A Whole New Way of Life | Pastor Alan Platt | Online Weekend Experience

[Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] well hey everybody welcome to valley creek wherever you are in the world we are so glad that you're joining us at our online campus today man there's so many great things happening in the season here at valley creek and i want to make you aware of a few of them and the first one is this wednesday night at all of our campuses including online movement night is happening for all of our students so if you're in 6th to 12th grade or you know a 6th to 12th grader invite them to join us for movement night this is a unique worship and message geared just to students where they can get to activate hope in their lives and in their generation so if you're in the north texas area join us at any one of our physical campuses and if you're outside of the north texas area join us on our students youtube page for movement night at seven o'clock this wednesday night and then another thing i will let you know about is today online we are having baptism classes at 12 30 central time so if baptism is something that you've been processing and praying through i want to encourage you join us today for this class see baptism is declaring jesus as lord and saying that you will follow him this is about taking next steps with jesus and if you want to learn more about baptism and why it matters join us online 12 30 central standard time here online and speaking of next steps join the movement is the best way to get started with jesus and with valley creek and we are having our first one on october 3rd and see this is going to happen on the first sunday of every month and you get to learn in this experience more about our story our theology and how to move forward and becoming a movement of hope and a hope carrier and you can register for that at valleycreek.org and as you can see there's some great things happening in this season and i believe even today god has something great in store for you so let's turn our hearts and let's turn our attention as we join with all of valley creek to worship jesus together all right hey valley creek man jesus is here right now in this moment in his presence we find everything that we need so today as we worship and as we sing let's do more than just sing songs but let's remind our hearts let's remind each other of the truth of who jesus is and what he's done here we go welcome to jesus no matter who you are and welcome [Music] you boys [Music] [Applause] is [Music] jesus connor and welcome to breakthrough more than you ever [Music] stay with me is [Music] [Applause] jesus oh [Music] this hope is undeniable [Applause] get ready for a miracle get ready for your miracle to hear anything is [Music] get ready for a miracle get ready for your miracle get ready for a miracle where eyes are [Music] [Music] [Music] oh this is [Applause] welcome to jesus welcome to jesus welcome to jesus [Applause] truth is [Music] oh truth is [Music] welcome to jesus [Music] you're here in this moment that's what you're doing you're moving along us so we make a space and we turn our eyes [Music] the weight of glory and closer [Music] would you do it again [Music] and come and rest your presence [Music] this is the moment that you're changing [Music] come on [Music] want to do it again [Music] your you're changing everything you're [Music] [Applause] would you do it again [Applause] would you do it again would you do it again [Music] my come and rescue presents [Music] [Applause] presence [Music] come and rest your presence [Music] oh come and rest your presence we are available so come in [Music] [Music] what we're singing is not just lyrics come on that's a bold prayer for the realities of heaven to come into this room what is that fire come on it's passion come on what is the wind it's fresh life in your lungs it's fresh life in your being today we're praying for the realities of heaven here on earth and they're available for you today [Applause] and so just open up your heart today to have faith to have faith that the spirit is here and he is moving in your life right now would you do it again like a roaring of heaven send a fresh [Music] [Music] come rest your jesus were available for you today so would you come and change the atmosphere not only of this room of this church but in our hearts we open up and we receive you today [Music] lord speak to me now you have all my attention [Music] i will linger and listen i can't miss a thing [Music] new so i surrendered [Music] [Music] my desire is to know [Music] before [Music] the breath in my soul you're the life in my bones and there is no hesitation any love [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my heart cried down [Music] i open up my heart to you [Music] me [Music] come on he wants it [Applause] [Music] off jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i [Music] i opened up [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and throw my fears [Music] my desire is [Music] of him [Music] man so today if you need peace you feel like you're in despair you feel like you're in chaos a touch of heaven is peace over your life [Music] man if you need healing a touch of heaven is healing over your life that's what he's doing right now those are the realities of heaven that we're walking into right now there is love there is joy there is life there is freedom and it's all because we're in the presence of jesus and so would you just receive that for a moment jesus we receive your life today we thank you that you are here and you are moving so we receive it in your name and everybody said amen amen let's give it one more time all right valley creek i am so so glad that you are here with us today i'm so glad that you came to worship with a whole heart and uh man this is just such a sweet time why don't you go ahead and find your seat so we continue through our service today [Music] hey everybody welcome to valley creek i am so glad you are here with us today and today we're going to press pause on the ancient future series that we've been in we're going to pick it up again next week but today we have a special guest speaker pastor alan platt you see alan is the leader of doxadela a global church out of south africa that is all about transforming the city and doxadeo has probably shaped and molded and influenced our church more than any other church you see alan has been such a great friend to me and to our church he's a voice of wisdom he's a voice of counsel he is a voice of inspiration and every time he comes he inspires us and he reminds us of who we are and what we're doing and he points us towards jesus as we continue to be a movement of hope for the city and beyond so wherever you are will you open up your hearts will you open up your minds and will you give a big valley creek welcome to pastor alan platt well hello to you valley creek i um man they have trained you well it's such a delight for me to be here to be back it's been a while and uh what i i so appreciate about this church is the hairstyles of your pastors i fit right in i i'm always so thrilled to be here you know valley creek plays a vital role um in our lives as doxydeo and the city changes movement over many many years you have partnered with us and we have the privilege of investing in leaders in 22 nations all over the world and every time we go there you're going with us because you have partnered with us so thank you but a delight to share the word with you today and i i'm just always so impressed uh with the conversations that i have with your pastors with your team and just sensing the faithfulness to the mission and the commitment to raise jesus christ as lord over people's lives over this region and every region where you are engaged in and so today i want to share with you a few thoughts knowing that you know we've come through a crazy season and we recognize that god is with us and god is in our future and that we are on mission with jesus christ jesus you know looks at his disciples just before he's about to die he's just about to go to the cross lay down his life and um he prays for them but he's not just praying for them when that prayer is documented we see how jesus says i'm not just praying for them but i'm praying for all those that are far off that will believe in their message so in essence jesus was including us in that prayer and when jesus prays for them he prays this prayer it's called the high priestly prayer it's documented in john 17 and jesus prays and really asks the father three things he says father that they may be in us and then he says that they may be one but the third thing that jesus prays for is documented here in john 17 verse 15 to 18. and we're going to read this scripture together he says i do not pray remember he's not just praying for the disciples he's also praying for you and this is what he prays for you i do not pray that you take them out of the world but that you should keep them from the evil one they are not of the world just as i am not of the world sanctify them by your truth your word is truth and then he says as you have sent me as in the same way that you have sent me into the world i also have sent them into the world now what fascinates me about this prayer is that jesus knows that his disciples are about to enter into a time of of incredible challenge i mean after the crucifixion the confusion the uncertainty the the knowledge that everything that they thought would happen the way that they were thinking that jesus would become the one that would come and rule and reign in israel and now he's dead can you imagine just what's going through the minds of the disciples in this season of confusion and jesus is praying for them and when he prays for them he's praying father don't let them lose sight of mission you know when jesus is raised from the dead he reveals himself to the disciples now they've just gone through this crazy season i mean it's it's being something that that none of them can can totally wrap their minds around and and jesus reveals himself to them and his first words to them is peace shalom wholeness and then he shows them his hands and his side he introduces them to redemption he introduces them to this truth that they can understand he's paid a price for their lives and the very next thing he says to them you can imagine they're expecting him to say you know what i really feel for you guys sorry about the time that you've gone through sympathizing with them but he does not immediately he says as the father has sent me i'm sending you i'm here to tell you that in this time of confusion and uncertainty and crazy in our world the one thing we as christ followers must not lose is the understanding that we are on mission with jesus christ now you know when i first read this portion of scripture it confused me because i always thought the idea of christianity was to get people out of the world i thought that was the idea and now jesus is praying i do not pray that you take them out of the world you see i grew up with this knowledge that i am not of the world as a matter of fact that was my favorite scripture i am not of this world but then i discovered that that text is within a bigger context you that are not of the world because jesus actually prays that here they are not of the world as i am not of the world but you that are not of the world your mission is to engage your world when i struggled with this i thought jesus why did you pray this then one day i got a revelation and i got this revelation when i was trying to set my dog free from fleas and so i share with liberty today the parable of the fleas my dog had fleas and i decided i was gonna you know comb through the hair of the dog and and catch every flea that i can and so set my dog free from fleas i was busy doing this and while i was attempting to do this i don't know if you've ever tried it it's a very difficult exercise and as i was trying to do this a friend of mine arrived and he asked me what i was doing so i explained my project to him and he looked at me and he said ellen why don't you just go buy a flea collar at the store i thought well there's an idea i never thought about so i went to the store and i bought the flea collar and i put it around the neck of the dog and within three days all the fleas are gone now i'm amazed i'm intrigued i'm trying to figure out how does this system work i mean how did the fleas at the tail end know there is now a flea collar around the neck of the dog and it's time for them to get off i mean how did they know it was a flea collar right i'm trying to figure this out so i go back to my friend i said explain to me how does this work he says ellen it's pretty simple he says you know on this flea collar there is a powder and as the dog moves the hair brushes against the collar and the the powder is released it sits on the skin of the dog and it's assimilated through the skin and and then it builds up an immunity within the dog and in the bloodstream as the blood now circulates through the dog when the the flea at the tail end bites the dog the flea dies and the dog lives and i said hallelujah i now understand john 17. because this is what jesus was praying right father i don't pray that you take them out of the flee nest of this world put them right in between the fleas new translation okay but do something to them sanctify them in your truth the truth so find opportunity in their lives that it will so empower them that when they enter into the world they will not be affected by the world but they will affect their world whoa you know the moment i discovered this this reality and i recognize this is what jesus was speaking about sanctify them in your truth i recognize that truth has a capacity to empower a human life you see truth was not just designed to get us into heaven truth was designed to empower us for life and so now we discover this truth that that affects our lives so deeply that when we enter into the world we are not infatuated or intimidated by the world but we enter into this world representing a whole new way of life we are the kingdom agents we are those carriers of hope to a world right and so we enter into this this world knowing that truth has arrested our lives so the question boats what is this truth what is this truth that can so set a human being apart that can ignite your life in such a way that you actually recognize that you are a carrier of something that can affect your world that you you are now this hope carrier well this truth is is in essence what jesus wants his disciples to see he shows them his hands and he shows them his side he wants us to understand our inclusion in redemption as a matter of fact the biggest truth that any human being can ever discover is your inclusion in christ the concept in christ is the most important concept in the whole of the bible and once you discover who you are in christ you see we used to be in adam our whole identity was defined within adam's failure and we became people that started to live a an inferior life but christ came to address this reference in adam so that we could be translated so that something can happen in our lives that we could move from this inferior life to a life now no longer defined by adam you see when jesus came and brought redemption he did not just come to restore us to adam's level before the fall the bible says much more much more much more what is this much more jesus christ now becomes the defining reference of who you really are he becomes the definition of your life for us to deeply understand this we have to understand the three dimensions of redemption in terms of being in christ the first thing that happened in our lives we find in romans 6 5 to 6 that says that we died with christ we died with christ this is so important to understand and if we read this scripture it says for if we have been united together in the likeness of his death certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this you're convinced of this that our old man this is not your dad okay that was a dad joke right okay that your old man was crucified with him what does he mean when he says your old man was crucified with him it's adam the old reference of your life was crucified with him so that what can happen so that this authority that governed over your life called sin listen to this that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin oh wow you know you became a sinner not because you sinned you became a sinner because you were in the bloodline of adam that's what caused you to live an inferior life sin had a legal right over your life but jesus died and when jesus died and this is so important to understand that when jesus died on the cross we don't look at the cross just in a sentimental historical way we we don't just see jesus dying on the cross we see ourselves included in that moment the bible says that when jesus died you died with him so that you can be translated into a new life you see this body of sin this old sin nature has been effectively dealt with and you have become a new creature in christ in the church we are not just busy with behavioral modification we're not just trying to do some management we're not just trying to make you a better person we are introducing you to who you truly are i i come from south africa and um of course we have lions and uh i i recently was on a trip with a bunch of leaders that we we have these retreats for church leaders and the leaders of our city uh go away once a year and we just spend some time together where we share life and pray for our city and share what god is putting on our hearts for the city and so we went to one of these reserves these big game reserves where the animals roam freely and early one morning we were all on the safari vehicle and going out for a game drive hoping that we would find animals it was not long we found a whole pride of lions and this was so beautiful it's early in the morning everything's quiet the lions are lazy just laying out there and so we stop about 20 yards from them with this safari vehicle and we're just watching them and the next moment one of the dominant male lions decides he's coming to inspect this vehicle now i don't know who designs those vehicles but i was sitting right on the edge and and this particular vehicle did not have doors and this lion is coming straight for us so the the ranger says to us guys don't don't be concerned um the lion thinks this is just one big thing that has just arrived he doesn't know it's a bunch of individuals so just you know stay quiet don't stand up because then you break the line and and then it's over don't do that and so i'm sitting there saying there's no way i'm going to stand i i also am praying lord i trust this ranger knows what he's talking about because as this lion comes closer the guy behind me has got a camera and and he's taking photos he's so excited because the lion's coming up and so he this this camera is making a click click click sound so in the quiet of the morning you hear this click click clicking sound now the lion is intrigued about this clicking sound now it's coming straight for me and i'm thinking to myself lord if i don't die today i'm going to murder someone today my grace abound but but this line comes up and the next moment i look down and i look into the eyes of this lion it's about three yards away now i don't know if you've had the privilege of looking into the eyes of a lion three yards away and there's nothing in between you suddenly become aware of authority this this this beast is unintimidated there is there's nothing that scares this line i mean i was thinking to myself if he really thinks this is one big thing that has just arrived how come it's not intimidating you know why it's a lion and a lion in his habitat in his environment he's not intimidated but you take that same lion to a circus something happens to that animal because it comes into the arena and there's an anxiety it starts running around and and and starts doing tricks because there's a man with a whoop and as the whoop is cracking the lion is starting to do all kinds of tricks to the applause of the people but we know that lion has not internalized that behavior because i guarantee you the lion doesn't go back to its cage and practice the tricks why because there's no whip you see the issue about behavior is the whip and so many times in christian circles we have reduced this glorious message to take scripture as a whoop to try and adjust people's behavior may i say to you today let's never go there let's introduce people to who they truly are and introduce them to this spacious environment called jesus christ for in him do we live and move and have our be and when you discover who you are it repositions how you live that's why if we're talking about being on mission talking about getting into the world representing a whole new reference in the world it starts with you discovering who you are you see there has to be a truth in your life to truly be able to affect your world you have to understand who you are but you see the bible says we we didn't just die with christ we were raised with christ oh wow we we are part of the resurrection that's interesting when you study scripture there's only one reference in the old testament that refers to the resurrection and it's written in plural we are raised with him you see jesus wasn't raised alone we were raised into newness of light listen to what romans 6 verse 4 says therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death oh i so rejoice hearing about people being baptized because baptism is that public declaration i have been set free of the old reference in adam and i'm raised up into a new identity in christ that's the proclamation now listen to what he says that just as just as just as just as in the greek means just as all right second dead joke just as christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so even so we also should walk in newness of life oh we have been called to a whole new reference of life why because we were included in that reference you see we are included inclusion is an incredibly important dimension of understanding for our faith we were included in the moment when jesus died he was buried he was raised but you have to see yourself being raised with christ into newness of life you know this whole idea of association and inclusion when i came to the u.s a few years ago i i really didn't understand your sport um you you played weird kind of sports because we we grew up with cricket and rugby and and and here i'm watching football and and i'm not understanding it because you know you you you play your football with helmets on but you ride your motorcycles without them and i'm i'm like uh somehow figuring it out and but then i started watching the fans and it's amazing what happens to a fan when their team wins isn't it suddenly they have an attitude suddenly they you know like we won you say what do you mean we won you did nothing man i said no hey when my team wins i win it's the power of association it's the power of inclusion that documented victory suddenly has a bearing on my life the way that i feel the way that i think the way that i speak the way that i walk is all affected because i now know my team has won it has been documented folks 2 000 years ago there was a victory that was documented and you are included in that reference because he won you win his triumph is your triumph you see this is the truth this is the truth that you need to know because this truth empowers you to engage your world but not only will we raised with christ the bible also says that we are seated with christ in heavenly places wow seated with christ in heavenly places listen to what ephesians 2 verse 46 says but god who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive with christ together with christ now focus on this word together you were included we share in his triumph the bible says we are repositioned we are seated in heavenly places he made us alive together with christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in christ jesus oh my goodness folks when the bible says we are seated in heavenly places it doesn't mean that we're a bunch of space cadets you know kind of hey cool man cool i'm sitting with jesus now this is a place of authority this is a place of influence this is a place where you carry the fullness of kingdom life within you and now you start to represent this new way of living knowing that you've died to the old inferior you were raised to newness in christ and now you are positioned to be able to represent kingdom life wow so god did everything that is needed for us to be able to engage our world let's go to ephesians 1 verse 22 to 23. listen to this it says at the center of all this christ rules of 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 aren't you excited to be part of a church in which christ speaks and acts uh you are you're a blessed community because this is what happens is is that you sense the word of the lord you sense god speak you sense him work in your lives but you see it does not stop there many times we stop there as the church and i know valley creek church does not do that but here is the next critical component by which he fills everything with his presence listen to this god wants to fill everything now this is what's very important everything means everything if you have an everything box and you have to pack everything into the everything box and you've packed most things into the everything box but a few things did not fit into the everything box it was not the everything box either everything fits into the box or it was not the everything but when we say everything we mean everything every square inch of the cosmos belongs to the lordship of jesus christ and the way we fill every square inch with his presence is when we by the church enter into those spaces with his presence now when we think about presence there are three things that might be helpful to understand this concept of presence it's the fathering the faithful and the fruitful presence now let me start by saying to the ladies you are included in this fathering concept if i can be the bride of christ you can be a father all right it's just so that the three f's could work what do we mean by fathering we mean that wherever you go and remember there are three key environments in which you represent kingdom life it's in your home it's in your workplace and it's in your community and wherever you go you enter with presence the very presence of christ first of all it's a fathering presence what does that mean it's where you become burdened to in every one of those environments see the kingdom of god come the grace of god the peace of god the fullness of christ's redemption becoming reality in my house at my work in my community but it's also a faithful presence a faithful presence is is different in the sense that it's it doesn't mean you go and do stuff it means you be the presence you represent the aroma of christ you represent the principles of the kingdom you manifest them this is what you've been taught in the last few weeks or for many many years but specifically i listened to the last two sermons about the ancient paths this is we represent another way of life we are not like the world we are different we are the incarnational people who enter into our world to manifest forgiveness and love and grace and god's goodness wherever we might go you see this is how jesus sent his disciples he says i'm sending you as lambs amongst wolves wow if i was a disciple i would have raised my hand said jesus can't we rather go as wolves amongst lambs we're just going to have more control jesus says no i'm teaching you the power of the opposite spirit when you feel you are weak you're actually strong because you're representing another kingdom so where there's greed go with generosity where there's hatred go with forgiveness where there's bitterness go with forgiveness go and enter your world in a different way and then the fruitful presence the fruitful presence is really about us doing good i thank god for this church i mean you are serving on so many levels and if you have not yet engaged in any of the activities that are presented to you i want to encourage you to do that because that's the training ground that's where you in community will be trained and equipped to give and and live beyond yourself and and to be generous and to to function within that space of kingdom life it's the training environment get engaged because we are here to be on mission no matter what happens in our life no matter how confused we are about everything that's happening around us that will not deter us we are on mission and listen to this scripture as i end in proverbs 11 verse 11 says so beautiful beautifully the good influence of godly citizens causes a city to prosper this region will prosper because of valley creek church because of every one of the campuses whether it be a flower mound or denton or louisville or or wherever you are you are there to make a difference in this world we are on mission as he was sent so you are sent you are commissioned to go and make a difference let's pray together father we thank you we thank you that we can be part of the greatest and most glorious agenda on this planet the mission of christ making a difference in our world we so desire to represent your kingdom well and so today lord i pray for every individual i pray for every person that has heard this word i i just speak over them the commissioning of christ the sending a recognition that there is calling on their lives that there's purpose on their lives that they are to be the representative of christ in their homes in their work and in their community wherever they are we thank you and so lord we pray may your glory be seen in this world may the knowledge of the glory of the lord fill the earth as the waters cover the sea because your people are on mission we thank you we pray this in your name lord jesus amen [Applause] hey we are so glad that you joined us today and if this is your campus if the online campus is your campus i want to invite you fill out the form our team wants to connect with you to help you take next steps on your journey with jesus and for those of you that want to give you can always do that online see giving is a response to the goodness of god in our lives but as we go let's go knowing this that god is good that jesus has forgiven you that you are loved and that everything is possible come on let's go as hope carriers this week [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] this [Music]

Channel: Valley Creek Church

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Length: 73min 32sec (4412 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021