Latest / Citipointe Church Caboolture / Skin in the Game | Ps Melanie Politanski

Transcript

Skin in the Game | Ps Melanie Politanski · Citipointe Church Caboolture

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Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast.
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Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to
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take hold of. So we hope this message inspires
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you and build your faith, but it helps you have more of a God
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perspective for your day. Enjoy.
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I know what you are feeling because I'm feeling it too.
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There's been multiple opportunities in this service
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already to respond, am I right? This is a service of activation.
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Maybe just tell the person beside you, Are you ready to
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respond? Justine, when she let out in
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that beautiful song of consecration a moment where we
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got real with the Lord and said, I'm desperate for you and you
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are the only thing I'm seeking could have said at that moment,
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come on everybody, shoes off. This place is holy ground
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because the Spirit of the Lord is here.
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And when Pastor Rach came and LED, she could have literally
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finished the meeting there for it warranted a response from us
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that each and every one of us are called to serve all of us.
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There are no spectators in this building today, I promise you,
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although they're wonderful to attend, today is not a
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basketball game. I as a church do not want to be
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deemed as a sport because we're only as good as our last game.
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We as a church are participants and partners with God with what
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He wants to do. And I can tell you now that God
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is not finished with us yet. He is not finished with our
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great nation of Australia. For it is a prophetic
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declaration over us that we are the great Southland of the Holy
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Spirit. And so Pastor Nicole could have
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also literally had us respond and say I will commit.
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But I promise you, if you had any of those moments this
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morning and you were like, I wish they would have just called
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us forward, there will be an opportunity yet because you and
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I were not supposed to sit down. I am tempted to leave you there.
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Tempted. But I too have also got a little
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bit of a thing happening on the side of my back right here.
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So I have grace because that is the Lord grace and truth
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together. So you may take your seats this
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morning, but don't get comfortable.
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Don't get comfortable this morning.
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Because I can tell you this morning warrants a response.
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It warrants a response not just from me, not just from the team,
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not just those who have passed it before their name, not just
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for the young people because they've got energy and maybe
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time, but it warrants a response for each and every one of us.
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You were born for such a time as this.
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You are not an accident. And somebody needs to hear that
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this morning. You were never an accident.
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You were formed and planned by God for this moment in history.
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You are here for a purpose. I am here for a purpose.
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And what I want this morning for you to catch, as I share this
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morning, just for a few minutes, what God is about to do in our
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region through this church. I want you to think for a
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moment, is there a possibility he's going to use me, not just
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me, but you. I wonder if even before we start
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this, this morning, if you'd be brave enough, whether it be out
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loud or under your breath to say, God, are you seriously
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calling me? Are you commissioning me?
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Is there a purpose for me in this plan?
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Would you right now, just right where you are, Why don't you
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close your eyes? I want you to put the challenge
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out. If you're brave this morning and
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ask the question of the Lord, have you called me?
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Lord, have you called me? Am IA part of this plan?
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I could answer this for you this morning with a simple yes,
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because every single person on planet earth has been created
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for a purpose and not just to exist, but to leave a mark on
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this world for Jesus to leave a legacy of people who follow in
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the faith because of your faith. But I wanted to create a moment
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this morning before I started to allow you to ask the Holy Spirit
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because I trust the Holy Spirit speaks and He can speak to you.
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And way better than hearing words from me this morning that
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might lift your spirit or put a fire in your belly.
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One word from the Lord and you'd be unstoppable.
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So I wonder if for those of you who take notes, if right at the
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beginning, your notes before my title comes out, would you ask
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that question in your notes? God, what part of this plan is
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for me? Would you put it up there and
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seek the Lord over that this week?
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Because there is something for us to do as a church and I can
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tell you now we've all got to be part of it for us to see it come
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to pass. Church, we are not here by
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accident. God has positioned this church,
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City Point, Caboolture and the churches that we have impact
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over City Point Bribie. He has placed us here in this
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city for a 'cause that is greater than comfort.
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You and I have been called to bring spiritual and social
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transformation to this city. Not someday, not in a few years
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time, not just for the young ones when they grow up and they
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rise up and they do something. But right now, say right now,
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right now is our time in our city.
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And God has given us a cause and it that's in this time that we
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the church say we the church are to partner with him to see it
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become a reality. There is a cause burning in the
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heart of God for this city. Does anybody else here this
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morning believe that God is for our city?
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Does anybody else here believe that God has a plan for this
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city? Now, here's a really honest
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question. Do you think we are living in
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the reality of it today or is there still work to do?
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There is still work to do. We are not called to be
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spectators. In his story that he is writing
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for this city. We, you and I say I, I have been
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called to pass Patna in the mission that God has entrusted,
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say entrusted me, say entrusted me, He's entrusted you with for
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this sitting. And God today is asking you and
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I, every single one of us, if you, if I would put skin in the
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game for his purpose, for this sitting skin in the game.
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I'm going to read this morning or I'm going to share this
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morning from a passage of scripture in one Samuel 17.
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And in this chapter, it is a story about a young boy called
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David. He's just a youth.
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In actual fact, he's a shepherd. I was pondering on this this
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morning because I like to put myself actually into the Bible
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story and either create an additional character called Mel,
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Mel and David, or sometimes try to picture what it would be
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like. But that's a bit awkward because
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I am not a David. But I do have a fairly good and
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vivid imagination. And so I was thinking about
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this, and I'm wondering today why we don't have Staffs,
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shepherd Staffs. Do you know when Joshua said,
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like Pastor Rachel said today, As for me, in my house, we will
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serve the Lord. He would have had a staff.
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So when he drew a line in the sand, he could literally draw a
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line in the sand. I love this literal stuff.
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I would be a shepherd and have a shepherd's staff just so that I
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could go here and no father to the enemy.
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Does anybody else feel like that sometimes where you go, there it
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is. Don't try and cross it.
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This land, this space, this thing that we have been called
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to possess, we are going to do spiritual warfare in and we're
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going to see victory. And the enemy can come this far
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and no father. Come on, Who else wants a staff?
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Staffs for everybody in church next week now this young man
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David, he, he's just a shepherd. His job, his day job is not at
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the KFC drive through. It's looking after the animals
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before they get there. But it's an important job
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because the quality of the meat is important.
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We care about this today, right? So his job is to look after
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this. And of course, in this space,
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nobody would have called him a warrior.
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Nobody would have called him a soldier, right?
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But in this particular chapter, in chapter 17 in Juan Samuel,
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David's father sends him to the battle lines where the rest of
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the brothers are now. Daniel is the runt of the
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family. He's the youngest.
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Anybody any other runts in the family here?
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I'm not. I'm the eldest.
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So I am about to be heard in the Bible as the bossy older
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brother. All right.
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In this particular passage, he gets sent to the battle lines
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with food just to give them food because the battle has been
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going on a long time, 40 days, in fact, right now.
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I think it's interesting that the Bible calls it a battle
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because in reality it's a camp and quite an uneventful game.
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It doesn't look like youth camp. There are no young men and women
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with a fire in their belly who say we can take this city in
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this camp. There is a lot of people sitting
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around campfires having a whinge about the other camp and about
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the terrible things that are happening in the life of that
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camp. And they are in actual fact,
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being influenced and impacted by the other camp.
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It's a significant story. But we come down to this
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particular part of the story where David gets into camp.
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He actually hears this big dude. His name is Goliath.
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If you were here in our Christmas season, you would have
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seen our epically amazing Christmas trees on the edge of
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the stage. They were Goliath sized
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Christmas trees. Gives you a little bit of
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context with his helmet and all, he would have got pretty close
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to the top. But he wasn't just triangle
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shaped. He was built like a brick.
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All right. When the when you read this
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passage, it describes what his armor had to be like, what his
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spear had to be like, the weight of them.
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It was significant. And so the Israelites, the camp
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that David is going to, because his brothers are part of this
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army, are listening to the taunts of this giant and are
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sitting around the camp immobilized.
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They are afraid. And David rolls into camp, and I
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love this because he's just such a great young punk.
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He says things like, has anybody heard what he's saying?
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Who's is anybody going to do something about it, send
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somebody out who's going to do something about this and his Big
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Brother. So this would have been my role.
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OK. His Big Brother comes out and
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goes, would you shut up? Who are you?
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I know exactly who you are and where you should be.
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Go back and look after your little sheep.
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That's all you're good for. All right, Go back.
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You have no business getting involved in this.
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And David says this statement, well, I'd love, I actually love
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it because it is not a complete statement by just saying, is
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there not a 'cause he actually says, what have I done now?
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Typical little brother statement.
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What have I done now to the Big Brother?
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And then then he goes like a receiving interaction with the
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brother and then a beautiful big spiritual slap.
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Is there not a cause? What David is actually saying
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is, is there not a man who can see what is before us and whom
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we stand with? Is there not something greater
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than this thing that is taunting?
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Is there not ground and land to possess over here?
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Has the Lord not said this is the great S land of the Holy
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Spirit? Then why do we sit here and go,
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SH, I know exactly who you are, Go back to KFC, serve your
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chicken. This, you're out of place.
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You're not a warrior, you're a shepherd.
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But David asks this poignant question.
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He says, is there not a 'cause now I need to tell you, church,
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that this scenario we don't see often, that I, I haven't
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actually witnessed a David and Goliath slingshot moment in my
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life in the last 44 years, but I see the scenario every day over
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and over and over and over and over.
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There are modern day Goliaths that you encounter, that I
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encounter, maybe you even experience every single day of
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the week. And it echoes this same story.
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They are circumstances that taunt God's people today, and
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they leave us immobilized and they have us sitting around in
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circles in the cafe or at camp talking about consumed by these
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Goliaths. Can I just give you a few?
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Maybe you have seen these in our city.
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Maybe you're experiencing them. I want to tell you this morning
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what God says about them and your part to play in it.
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Here are some of the modern Goliaths, the Goliath of fear.
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Fear that whispers you are not enough, you cannot overcome, you
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cannot win, and God will not come through.
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We see the Goliath of anxiety and mental health and exhaustion
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in this region, and it says that the constant mental war thou
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shouts louder than God's peace. This is a lie.
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It is a false lie, but it stands in our region like a Goliath.
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We have the Goliath of family breakdown that says the enemy is
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taunting people with generational patterns.
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It's taunting that division in a family unit is OK and that
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hopelessness in homes is normal. Another modern Goliath is the
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Goliath of addiction, that substances and screens and
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habits and cycles that say you will never be free.
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Come on this morning, let's get real.
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These Goliaths are not just found in our city.
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They're often found in our lives and many of you this morning as
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I am even saying them out might go.
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That's my Goliath has been taught in me for long enough.
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I wonder if you were this morning as I go through them
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would have the courage to say is there not a cause, A cause great
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enough to face Goliath? The Goliath of financial
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pressure, bills, debt, rising costs, yelling God cannot
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provide, you must provide. The Goliath of isolation and
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loneliness, the lie that says no one sees you, no one cares, you
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are on your own. The Goliath of identity
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confusion that has a generation hearing daily you are whatever
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culture says you are. God doesn't define you.
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The Goliath of cultural pressure, a world that mocks
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holiness, purity, conviction, taunting believers, saying why
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stand for God? Just blend in.
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The Goliath of broken dreams, the ache of disappointment,
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saying it's too late, nothing will ever change.
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And the Goliath of sickness, oh, this is a one that loves to be
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glorified. And it taunts and it shouts.
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It says diagnosis and uncertainty shout louder than
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the promises of God. Come on.
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The Goliath of shame and past mistakes.
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The voice that says you can't be used, God can't redeem that.
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The Goliath of spiritual apathy, the subtle taunt that says just
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stay comfortable, don't give, don't serve, don't grow, don't
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change, stay comfortable. 13 The Goliath attacking our children
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and our young people. This huge.
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Dark influences, peer pressure, screens and confusion.
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Mocking God's plan for the next generation to carry the Spirit
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of God across this nation #14 the the Goliath of division.
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This one loves to taunt the church.
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Conflict, offense, church hurt and relational fractures.
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Saying God's people can never walk in unity.
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It's a lie. I wonder if you believe that
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this morning. It's a lie.
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God's people can can we can, we can walk in unity.
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The Goliath over our city, the brokenness, addiction, violence
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and poverty and spiritual darkness that taunts us.
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And here's what this Goliath shouts.
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The church can't change anything.
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The city is too far gone. I can tell you now, church, that
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our God is greater than any Goliath.
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And you know, he partners with us like he partnered with a
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teenage boy to deal with Goliaths.
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That means he partners with you and I.
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He didn't partner with a seasoned soldier.
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He partnered with a boy who was willing and out of fire in his
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belly in the faith to go, my God is bigger than this giant.
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He didn't not see the giant. He didn't not hear the taunt,
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but he had the fire in his belly enough to say, Is there not a
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cause like Goliath? These situations mock God's
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power, imitate God's people, paralyze believers, defy God's
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promises, and challenge the identity of the church.
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But today, with my hypothetical staff, I draw a line in the
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sand. And I say for us, As for me and
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my house, we're going to do something different.
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We're going to serve the Lord, say we're going to serve the
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Lord. And when we do, it's going to
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actually have an impact. And we're going to see things in
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our city that is not happening in other cities around
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Australia. Does anybody here have the faith
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to believe that we could be the epicenter for revival in this
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nation? Not so that we hit the news, but
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that so our city comes to Jesus and our discipled and have an
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impact all over this world. I've got the faith for it.
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I live for it. It's the reason I get up in the
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morning. It's the reasons you came in to
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open doors today. I know you thought it was air
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con in relief of the heat, but I promise you there is a fire in
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here that is greater than the heat outside and I pray this
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morning that it touches you, even if just a little bit sets
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you on fire. I can't sit still, I can't
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remain comfortable because there are Goliaths who are taunting,
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taunting the next generation, taunting our city, taunting your
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workmates, taunting the people in your schools.
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And all it takes is a young man who says, is there not a cause?
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Or a young woman, a man or a woman who says, is there not a
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cause? Do you know the same spirit that
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empowered David dwells in us, in the church today.
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He dwells in you. That is what His Word says.
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And these Goliaths only fall when God's people stop standing
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on the sidelines and they ask the same question asked.
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Is there not a 'cause this question by David was on a
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battlefield long before he ever became a king?
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This. This wasn't poetic, it wasn't
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reflective, and it wasn't gentle.
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This was confrontational. It's confrontational.
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If you go away after the service today and read through that
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chapter so that you get the fullness to what is happening in
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this book, you will see it as a confrontation to the people
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sitting around him. David doesn't just say it once.
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He leaves the conversation with his brother and he goes and
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continues to have the conversation with others in the
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camp. And I believe the Holy Spirit is
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asking the same question of us in this church today.
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Is there not a cause? Because God has placed us in
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this region not by accident, but for a reason, for a purpose.
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He has a plan and that plan, that purpose is to see spiritual
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and social transformation for this whole region.
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That it would be unrecognizable in the statistics when you do
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your senses that it will not have the same statistics.
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I am tired of watching and reading the same statistics.
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I am tired of watching some of the infrastructure in our area
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have to grow larger and larger and larger to support Goliaths.
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And so church, I ask you today, would you get ready to respond?
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Because we're going to respond because God is calling each and
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everyone of us to be part of this.
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Is there not a 'cause it's not a slogan.
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This is a mandate for you and I. It is our mission walking
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forward from today. And it is a cause worth living
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for. That is the the the title of my
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message this morning for those of you who love to take notes is
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skin in the game. This is our part to play in this
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'cause that God has for us at his skin in the game.
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Why does it require skin in the game from you and I?
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Number one, it's very simple. God never moves without
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partnership. He never moves without your eye.
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He moves with us. From the beginning, God has
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invited His people into mission. He could have saved Noah and his
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family, but he asked him to build an ark.
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He could have delivered Israel without Moses.
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Truthfully, he could have just smited it.
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Wait, right? But he didn't.
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He asked Moses to confront Pharaoh.
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Jesus could have fed 5000 people without anybody's help.
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But he asked the disciples, what do you have?
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What do you have, Dan? What do you have, Wayne?
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That's what he asked. Now I have a full confidence.
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I know how many people I can feed on my own.
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That's pretty good. But he didn't do it alone.
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He literally said to his disciples, what do you have?
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Elijah said to the woman with the jars.
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How many jars do you have? Now go and get them from others.
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He partners with us. Why?
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Because relationship always requires partnership.
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We use the church. We love God's promises.
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We love to stand on them, We love to clean them.
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But we often hesitate at God's processes, but the Kingdom of
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God advances through people who say God whatever you ask I'm in.
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I wonder if that could be the cry of your spirit even right
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now in this message. OK go on.
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I'm in and Church of our vision is truly to bring social and
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spiritual transformation to our city.
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It's not going to be fulfilled by good ideas, good ideals, or
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good intentions. It's also not going to be
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completed by gathering in this beautiful place and sitting.
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It's going to require an active and alive a serving,
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participating with God group of people who decide this is the
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cause. And He's called me to it.
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It will be fulfilled by people who carry the weight, who show
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up, who serve, who sacrifice, who say God, you can use me.
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That's skin in the game. And if God always invites us
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into partnership, then what he, what does he have if that's what
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he always does first? Why does He do this before he
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sends us? What does he do before he sends
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us? Has anybody figured it out?
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Who's done anything at all significant for the Lord?
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Who has witnessed to somebody and seen them come to Christ?
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Incredible. Who has had the opportunity to
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lay hands on somebody and see them recover from sickness?
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Come on, these things that we do when God partners with us
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require something to happen first.
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Say first, God is a God of order.
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He's not a God of chaos. I promise you that.
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When we say we just want to invite the Holy Spirit to come
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and do exactly what He's going to do, I promise you He's going
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to do exactly what He wants to do because he's not me.
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If we really want the Holy Spirit to come and do exactly
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what He wants to do, it starts at a place.
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It starts at a place of consecration.
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And so if God always invites us into partnership, then what He
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does before he sends us, before advancement, before we take
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ground, before there is a breakthrough, He brings each and
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every one of us to a place of consecration.
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And I want to talk about this a little bit this morning because
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if we are truly going to have an impact in our region, and if
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we're going to grab a hold of the cause, don't be surprised if
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God calls you first to consecrate your life to Him, not
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just in salvation, but a laying down of everything.
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Because before advancement comes consecration.
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I want to talk a minute, just for a minute, about one of the
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strongest partnership moments in Scripture.
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It's in Joshua 5. It's quite a wild story, right?
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Joshua and the Israelite camp have travelled their distance,
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their 40 years in the in the desert, and they have finally
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crossed and they are standing in the promised land.
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But before them stands Jericho, a fortified city, another
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external expression of Goliath. All right.
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And they're standing right here in Joshua 5, right?
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Israel's crossed the door, and they're standing in their
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promise, but they don't have full access to it.
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There is a fortified giant in front of them.
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Jericho is ahead. Victory is close, And God says
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something completely unexpected to Joshua.
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You ready? It's not charge and it happens
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before. Walk around the city and I'll
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cause it to fall. A faith journey, he says.
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It's a skin in the game moment. You ready?
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He says. Circumcise the men again.
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I'm not trying to be crass. I promise you there is something
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significant to be found here for you and I.
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This is, it's not just the weird gore and the stuff in the Bible
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that we go, oh, that's not for me.
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Everything is there for a reason and it teaches you and I
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something. He says.
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God says to Joshua, circumcise the men again.
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They are standing in front of a fortified city that literally is
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a threat to the nation. God says, circumcise the men
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again. This was painful.
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This was vulnerable and it was costly.
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Now this had been done. The reason why it says again,
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this had been done many, many years before.
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This command was given to Moses in the desert and the men who
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had left Egypt. This had taken place.
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But for those who had been born along the way, those who had
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come upon come into the journey and had learnt from the men
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before them, this had not been done.
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And so God asked for consecration to deal with what
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had come before, before He advanced them forward.
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Some of you today are wondering why that door is not swung wide
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open before you and ground has not been able to put been
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possessed. But He's been calling you to
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consecration. First, allow me to deal with
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what has come before. I know that you love me, and I
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know that you've accepted me, and I know that I am your Lord
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and Savior, but I actually want to do in you a work that will
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deal with you, deal in you what has come before, so that when
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you take on the promises, you don't take the old man with you.
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And so he brings us to this place of consecration.
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This particular thing would have put them at great risk, for they
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could not fight or defend themselves for a series of time.
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It's a vulnerable place, and yet it is a journey God takes each
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and every one of us on if we're going to possess what He wants
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for us in the future, if we're going to take that ground, why
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would God do that? Why?
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Because God refuses to advance a people who are not consecrated
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to Him. He didn't want warriors with
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swords in that moment. He wanted followers with
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surrender. Circumcision in Scripture is so
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significant for you and I today. Circumcision in Scripture is so
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significant because it actually represents covenant.
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It is a marking, a setting apart and a declaration that I fully
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belong to the Lord. We fully belong to the Lord in
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this passage. That's exactly what these men
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were declaring. We fully belong to the Lord.
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No covenant, no conquest, no consecration, no Jericho, no
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skin in the game, no promised Land.
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It's significant. God calls each and every one of
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us into this consecration time, this consecrated space, this
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consecrated attitude in covenant with Him so that we are poised
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and ready to possess all that He has for US.
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Church. If we want to see spiritual and
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social transformation in our city, if we want to see soul
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saved, families restored and together, if we want to see
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young people disciple, addiction broken, and the name of Jesus
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Christ lifted up in this city all over this region, then it
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starts with us and it starts in a place of consecration.
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And God is asking us today, will you be consecrated?
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Will you be marked by me? Will you let me prepare you
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before I send you? If consecration comes before
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conquest, then what does ownership look like for us
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facing a giant or a fortified city in front of us?
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David exhibited this in the passage where he says, is this
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not a cause? David owned the situation and he
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made it his own. He made it his responsibility.
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I believe for the last number of years, God has been calling men
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and women all over this house and in this region and been
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asking them to take responsibility for this region.
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And it's not just leaders and it's not just people in ministry
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right now. I honestly believe that that
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call has been going out by the Holy Spirit for about 5 years
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now and that seeds have been planting and been planted in
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people's spirit. And he's been fanning that flame
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and saying, come on, come on, I'm inviting you to partner with
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this. You're going to see something so
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extraordinary in your lifetime. But would you come be
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consecrated before me and then take responsibility for what
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I've entrusted you with? Don't sit on your hands any
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longer, but rise up and take responsibility.
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Because the difference in David's statement compared to
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the rest of the camp was ownership.
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When David arrived at the battlefield, he saw the same
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giant that Israel saw, but he had something different than
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what they had. He had ownership.
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Israel said someone else should deal with this, soul should deal
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with this. David said this is my battle and
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there is a cause. Israel saw danger, David saw
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responsibility. Israel said it's not my problem,
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it's not my season, I'm not equipped.
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The leaders should handle it, the next generation should
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handle it. And David says this.
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Who was this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the armies
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of the living God? He speaks out who ultimately he
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stands with, Who is partnered with him, who he is consecrated
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to? Who's this uncircumcised
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Philistine? Who is this Goliath that taunts?
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I am in covenant with the Lord. I am in partnership with the
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Lord and he will go with me. David invoked covenant, the mark
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of ownership. He understood God is with me, so
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I'm stepping in. And so David when moved.
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So when David moved, heaven moved.
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When David stepped forward, God stepped in in the most unlikely
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ways, but that's exactly how God does it so that he gets the
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glory church. The difference between passive
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Christianity. And a transformer.
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Transformer can't even say it. Transformational Christianity is
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very, very simple. It's ownership.
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We say, I will take responsibility.
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When we, the church, carry ownership, revival can break
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out. When we, the church, carry
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ownership, this city gets transformed.
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When we, the church, carry ownership, giants in this region
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get slain. Come on, church.
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When we, the church, carry ownership, the enemy is defeated
40:53
here. This is why our vision cannot be
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something that we admire. It must be something that we
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carry. We exist to bring spiritual and
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social transformation to the city.
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I wonder if you would say it with me this this morning.
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I exist to bring spiritual and social transformation to the
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city. Let's say it again, I exist to
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bring spiritual and social transformation to the city.
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If you are taking responsibility and have ownership for this,
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this morning, I wonder if you would stand to your feet in this
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moment and say with me, I exist to bring spiritual and social
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transformation to this city because church, it requires a
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response. It requires a response from you
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and I. It requires a movement, an army
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of people that exist to bring. That means to serve, that means
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to be involved in. That means not to sit around and
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talk about, but engage in and say where do you need me?
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What do you want of me, Lord? How can I help?
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Here I am, Lord. Send me in this moment right
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now. I believe it elicits a response.
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Not just the standing 2 feet, but before God sends us, before
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there is ground taken, there is a moment of consecration.
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And so in this beautiful atmosphere and presence of the
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Holy Spirit, I wonder if if you truly are saying this morning, I
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exist. This is my purpose.
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This is why God has got me here for such a time as this.
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I will not stand by or sit by and watch my region be torunted
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by Goliath anymore. I exist to partner with the Lord
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and just marvel at what He does when in a place of consecration.
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I give my life to Him wholeheartedly, fully
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sacrificially and say here I am. Use me.
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I'm not going to leave this earth and have not partnered
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with you and seen transformation all over the city, if that is.