Hi, church, and welcome. We're so happy that you're with us again today. And Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. We love you. We honor you. We're so thankful for you. And to be honest, where would we be
without the dads in our life? I know I would be nowhere. No, exactly. Quite literally, we would not
be here without our dads. Today we have something special for them. So make sure you share this link with your fathers, but also with your friends and family to
make sure that everyone is tuned in. Because we're going to have a great service together. Before we do anything else. Let's hear from Pastor Richard. I'm so glad that you're here, that you're joining us today. That we are doing church together. I think this is week 14. Week 14 of our online services.
Week 14 of this COVID19 season. And I believe that God has been speaking to. I believe that during these services, I've
been hearing of miracles. I've been hearing of stories of people's
lives being transformed. And I believe that today God's going to speak to you. I believe that today. The Bible says this is
the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and we will be glad in it. This is the day to rejoice in who God is. To bring your focus and your attention on Jesus and believe for him to speak into your life. Believe for breakthroughs. Belief for your miracle. And that's what I'm believing for with you. So come on, let's pray. Then let's stand
together and worship together. Lord, we thank you for who you are. Lord, we thank you, that you the God of breakthroughs. You're
the God of miracles. Lord you're our creator our Father in heaven. And Lord, I pray that today you would
speak into people's lives. You would cause breakthroughs in people's lives. Lord, we commit this service to you and ask
God that you would have your way. In Jesus name. Amen. Yes, it's awesome to worship together, and I hope you actually experienced the Holy Spirit and experienced God's presence right where you are. I want us to bring a little bit of
focus to actually something that has been happening in the life of our church. Some great things. I have here with
me actually praise reports. And thank you for actually sending these online. And, by the way, if you have any prayers or
you want to give God thanks, you can actually fill in one of these very
short forms on our website, and the link will come up on the screen, I'm pretty sure. And please do share with us because it's awesome. It always encourages everybody who's tuning in. I have here a couple I just want to share with you. Somebody actually has been trusting God with
the Heart for the House offering, and they actually saw God provide miraculously. Their business, as well, has been growing,
which is incredible. Somebody is thanking God for the ability to
meet again in smaller groups, in Connect Groups which is pretty amazing in person. Somebody is thanking God for God's provision. Somebody got a job. Somebody actually got their residence permit extended,
which is miraculous indeed. I have experienced that. Somebody actually is really thankful for the encouragement they are getting at church, which is awesome, through
these Sunday messages. Somebody had a scan and their brain tumor got
smaller, so that is amazing. That is good news. Somebody got a job. That is
amazing in this season, especially. Somebody is thankful for healing from surgery. So there has been surgery, so they are recovering well. Another person had surgery and is recovering well. Somebody got a promotion in this Corona
season, so that is amazing. So somebody in Rotterdam, in our Rotterdam campus, got together with some of the girls from the youth group, and just seen how God has been using this youth girl to encourage everybody else and just how
God was working through it. That is amazing. I have also some prayer requests. I want to also encourage you. If there is something you would want us to
pray for, for you, during the week, please send these in, and our team actually prays. Goes through this personally, lays hands, prays
and believes for answers as well. I love that. I love seeing all those praise
reports coming as well. That is incredible. It means a lot. And
I have here some prayer requests. So somebody is actually praying for healing. There's
somebody who needs healing. There's somebody who actually, again, needs speedy
recovery from a serious illness. Somebody lost a job during the Corona season,
due to Corona season, and somebody is praying for God to open new doors. So we see that God is providing jobs for people, so I am believing that this is going to
turn into a praise report as well. Somebody here is praying for their friend. That their friend will grow in faith. Amen to that. Somebody in Amsterdam is praying that their dad
will recover from a brain stroke. Come on, we should believe for that and pray. Somebody is praying for the marriage, which
is not going very well, so we're going to believe for restoration in that marriage. Somebody is praying for a job interview to go well. Somebody is praying for a healthy pregnancy. So all these are very important, and I believe that there are also some prayer requests that maybe haven't necessarily come in, but
there is something on your heart. I'm pretty sure if there is something, you
know, heavy on your heart, the best way is actually to bring it before the Lord. And this is the moment. We're going to
believe that as we pray, that God is actually going to turn around your situation, and that this week we're going to see things shifting, no matter what is happening actually in your life, and what is that thing that is heavy on your heart. But let's pray. Let's believe for God to move. Father, we thank you for all these praise reports. We thank you that you are active and working. Lord, we thank you that you hear every single prayer even before we articulate it or think about it. You already are working on it. And I want to thank you, Lord, that these prayer request, that all these prayers that are coming in and also things that are happening in
people's lives right now, the things that are dropping into their minds
as we pray in this moment, God, I pray that you would show up, that you would turn up, that you would bring your healing hand
where healing is needed. That you will bring provision where provision is needed. God, that you would provide jobs and opportunities. God, we pray for just pregnancies to go well. God, we know that you are able to do immeasurably more than what we can imagine, ask, pray, think. Lord, we just want to thank you in
advance for all these prayers that will actually turn into praise reports. God, because we know you are faithful. And you're bigger than any challenge, you're
bigger than any sickness. So we bring all these things into your hands, and we pray in Jesus' mighty name. And guys,
you can say with me, "Amen". Fantastic. I love that we get to pray together, and see answered prayers, and celebrate together. And by the way, speaking of celebrations, big shout out to Alex Bucha, 40 years old today. So feel free to send him texts, send him messages, send
him love, send him presents. I'm sure he would love that. So happy birthday, Alex. And there's been a few birthdays this week. My wife turned, I don't know if I can say... She's not here. She turned 45 this week. And so we've been celebrating this week
as well, and it's been cool. Hey, so it's Heart for the House season. Last Sunday, we had our Heart for the House Sunday. And I just want to say a big thank you to everyone
who's contributed to that so far. And you can continue contributing to the end of the year. Our Heart for the House offering is once a year where we give an offering over and above our
regular tithes and offerings, to see the church advance. There's regular operational expenses, but we're
believing to step into so much more. Not only that, but we also give to other organizations. We partner with organizations where people are in need. Organizations like Vision Rescue, A21, Compassion. Those organizations that we partner with,
and so we always set aside a part of the Heart for the House offering
to go towards them. We do this globally, and there are organizations that are really depending on our offering as well. But I'm believing for us to step forward into all
that God's got for us as a church. I'm believing to see us. We're going to
add worship in Brussels. We're moving to a different location in Rotterdam. We are starting midweek online services. And, by the way, I'm going to start a Zoom service,
a Zoom course, a Zoom program. Anyone who's suffering from burnout as a Christian, and I'm going to speak into that over the next few weeks, and so feel free if you want to join us,
it'll be on Thursdays at 10:00. Feel free to send an email into us at info@hillsong.nl, and we'll let you know about that as well. But we're starting Dutch services, all
sorts of great things. And on top of all of that, I'm believing for
us to buy a building. A place that we can have as a hub, that we can really, when it comes to community, that we'll have a base from which we can serve our community. When it comes to our youth, our kids, our young
adults, our university students, that we'll have a place that we can work from, that we can gather our church, we can gather our
youth, we can gather our kids. We don't have to keep renting different places, and seeing what's available and what's not,
and that we can work from there. There's so many benefits to having our own church
building for what we want to do. We want to make such a difference in the community
and it will be put to good use. I can guarantee you that. So you can continue giving your offerings for
the Heart for the House offering until the end of the month, and I encourage you to do that. I'm believing for so much more to come in, but it's amazing to see the faith of our church. And, I gotta say, seeing the faith of our faithful
believers is really amazing. And I'm believing that we are going to
see miracles and breakthroughs for every person who's been contributing. Already we've been hearing some amazing stories. So I'm believing for so much more when it comes to that. Well, that was great. Well, now Church, now we're going
to actually get some focus, because we're going to hear from
our lead pastor, Pastor Richard. I believe the message that he's going
to bring will impact your life. And I want to challenge you to actually get your notebooks. I know at home sometimes we are not that organized. I know sometimes I'm not, but get your
phone out, get your notebook out, and let's prepare to hear from Pastor Richard. Hey, I'm so looking forward to sharing
the word with you today. We're in this Heart for the House season and
I want to share with you... Almost like a follow up message from
my last message last week. God's Heart for His house, our heart for God's house. Pastor Bobbie wrote a book a number of years ago, called Heaven is in this House. And it is a fantastic book. It's out of print now, but you can probably still
get a second hand version of it. But she wrote this thing in it. It says, imagine a place that is so irresistible that
people can't wait to get there. Imagine a place designed for no other reason, than to connect you with the world beyond
your wildest dreams. Well, such a place exists. And it has existed within the heart of
God since before all time. This is God's heart for his church, for
his house, for us together. This is what's in God's heart for us. And in my message last week, I was talking about the dreams, the desires that God has placed in your heart. These things are going to be fulfilled as
we play our part in his plan, because those desires and those dreams are for his plan. Because we together are the vehicle to bring God's answer, the gospel, the good news about Jesus. We're God's rescue plan for this lost, this dying,
this broken world that we live in. And I love the fact that we get to do this together. You know, when we try to do it on our own,
when we figure it out ourselves, we try to work everything out. You know, you just need to read the newspapers
or read the news reports and realize we do our best. But it doesn't all work out. We don't have all the answers. And yet God's intention towards us is life at its best. God's intention towards you is life at its best. Sorry for that. But when we do things our own way. When we try to figure things out, it
doesn't always work out. You know, I think about when I was growing up as a kid and I don't know if this is completely normal or not. I really haven't spoken to a lot of people about it. But I remember I used to do a lot of
lying as I was growing up. And, you know, I would lie to someone, but then
I have to remember what I said to them. Because I'd need to make sure that the next
thing I said didn't contradict it. So I'd have to say another lie to cover
up what I said last time. And then I have to make sure that they weren't around
when this person was around. And we're talking about the same thing because
I told them something else. And this complication... It puts stress into my life. As I'm trying to juggle all of these lies, all
of these different things that I said. And there was a time as I was growing up
where I just decided. I'm going to start telling the truth. I don't want this to be part of my life. And I just made truth at the center. And
when I made truth at the center. All the other conversations, they were all easy. All the conversations, all the different people. I wouldn't have to remember what I told somebody. I wouldn't to remember, what did I tell that person? I just told the truth. Now, sure, it
reveals some weaknesses. My mistakes and all of that. But it
made life so much simpler. There was no remembering and trying to complicate. And manage all the relationships and all the conversations. It's a little bit like the Old Testament law. You know, we started with the Ten Commandments. And those Ten Commandments soon turned
into what theologians say, there's about six hundred and thirteen different
laws in the Old Testament. When Jesus was asked, which was the greatest in
Matthew 22, this is what it says. It says an expert in the law tested Jesus
with this question. Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
the law, and Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with
all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus said this. He said, all the law and the prophets hang
on these two commandments. Which is really one commandment of love. All those 613 laws, all the laws, all the prophets. If we just focus on love. It all sorts out. I don't know. I can't imagine what it would be like. Living as a Jew under the law, trying to keep all
of these 613 commandments all the time. And Jesus said, it's so simple. Everything hangs on: love the Lord, your God, with
all your heart, soul and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Last week, I spoke about how life can seem so
complicated, like a Rubik's Cube. With all the different sides to it. Well, I've invited my friend Aiofe to come
today and she has a Rubik's Cube. And Aiofe if you can just pass me your
cube. That would be fantastic. Let me just... That would be great. Thank you very much. You know, if this represents my life and
the different aspects of my life, obviously there is more than six, but... Like many people, I can focus on an area of
my life and try to get it right. You know, it might be the workaholic dad
that is focusing on the career. And let's see if I can get this career to be sorted out. If I can get my career right, then that would be awesome, because I really want to provide for my family. And if I can provide for my family, life
would be so much better. My family would love me and it would be great. So. Spending all this time... Looking and I'm hoping this is going to work. But spending all this time trying to make sure
that the family is sorted out. But in doing that. How often is it that you can get one
side of your life to work out. But the rest is a mess. That workaholic dad gets the money, gets the
career to provide for his family. But spends his time neglecting his family and
ends up losing the whole lot. Well, the person who wants to make sure
their image to everybody, they look good, they look successful. End
up striving so hard. And a different element of their life. The inner life
is a mess. They end up with burnout. You know, we think we see it all. We
try to work everything out. But I think we all realize that we're not perfect. Our lives aren't perfect and we can get one element
of it to look good, to be good. But if you know how it all works together and
you know the plan. The overall plan. Like Aiofe does. If you know the overall plan, you can make it work together. Where all the aspects work together at the same time. Ephesians chapter 3, versus 10 and 11 says this. His intent was that now through the church,
the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly realms. According to his eternal purpose that he accomplished
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The manifold wisdom through the church. The
many sided, the manifold wisdom. Many sides, many colors, many varieties of wisdom
that God has through the church. If we get the church right. All the different sides
of God's wisdom is displayed. We have a heart for God's house because we
realize that God has a plan. And he makes all things work for good. He
brings all things together. Just as Aiofe is with this Rubik's Cube right now. So Ephesians chapter one, if I read from The
Message paraphrase. Verses 22 and 23. It says, at the center of all that Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world. The world is peripheral to the church. The church is at the center. Like when we put truth at the center instead of
lies, then everything works out. We put love at the center of all the commands. It
all hangs. It all works out. The church... Is at the center. And the world
is peripheral to the church. So Aiofe, just fixed the whole thing together.
Can you pass that to me. Let me show everybody. That is amazing. Look at this. When you know the plan, when you know the big picture. We know how it all works together. As God does with our lives, as Aiofe does with the cube. We just need to recognize what that central truth is. And it's Christ rules the church. The church you see, is not peripheral to the world.
The world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body in which he speaks and acts and by which he fills everything with his presence. You know, of course, there's an ideal. And we know that we're all a work in progress. And so therefore the church is a work in progress. We know that we have brokenness, we
know that we're not perfect. But God's grace does something beautiful with
our imperfections. We are like broken vessels. The Bible speaks of us. It gives the analogy of
us like stones, like living stones. In 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 5, it says that you and I, we're together like living stones. We're being built into a spiritual house to
be holy. To be a holy priesthood. Offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God through Christ Jesus. We're like living stones that God is building together
into a wall. Into a house. And many of us. We've been burnt. We've been offended. We've been disappointed. Disillusioned. We've had pains. It hasn't always been clear sailing. There is a great example of this in the Old Testament. Nehemiah when he went to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He found that the stones were burnt. The walls were broken. Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 17. It says, you see the trouble we're in. Jerusalem, it lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let's rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and
we will no longer be in disgrace. I kind of see this as a picture of us. We're like those burnt stones. Burned stones if they crumble, they are
easily dislocated from the wall. They're easily dislocated from the purpose
that they were created for. Well, they got a design for them. And we
too, when we get offended. Hurt. And people, if we don't get things our own way, sometimes things just don't seem right. It's so easy for us as burned stones to
be dislocated from God's plan. I think that's why the New Testament so often talks
about us bearing with each other and giving grace to each other. As we receive it from God. In Ephesians chapter 4 it says: 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 is one body and one spirit. Just as you were called to one hope when you were called. One God and father of all, who is over all
and through all and in all. That we would forgive each other. We'd
give grace to each other. We're all broken burnt stones that God
is using. For his central plan. And if we get this right and let God
do what he does magnificently. Creates us burnt stones into something beautiful. Then God can do something with all of us individually, but also with us together. We can encourage each other in Hebrews chapter 10. It says not just bear with each other,
but encourage each other. It says here in verse 23: Let's hold unswervingly to that hope that we profess. For he who promised is faithful. And let's consider how can we spur one
another on towards love and towards good deeds. Not giving up meeting together as some
are in the habit of doing. Now, of course, we were in this COVID season and we can't all gather together physically. Although now we start to get together in
homes to watch together and our small groups are starting to meet in parks. Keeping the social distancing. But it says don't give up meeting together, even
if it has to be digitally. As a last resort. In which it has been
in this COVID19 season. Not giving up, meeting together, as
some are in the habit of doing. But encouraging one another and all the more
as you see the day approaching. Why cubes within cubes? My life is like a cube, is always different sides
to my life. So is yours. There's my growth, there's my character. There are the dreams that God's placed in my heart. My relationships, my finances, my interactions. Well, God is working all of these together
as I keep him central. And I keep my place in God's plan. And then we bear with each other, we encourage one
another, we work with each other. And it's like cubes within cubes. God
put the whole thing together. It's not literally cubes within cubes. It's an analogy. I was talking to someone this week. And he was telling me that he made a
decision a year or two ago. That he was going to stop running. He's been in different churches, and when he has been hurt or offended or disagreed
or whatever. He's run away. And he realized that he keeps running and
he keeps running to other places that aren't perfect. And I guess he recognizes his
own imperfections as well. You know, the Bible says in Proverbs 27, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. There's that sense of when our rough edges rub up against the rough edges of other people
in the house, in the church. Sparks can fly. But the Bible says that's
how we sharpen each other. It's not where we all agree, but sometimes it's
how we bear with each other. How we give grace to each other, how
we encourage each other. As we keep our focus and our attention
on Jesus and he holds it all together. We persevere through the trials. Because when perseverance is able to complete its work, that's when we become mature and complete.
Not lacking anything. While God is developing us and we position ourselves in his wall and his plan in his house. God does a work in us. He does a work through us. Individually and together, but not independently. Interdependently. If you think of some of the troubles of society today. Think about burnout. Think about depression. Think about a lack of hope that people have. Well, Jesus is the answer to every one of
those situations for us individually. We start thinking about some of the other situations
in the world at the moment, the issue of racism. The issue of loneliness.
The issue of poverty. You know, if we keep God's centerpiece, the church, his plan at the center of our lives. It's
amazing what would happen. What would happen with racism when we recognize that we all have a part to play in God's house. We all belong to each other as the Bible says,
we are all part of the church. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 12 says just as
a body, though one has many parts, but all its many parts form one body. So it is with Christ. We were all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body. Whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free. We
were all given the one spirit to drink. So even so, the body is not made up of one part. But many. So we are all equal and have equal concern for each other. That's what it says in Colossians, chapter 3. It says this: New creation life, your nationality, it makes no difference. Or your ethnicity or your education or your economic
status. They matter nothing. It is Christ that means everything as
he lives in every one of us. You are always and dearly loved by God. This is awesome. So robe yourself with virtues of God, since you've
been divinely chosen to be holy. Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others
and be compassionate, showing kindness towards all. Be gentle and humble, unoffendable, in
your patience with others. Then there's no racism in the church because
we're all united. We see each other as God sees us. We are one.
We are together. We have equal value. The blood of Christ paid for us all. Here in Amsterdam, our government has said that one of the major
issues of our city is loneliness. Well, John chapter 13. Jesus. He says here, in
verse 34. A new command I give you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my
disciples. If you love one another. Well, there goes loneliness. Because we're
loving each other. We're seeing what's going on in each other's lives. What about poverty? People who are in need? Well, as the church started, in Acts chapter 2.
You see how the church got started. It starts growing and Acts chapter 4, verse 33. It then says, with great power, the apostles continue to testify to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work within them, that there were no needy persons among them. From time to time, those who owned land
or houses. Sold them. They brought money from the sales and
put it at the apostles feet. And it was distributed to anyone who had a
need. No needy person among them. And in Galatians 6, verse 10. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let's
do good to all people, but especially those who belong to the family of believers. We grow together as the church and in the church. Guys, if we can't get this right in the church,
what hope has the world got? We need to recognize what's at the
center. His name is Jesus. And his plan is the church. These are just a few of the sides,
but there's so many more. What about finances? We tithe. And when we tithe, the Bible says
that the rest is blessed. Our finances are blessed by God, infused with holiness. Separated from the disfunction of this world. And there's food in the house. When it comes to our spiritual giftings. Everywhere the Bible speaks about spiritual giftings. It speaks about the body and the part we play in the body. So we flourish in our lives. And so too does the body. So too is the church, as we each
play our part. As we serve. Jesus said the greatest among you is the one who serves. There's greatness for us, but there's also
a benefit to those who we serve. It all works together. Our family. I was talking to one of the dads in the life
of the church a couple of weeks ago, and we were talking about the Hillsong conference being
postponed till next year. We're talking about how our summer camps for our youth aren't gonna be able to happen this year. Well, the kids camps are still happening. But he was telling me how just by being immersed
in the church, in the body. By being part of this, by making sure
his kids are at conference. At the young and free element at the conference and
at the kids element of the conference. God does something special in their lives. At that time, during that part of the year, every year. And that's followed by the camps. And
God just confirms things. And he said that the spiritual growth in their kids. They see these leaps that happen every year
at conference and at camps. Recognizing that now because what was central. Has been... COVID19 has taken some of that away. Now he's got to go and sort some of this stuff out. And in a way, kind of make up for what is missing. Because this element of church life has been taken away. Because if we keep that, what's central for God right, then everything else... I want to say takes care of itself. But we know that that's an idealistic view. But the truth is we're all broken
and God's grace is for us. And God works all things together for
good, for those who love God. Those who are called according to
his purpose, which you are. Imagine a place so irresistible that people
can't wait to get there. Imagine a place designed for no other
reason than to connect you with the world beyond your wildest dreams. Well such a place exists and has existed within the
heart of God since before all time. It's no wonder the church is God's priority. Jesus died for the church. He's coming back for
the church. He loves the church. The church is his bride, the church is his body. He's head of the church, the church is his plan. It's through the church that he's going to
speak, act and bring his presence. As we align ourselves with what is central... Instead of us trying to work out the
Rubik's cubes of our lives and every side and trying to make it all work. If we just keep the plan, God's plan. Who
sees it all at the center. As we align our hearts with God's heart, as we align our priorities with God's priorities. As we align the plan of our lives with God's plan. As our lives can be an example to the world around us. I believe that we're going to see something great. I believe we've got this incredible opportunity today. Now, I just want to invite you to continue having
a heart for God's house. To be faithful what God is doing in the
church and through the church. And to recognize that we can keep God central. His
grace. The Gospel of Jesus. And his plan, the body of Christ. And then
we each have a part to play in it. You know, I'd love to pray with you. And I'm believing that this is, as I
said, an incredible opportunity. But I also recognize there are some of
you who are watching that you've never actually accepted what Jesus has done for you. So you've never known what it is to
play a part in God's plan. You've never known what it is to be healed,
to be spiritually alive. To recognize that Jesus, he died for the forgiveness
of your sins as well as mine. And then when he rose again, he rose
again to give you new life, a life in relationship with God. That you could fulfill all that God created you for, those dreams and the desires he's placed in your heart. If I'm talking to you. Come on, let's all
pray together as a church family. I'll give you some words to say, and those are essentially so that we can pray together. So come on, let's all pray. Dear Jesus. Thank you. For what you've done for me. I accept. That you died for the forgiveness of my sins. And that you rose again to give me new
life. I choose to live your way. I choose to live in the life. That you died to give me. And I thank you. That I get to accept that. Because of what you've done for me. In Jesus name. Amen. You know, I honestly believe that's the best decision that you could make in your entire life. It'll set you on course for all you are created for. For your part in God's plan, God's purpose.
You've been created. You're alive for a purpose. You're not
random. You're not an accident. God chose you. You're here for such a time as this. And I'm believing to see you step into
all that God's got for you. Recognizing that his plan is us together as the church, encouraging each other, giving grace to
each other, mercy to each other, loving each other, bearing with each other's faults. And I'm believing for us to step into something absolutely
incredible in this coming season. In Jesus name. God bless you church. Thanks for being part of
this. We're gonna do something amazing. If you just prayed that prayer, if you made that decision, we want to say congratulations. That is the best decision that you can make in your life. And as a church, we really want to help you move forward. And one of the things we do is we have
a course called "Discovery". It's a course where we talk about who Jesus
is, how to read the Bible, what we actually believe, and we do
it on Sundays and midweek. I want to invite you to it. If you leave your details through the link on the screen, then we can get in touch with you and invite you to it. One of the things we do is we give you this
gift when you join the course. It's actually the Bible, the New Testament Bible
in a beautiful format, and that's a gift for you if you join us. Yeah, great. I love it, and it's such a good course. Hey, before we get back into some more worship, we're going to join our campus pastors as they honor
some dads in the life of our church. Hey, guys, we're gonna celebrate
somebody today on Father's Day. The guy that we want to honor, he's part of our sound team. And he's always happy. He's always smiling and cheering you on. I don't think he missed a Sunday. And they have five kids, a phenomenal couple. You know, he built an amazing company. He is always willing to help other people, other entrepreneurs in the business place. He was always there. Coming from Liege to Brussels. Which is quite a ride. We've just
been in the car for over an hour. And really just surfing week in, week out,
helping us midweek as well with some stuff. Phenomenal family. And he is a phenomenal dad. He's a great dad he always has kids around his neck. And we're going to surprise him. We're going to ring at his door
and we have this beautiful gift. A barbecue set. So let's see if he's here. All we plan to do. We do a little home invasion. I hope we're at the right house, by the way. Yes. Surprise. Hello. It is the best dad in town, is he here? Yes, he is. Hey, we're serious. Happy Father's Day man. You've got to come down for us. Happy Father's Day. How are you man?. There we go. I can't give you a really... I'll
give you a little elbow here. Hey, so it's Father's Day. Yeah, almost. Happy Father's Day, man. Thank you very much. We wanted to celebrate you. You're such a great example. He has five kids, by the way. This is the gift that we want to give you. It's very heavy but you can handle this. You're a strong guy. You're a really strong guy, right? I told you. He can carry a kid ánd a package. I'm going to give this to you. Thank you very much man. Thank you very much. You know, it's not that easy. You know, I wish. You know, if honoring
a dad was just as easy as that... I need you to do a little challenge for us. Okay. The first challenge is, does
Jordi have white socks and sandals. Well, have a look. Oh, let's go. So church, thank you very much. On behalf of my wife and kids as well. So really love being church. Fantastic. You know, we're going to continue with communion. And you know, we've been looking at 1 Corinthians
10 over the last few weeks and I just want to read that again. And what it says about when we partake of communion, the bread and the wine together. It says it is not the cup of Thanksgiving for
which we give thanks. A participation in the blood of Christ. And it is not the bread that we break a
participation in the body of Christ. Because there is one loaf, as there is here,
well there is two loaves here. But as there's one loaf, we who are many are one body. For we all share of that one loaf. You know. It's so important to understand
that we are one body when it comes to the body of Christ, when
it comes to the church. And I think it's so significant now as we're
in this Heart of the House season. Having a heart for God's house, recognizing that
it is one body, one church. And so we're going to partake of communion again today. And we've been looking at over the last few
weeks, how everyone's united. Which was especially important to look at during this time. We're talking about racism, we're talking about
making sure we are all equal and we love each other. We're united together. And the blood of Christ. The grace of
God. This new covenant. I think it's so important that we
understand these two things, and really that was the heart of my message last week. That we understand the grace of God and
we understand the body of Christ. That we are united. So come on, let's partake of communion together. - Dimi, I don't know if you can reach that.
- I can. Yes. We're going to pray together. Hopefully you've got some bread and some juice
with you or maybe some wine. Might be a bit early in the morning if
you're watching in the 10 o'clock. But we who are many are one body. We
all partake of the same loaf. It's symbolic, but the bread represents the body of Christ. The wine, the juice, it represents that the blood of Christ is the forgiveness of sins. This new covenant of grace. So let's pray together and believe, that
while this is symbolic, that God is going to do something in your life. So Lord, we thank you. For your body that was broken for us. Lord, that you unite us. That our bodies might be healthy and whole. That we together would be whole and united. Lord, we thank you for the blood of the Covenant. Lord we thank you. This new covenant that you've
made with us is a covenant of grace. Where we get what we don't deserve. Your goodness. Your favor. Your mercy. So Lord, we thank you for it. In Jesus name, amen. Come on, let's take the bread and the juice. Fantastic. So Dimi, would you like to encourages us when it comes to our regular tithes and offerings? I would love to. So this week we had our connect group and we ended up talking about contributing and serving. And in the light of heart for the house,
but also just in general. Like contributing, serving others. And as we were talking, this this whole thing came up that one of the greatest obstacles for people to
actually start serving in church. Serving others, serving God foremost. Is quite often this whole idea of that if I serve somebody I'm going to lack something. I'm going
to lose something, you know? So I'm going to lose my energy or I'm going to lose... If I financially contribute, I'm going to lose my money. And we were talking how actually in the kingdom
of God, that is not the case. You know, the kingdom of God is functioning
completely different. It's not a transaction. So, you know, I give you something that
means I lost something. You know, the Bible is very clear. And I love how in Acts 20:35, there's this verse, you know, where Jesus basically said that it is more
blessed to give than to receive. And then on the other hand, there is
this verse in first Peter. That he's talking about in second Peter actually,
that he's talking about, that we've been given everything that pertains
to life and godliness. So in the kingdom of God, the more you actually give, the more you put God first, the more you're serving... You put actually others interests above yours, right? So when you serve, when you contribute, you will not lack. It leaves your hand, but doesn't leave your life, right? Exactly. You know, the Bible says also that
God provides the seed to the sower. So you will not leave empty handed. And for me, that gives me so much peace
and confidence and rest. I don't have to worry about myself that
I'm going to lack something. Because we've seen even Dani and I in our lives. You know, especially now in the
context of Heart for the House. How God has been providing, you know.
So that we can be generous. And I just want encourage you church. In this season especially, when it
comes to Heart for the House. But also in serving. Realize that your
contribution is so important and that you will not lack. That's the reality. In the kingdom of God there's no lack. God will provide so we can be generous in any occasion. And when it comes to putting God first in your finances, that is the best way you can serve God. Actually, with your tithes and your offerings. You actually put God first in your finances. That's kind of one of the easiest ways
actually to serve God. It's 10 percent of your weekly or monthly
increase, your income. And then you actually give that away, saying, God, I'm contributing to your kingdom. I'm
serving you. I'm putting you first. And that's what we've seen in our lives. God is just giving the seed to the sower. He's providing.
- So good. It's not just your weekly or monthly income.
Sometimes it's... - You make profits. Or you make sales.
- Increase. Yeah, you're right. I've seen incredible breakthroughs. People
get the breakthrough, then they tithe on the breakthrough and
then they get more breakthroughs. - Because God wants to enlarge your life.
- Yeah, totally. Totally. - Come on let's pray, Dimi.
- Let's pray. Father, we are grateful that you are the one
that provides the seed to the sower. That whole image of you giving something in our hands, so that we can be generous. At any occasion. And actually see you using us for your glory. There is no greater way, God. And we are excited. We are excited as a church. Lord to
bring our offerings to you. And we're expecting to see you move. God, we know that you have your plan and that you will continue to build your church. And God, we just want to honor you and
we want to put you first. And we want to see your kingdom expand
as we bring our offerings. As we bring a tithe to you. God, I pray your blessing over every single person. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Thank you Pastor Richard and Pastor Dimi. Hey, last week we had our Heart for
the House miracle offering, and we've seen so many of you generously giving to that. So we just want to say thank you for that. We can't wait to see what God is going to do with this. If you haven't been able to do so yet, why not join these people in giving to our Heart
for the House miracle offering? And we've extended the opportunity for this
until the end of this month. Absolutely. Well, this service is over, but we're
hanging out today in different places. If you want to join us,
make sure you go to the link below. Join a group and hang out with us today. Enjoy Father's Day. Have a great
week and see you next week. Gab, do you want to pray with us? Absolutely. Let's pray church. God, we thank you for who you are. God, we thank you for the service. God, I pray that whatever is spoken over us, God, we will take it into this week and we'll
see you glorified through it. God, and we just pray for all of our
loved ones, our families, anything that might come up this week, God, we pray that your hand is on it, and that we will have a great week in
your name. In Jesus' name, Amen. See you next week.
