, this worship, this free worship that just erupted, that was just like so profound and so beautiful and such a blessing. And I'm looking around this room and I'm looking at all these women and I know their stories and I know the places of darkness that they're standing in and they're worshiping with such freedom and such abandon.
And it was just so precious and so beautiful. And then later that night, and I'm so bummed I missed this, but, but the, the Southern lights lit up the sky. It's like 1130 at night and the sky lights up light in the darkness. And I think that's been 2024. It's been so dark, but the light has broken through in just these most beautiful and profound ways. And. I think that song we sung this morning was so timely because that has been such a, such a theme song for this year, Bless God.
Because you know some of the lines in it are so profound and so true. Bless God when my hands are empty. Man, so many of us have felt like our hands have just been empty this year. Bless God with the praise that cost me. For you all that have shown up in the pain and in the darkness. And it has cost you to come because you don't want to come and you don't want to be around people. You just want to retreat and isolate, but you've come and it has been a costly praise, but you've shown up.
What a glorious blessing that is. Bless God when the weapon's forming. My gosh, how poignant was our series on spiritual warfare? Like how much did that resonate for so many? Because there's this distinct, man, weapons are coming against me. So I praise God in that place.
Bless God when the walls are falling like just so many beautiful poignant lyrics in that song that are so true for this year That's been and then even um, I was reflecting this morning, you know, you had those profound moments in the shower the Lord talks to you and last night because one of our traditions Christmas traditions is to To watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy Boxing day and over those next, you know a couple of days and so last night We started it way too late, because
we always watch the extended edition, being the purists that we are, and Return of the King is like four hours long. We started a little bit late, but there's just that beautiful moment in it, um, where it's like, will Frodo make it into Mount Doom to destroy the ring? And it's that last kind of moment, and, and they're lying there, and they're exhausted, and they're beaten, and there's death.
darkness everywhere and then Sam looks up and this line which I've read from the book not from the movie because the book says it way better than the movie does and you know for you if darkness has been your story right listen to these words because they're so beautiful like go Tolkien what a legend there peeping among the cloud rack above a dark tour high up in the mountains Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while the beauty of it smote his heart as he looked up out
of the forsaken land and hope returned to him For like a shaft clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the shadow was only a small and passing thing. There was a light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. His song in the tower had been defiance rather than hope, for then he was thinking of himself, now for a moment his own fate, and even his master's ceased to exist. to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side.
And putting away all fear, he cast himself into a deep, untroubled sleep. Beautiful, hey? In the darkness, the light breaks through. That is the testimony of 2024. And let me just read to you John 1, which says this so beautifully, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life Was the light of all mankind.
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. So if darkness is your, is your story, if that has been your story this year, take heart my friends because the light is there. It is always there whether you can see it or not. There is always that light that will pierce through into the darkness. And so, I guess just to quickly go through what are my, uh, teaching moments because I'm a teacher, right? So, I like to have these distinct teaching moments.
What has 2024 taught me that might be relevant for you as well? Firstly, the gift of staying present. When the darkness comes and despair is the temptation. Which I know for many of us that is the case. It all just seems so hard and so relentlessly hard. And that, that temptation to give in to despair can just be right there. The thing that I have learnt so clearly this year more than ever before is to take Jesus at His word when He says this in Matthew 6. 34.
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. The gift of taking Jesus at his word here. To actually take seriously what he's saying. To go, okay, Jesus says don't worry, I'm not going to worry. Worry will not serve me. It will not serve this situation. It will not allow the light to break into the darkness. So I am going to stay present in today. By being grateful, the power of gratitude to stay present in today.
So if you, my friends, if you are looking ahead and worry and despair, discouragement, darkness is your story. Bring your mind back to the now. Find what there is to be grateful for in the now, in the today, because there is much to be grateful for in the midst of the darkness and that will keep you here. It will keep you present and it will guard your heart against giving in to despair and worry. Alright, next thing. What's the next slide there? Oh, the gift of thorns. All right.
Yeah, it's been a thorny year. Hey, for some of us, there are so many thorns pricking and stinging. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, writes the Apostle Paul, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away, but he said, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. There is a gift in these thorns that have come.
Yeah, and one of the gifts that I have learned is The thorns that can be the thing that keep you on the path of righteousness. We have this narrow way that Jesus sets before us. Yeah. And we are so prone to wonder, aren't we? And sometimes because of our corrupted lenses that we look through, we struggle to even discern the path that God has set before us. But the, but what aligns these, this path so often is not cotton bushes.
but actually thorns and we can resent the thorns, but it so often is the thorns that keep us on the path that is good and that is true and that leads to life. And so I've learned to be grateful for the thorns because they keep me on the way of Jesus.
And just as, Um, the Apostle Paul talks about here and so beautifully in Genesis 3 17, which I think many of us miss this when it says God is talking about the curse He says curse to the ground because of you through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life It will produce thorns and thistles for you. It will produce thorns and thistles for you In the hands of God, even thorns become a blessing. They will be for us, not against us.
We think these things are just curses that are there to make our life difficult and painful, but no, in the hands of God, they are for us. They are for our formation. They are for our redemption and deliverance. They are the very things that keep us on the narrow path on the way of life. And so often we rail against them and we complain that we need to stop and go, okay, Lord. What is the gift of these thorns that you have allowed into my life in this season?
And allow them to become our teacher. Allow them to become the things that form us, deeper and deeper into Christlikeness, deeper and deeper into trust of his faithfulness. All right, uh, next one quickly, the gift of knowing. This has been massive and I want to really encourage you all with this one. This has been something that has begun to burn in me over the last couple of months. A deep, deep, deep dissatisfaction. Um, I'll go into that in a moment. Let me just read the scripture.
This is, this is what the Lord says. Let not the wise boast of their wisdom, or the strong boast of their strength, or the rich of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this, that they have understanding to know me. What I so desperately want for you, church family. is a growing dissatisfaction within you for anything less than authentic relationship with Jesus. Gone. We must get rid of the being satisfied with knowing about Him.
Yeah, we live in a world that is saturated with information. There are so many books about God. So many books about, but to find the saint that truly knows the Lord, that truly walks with the Lord is a rare thing indeed. And I don't want it to be rare anymore. We've got to stop being satisfied with just listening to information, enough podcasts, enough white noise about God. Stop being satisfied with that. Stop being fooled into thinking that that's enough, right? Because it's not.
Jesus very clearly says, you know, in when he's doing the Sermon on the Mount, Depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness, you workers of evil. And these people were doing what? Casting out demons and healing people and doing all these whiz bag things. And Jesus is like, I didn't know you. So there needs to be a growing dissatisfaction.
We're just knowing about God and a deep yearning and desire and seeking to pursue at all costs knowing Him, living in communion and in conversation with your God. Enough knowledge. It's got to get down here into our feet, the way we live, that people would walk away from you going, Oh my gosh, I feel like I've been with the Lord because this person knows the Lord so, so well. You know, a leadership incubator this year, they did this exercise where they had to come up with a tombstone.
May all of our tombstones at the end of the day be, they walked with the Lord. They knew the Lord as a friend. Oh man, I just want to put that desire and that hunger in each one of you, that that would be the thing that consumes you in 2025. Because at the end of the day, that is the only thing that matters. Everything else must flow from that. Stop being satisfied with knowing about, I don't care how many podcasts you listen to, how many books you read, and this is me, right?
Podcast book queen, right? But those, they can be such a counterfeit. And we can convince ourselves, or for you maybe it's just vast quantities of worship music that you listen to. We just, we, we convince ourselves it's good, but it's not Him. Yeah, there's a deeper, deeper knowing, deeper, deeper knowing that we've got to pursue relentlessly at all costs. That is a very great call, I think, that is from the Lord for all of us coming into this new year.
And finally, because I've really talked long enough, okay, one more, the gift of dignity, and this is for my friend Luke here, okay? I have learned this from Luke over the past few weeks, right? So this conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests. But each of you to the interests of others, right? This is not something I do naturally, just so you know in case you haven't picked it up, right?
I tend to be more of a person who thinks that I'm a little bit smarter than better than everyone else. Just confessing my prideful gitness. Yep. Yes, that's really good. I don't know, some of you are like that too. Well done. Yeah, I know that about myself. But I struggle, right? To go, how do I not be this way? And I've learnt something from Luke over these past weeks, right? And Luke's going. Really? No, really my friend, really.
More than ever before this year, we have been inundated with phone calls, um, at our office during the week from people asking for financial help. People not part of this church family, people from the community just desperate, uh, for help. And Luke usually gets those phone calls. And the blessing slash curse of our officers up there is they're completely not soundproof at all. We have these wonderful glass panels, great visually, but useless for sound, blocking out sound.
So I hear Luke on these phone calls, and I also hear him when these people come in as well. And the dignity that Luke gives every single one of these people that come in, there's never a hint of, you've disrupted my day, you've disrupted my schedule, you're asking again. He treats these, and a lot of them come in, you know, they can be, You know rough sometimes and sometimes they're not always grateful.
Sometimes they come in with a sense of entitlement You know that can come with people who have very broken stories and backgrounds But as I've listened and I've watched Luke, he treats everybody with this beautiful patient, kind Dignity and I think it loops back to what you said at the beginning Luke. You're just present With these people. You're not just trying to hand something to them and move them on, tick your good Christian box I've done my, I've done my good Christian duty.
I've been a good Samaritan. I've handed out a voucher But no, you give them your presence and you confer dignity upon them because of how you treat them and it is Profound and it has profoundly taught me and affected me. So thank you my friend. All right with that Can I invite you? Yeah, I thought we were just sharing a word to start with, or a phrase. Um, so I guess we weren't. Um, that's why I just left it at that phrase. I thought that's what we were doing at the start.
Um, so I was like, okay, let's, let's, let's go. So as, as Dale reminded you, this, this word presence had been coming up for me. Um, my personality type, what's going on internally in, in Luke, is I'm always thinking about what's next, or I'm living in the dread of yesterday. I'm always somewhere else. This is where I find myself. And one of the greatest challenges for me is to live present with others and with Christ. And I fear that, I fear that greatly.
And so I'll get a bit vulnerable with you just to welcome you in because I think, I think there's a sense that this is a, this is an issue that many of us face. Um, I live by the God unhonoring system that I must produce for others And I must produce for him to be received and to be loved. That is, that is the dynamic that I live in.
And so whilst some of the, the strengths that I find myself, where I love kick starting, I love bringing new things, Um, that is also a great weakness for me, um, because it allows me to escape the present. Um, there are many times when we're sitting at dinner tables and Beck will hit me and go, you're not with us. And I'm like, I'm not, I'm not here. And so over the year, God's really been hitting this. hitting this hard in me.
And while I was away, this opportunity to be away for three months, to live at a slowness, to have no reception, uh, to be with family, like to really be with family, to actually be face to face with each other, to be face to face with these feelings and these emotions and not having an opportunity to escape them, but to be confronted by them. I found myself at a cafe one day. After Beck, um, Beck went, You need to be by yourself.
You know, as the agitation was building in me about the joy of being with people that I love so much so, so much time together so close together and I'm going, internally I'm going just push through Luke, push through! But internally I'm just like, I don't want them near me. I remember that one time through our trip that, you know, these moments and Beck's just like, you know, how are you going this week? And I'm like, she goes, am I annoying you? And I'm like, yeah, a little bit.
And then I'm like, babe, there must be, has there been times when I've been annoying you or the kids? And just like the crushing reality of her turning around and going, I'm just loving being with you, Luke. I'm like, oh, crap. Man, I suck. I suck. So I'm at this, at this, um, at this cafe.
And Bec's just gone, just take your time, just go, and um, and I'm just being hit by this reality of the reason why I can't be present with Christ, with others, is because then I have to confront this reality of actually being received. It's a question of intimacy, I fear intimacy. And God leads me to this cafe. And as I walk into this cafe, remember life is slow, there's no rush. I walk into this cafe and I'm met by these smiles. I'm met by these smiles, this joy.
Like in a genuine joy that I've walked into this cafe. I'm like, what is going on here? What is happening? And as I order the pastries, because I've ordered pastries for the family. You know, got to have a, got to have come, something to come back with. Um, and then I order my coffee, I'm just received by these people with such joy and gladness. And I'm just like, there's something going on here.
It's almost like the Spirit of Christ has been waiting for me in this cafe and so I go put the pastries back and I come back to the take away door to receive my coffee and there's some seats just around the side of the cafe and, and I, I receive this cup of coffee from this young girl who's smiling with such joy To give me this coffee.
And with all this sense, there was no, there was no inauthenticity that I could read from her with this, this desire to wish me well, this desire to give me this coffee and say, Hey, have a good, I received this coffee and then I was just like, I'm so blessed by this. Why? This is so weird. I've just gone to a cafe and I'm just, and then I sit down, I take the sip and the sip of the, oh man, the coffee was good.
And I'm confronted with this reality that I've done nothing, but God has been so generous in these little moment that I sit there and God begins to minister to me and begins to speak to my fears. And this. utter desire to, to run from being received by him and by others. That, that I can't be received unless I do something for you, Lord. And yet Lord, the Lord just reveals to me to just, to just receive.
And the danger, the danger that we face is that we, as we operate in this, uh, lack of, which I would say, Obeying the greatest of commandments. As we lack in that we take this, this heart of this desire to love my neighbor, right? We're so It's a desiring to love others as we think about the gospel. Jesus, in Mark, puts a little phrase on the end, but to love them as you love yourself.
The joy of the good news of Jesus Christ is, yes, we are welcomed into the delight of being generous with Christ, but also we are welcomed into this delight of receiving for no reason other than His good pleasure. And so the things that we miss out on, think about those moments when you're at dinner and you're sitting at tables with others and yet you are so far apart from others.
Or think about those times when you come into prayer and you're saying the words and yet you are so far apart from Christ. Think about those times. And then we have these thoughts and we wish our way, we wish our lives away with these thoughts. We're always somewhere else. And the good news that I I found was that the Spirit is, in fact, calling all of us to come and wait with Him, to be present, to find rest, to, in fact, find the freedom of the nothing in rest. That's daunting, isn't it?
I find that frightening. The joy of being content, to not always have to think about what is next, but to be present now. To, to enjoy the presence of feeling these moments of being free from, I've got to do more, I've got to keep up with the whatever or the whoever's. But in Hebrews 13 we see, The writer saying that to keep our life free, he uses the word money there. These loves that distract us, that lead us away from being present.
Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor abandon you. Therefore, we may boldly say that the Lord is our helper, and I will not be afraid that contentment is found in our willingness to be present with our current realities, and in being content, we find God there as our helper, as our provider in those moments, in that present time. We actually discover God there in contentment.
We don't really find God in worry or distraction, but we find God here, according to the writer of Hebrews, in contentment. We find him there. That's why I bring up that story of the cafe. I found him in contentment. I found him in this place of not having to produce, but And that's been a joy for me that as I've come away from those experiences I'm finding myself being less concerned of what is to come and more concerned about what is happening now.
That, That, that God is calling me not to be somewhere else, but he's calling me to be with him and with others now. Yeah? Beautiful. Did you have any other thoughts, Luke? Oh, so many. So many. You've got two minutes. Um. Oh, but be restfully, contentedly present in the two minutes. Yes. Can you just perform a little bit more for us, Luke? No, not at all. Okay. Um, yeah, I will because Yeah, no, that's good. Like, even just now?
Like, I'm just like Even just a freedom, like, some of you have gone over the last year, your, your speaking has just improved. This is why. Like, actually being here with you. Family. It's not just another thing to knock off. It's not just another Sunday. To get through, but to just be present with each other. Very good to, to be present with the word spoken and declared. Just be here.
Even, even not sort of in the, in the, in the hope of maybe what the word could do in us, but the joy of just experiencing the word now with each other. The good news of the word, that there's a rest, there's a peace that comes in those spaces and times. There's a freedom, we're liberated to be here with each other as we find ourselves. So let's pray. Lord, we, we're so thankful, Father, that you were so kind to us, so generous to us.
Lord, right now, I just ask, Father, that by your Spirit, that you would bring about that you would bring to mind for each one of us, where we fear the present. I ask, Lord, that for each one of us, Lord, you would identify where that fear comes from. By your grace, you would allow us the strength, the confidence to rely on you, to leap into the reality that we can just be here now with you. And so Holy Spirit come and fill us.
Let us taste the joy of being present with you and with each other right now. Holy Spirit come and fill us. Come and fill us with the knowledge of, of Psalm 39. Where can I go to escape your presence? Where can I flee, flee from your presence? If I go up into heaven, there you are. If I make my bed in Sheol, there you are. If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the western horizon, even there your hand will lead me and your right hand will hold me. Lord, you were there.
Wherever we find ourselves, you are there. So Lord, bring the joy, bring the vision to us. Ignite our hearts and our minds to discover that no matter where we find ourselves in the darkest of valleys, on the highest of mountains, you are there. And you're providing, you are saying, come and rest, come and, come and take confidence that I hold all things together. I just pray, Father, that you would bring about a work in us that we would become more of the freest of people.
In Jesus mighty name, I pray. Amen.