Beyond: Seeing But Not Seeing

[Music] [Music] i choose [Music] jesus you're my number one so i will make one for you i will [Music] prepare for two so you don't feel that you can't live here please oh [Music] [Music] i [Music] choose [Music] jesus [Music] so i will make for you i will [Music] you don't feel that you can't live please [Music] don't feel that you can't [Music] [Music] please [Music] [Music] my way [Music] you can move [Music] my [Music] it attitude [Music] whatever it is [Music] oh [Music] get the other [Music] see things it is [Music] [Music] oh good morning good morning good morning bless the lord o my soul all that is within me bless his holy name welcome to the perfecting church assembled in the sanctuary and to those who are joining us online this is the day that the lord has made and i don't know about you but i will rejoice and i will be glad in it uh back in the day years and years ago out of my religious tradition the church i grew up in they had this thing called a call to worship and i look back on that now and i see the significance it was the idea that we would ready ourselves that we would position our hearts that we would transition out of what we were doing what we were thinking about what we were focusing on and begin to call ourselves ready ourselves ready our hearts our minds and our mouths for the entrance of the king of glory if you were with us on yesterday at ascend uh we in the perfecting church are in great expectation for manifestations of glory in the final quarter of 2021 but the lord reminded me this morning we don't have to wait till then anytime if at any time we position our hearts if at any time we prepare ourselves god is right he is ready and willing to receive so this morning we're going to go before him in a slightly different way but i invite you all to this call to worship as we ready ourselves for the entrance of the king of glory yahweh claims the world is his everything and everyone belonged to him he's the one who pushed back oceans to let the dry ground appear planting firm foundations for the earth who then is allowed to ascend to the mountain of yahweh and who has the privilege of entering into god's holy place those who are clean whose works and ways are pure whose hearts are true and sealed by the truth those who never deceive whose words are sure they will receive yahweh's blessing and righteousness given by the savior god they will stand before god for they seek the pleasure of god's face the god of jacob so wake up you living gateways lift up your heads you doorways of eternity welcome the king of glory for he is about to come through you you ask who is this king of glory yahweh armed and ready for battle yahweh invincible in every way so wake up you living gateways and rejoice fleeing wide you eternal doors here he comes the king of glory is ready to come in you ask who is this king of glory he is yahweh armed and ready for battle the mighty one the invincible commander of heaven's host yes he is the king of glory so abba yahweh father we come this morning in great expectation we come this morning lord god extending divine permission for the holy one of israel for yahweh for the healer the resurrector the redeemer the restorer the righteous one the provider the deliverer the great i am to make entrance into and through and in our midst this day god we declare and we affirm that this is your day god not ours that this is your service god not ours that this is your time god not ours and in it we ask that you would be magnified sir that you would be glorified sir that you would anoint the instruments of worship lord god and all who will ascend the platform today lord god to speak in your name father that you would anoint the ears of the hearers and those who are assembled in this space and online god that you would cause there to be a divine synergy such that all that heaven intended all that heaven had in mind for this moment before the foundation of the earth comes through today lord god unhindered uninterrupted undefiled and undiluted god we want you and we want you in your fullness we want your agenda we want your will not ours lord god we want your ways not ours lord god we want your outcomes not ours lord god we want your design not ours lord god we want your desires god not ours will of god today be done in our midst kingdom of god come in the name of jesus glory of god be resident tangible and evident amongst us in the matchless and the mighty name of jesus christ we pray amen amen good morning tbc family here in the saints wearing online is there anybody looking for a miracle clark sisters had a song a long time ago i'm looking for a miracle i'll just put a little spin on looking for anybody expecting a miracle this week even this week i know elder otis has experienced a miracle amen amen and i just want this song to minister to you that this week will be a week of miracles how about that all right let's go [Music] oh i cannot explain it this may not make sense i know what it looks like but i choose to go against that and i'm seeking something different i'm speaking something different claiming something different expecting something different [Music] come on speaking of the atmosphere [Music] [Music] next week [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] miracles [Music] [Music] come on [Music] we will be [Music] [Applause] here we go here we go [Music] [Applause] here we go [Music] [Applause] [Music] we can say [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] those things [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah thank you for miracle signs and wonders [Applause] and the only person that can do miracle signs and wonders is our great god who is a good god and worthy of all our praise and adoration and thanks lord you're good you are so good you've been better than good hallelujah [Music] that's all right lord you are good you've been so good lord you are good you've been better than good i can't praise you enough lord i owe you my life can't praise you enough even if i tried cause you've been [Music] so good you've been so good you've been [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] we're going to make this declaration that the lord is good [Music] come on is that your testimony [Music] me [Music] to me [Applause] [Music] to me [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you for saving me [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] been so good you've been so good come on no one like you lord hallelujah [Music] to me [Music] hallelujah jesus can anybody testify to how good the lord has said to them he's given you press in your body he's giving you a purpose and a plan and a reason to live we deserve a good gracious and mighty savior lift up a praise to his name [Music] [Applause] hallelujah good good good morning tpc blessings to you in the name of the lord jesus in the words of dorothy on wiz there is no place like home glory to god it's good it's good to be back in the house with y'all i uh traveled down to charlotte north carolina uh to visit one of the church plants that our church trained and mentored and coached and gave generosity to and participated in and then i went to houston texas where uh the glocal family conference was hosted in houston texas at the church of steve besner at houston northwest if you remember two years ago uh on 2019 it was the second week that our church was open and we were the first ones to ever host the glocal family conference so glocalnet is the church planting family that i am a part of my pastor bob roberts heads that up so if i'm a part of it we secondarily are a part of that and so this morning i just wanted to remind you a little bit of what that work looks like i don't talk about it a lot y'all aren't reminded about it a lot uh but there's three things that every church in the glocal net family is committed to do the first thing that we all are committed to do is that we will serve the poor and the marginalized in the cities and the communities where god places us that uh we don't believe there's a such thing as the social gospel uh we believe that the whole gospel is orthodoxy good teaching biblical teaching but orthopraxy let's live what we said the second thing that every church in the glocal net family is committed to is that we will serve in one hard place in the world we won't go be bopping around the globe and say we reach the world with the gospel and never go deep with anyone but we will pick one hard place in the world and we will commit to going there and serving there over and over and over and as you all know the hard place in the world that our church has been planted in by god is the west bank so we're in the holy land we've been going there going on 10 years now and i'm looking forward to getting back amen yeah we're we're planning a trip to go back to the holy land in the spring so if you've never been to the holy land you want to go and engage the people that live in that difficult part of the world we'd love to have you come with us but then there's a third thing that every church in glocal net is committed to and that is that we will have a church planting center out of our own churches that we will not see the kingdom of god just grow by addition by people being added to our local churches but we make a strong commitment to see the kingdom of god also grow by multiplication that we will serve other pastors train other pastors support other pastors be generous to other pastors so that we see other churches be planted throughout and for us throughout the northeast region so as i said i just came back from uh grace city church let me give you a quick report on them pastor dan smith and his wife kiafa they're from willingborough new jersey they graduated from willemboro high some of you all know them but dan and kiafa are doing a great work in charlotte they they planted the church during covet they they literally went public with sundance yeah they literally went public with sunday services during kobe is there any other testimony that god will cause light to shine in the darkness then a church sprouting up during a global pandemic they're doing well we went we we blessed them with a check i think they like to check more than me but we blessed them supported them encouraged them amen and um and i want you all to be encouraged by that our generosity is just not going to our own local church our generosity is supporting the kingdom of god beyond our own borders like i said if all you do is love people with your last name you're not really loving you know so we we love beyond our own borders and then i went and uh when we went to houston many of the church planters that are part of our east coast glocal net family which is the portion that i servant lead they met us there so pastor curtis marcia uh myers um ed leek erica lee they were there we met with them they're also part of the globe glocal net church planning family and curtis celebrated his 73rd birthday while we were down there so that was incredible and so um brought him a birthday cake we went to dinner and we had a great time that dude is getting old in church planting years you know when you plant a church you get old he was 54 and he turned 73 but uh but but we supported engaged church encourage them on introduce them to people that help them and it looks like next month they're going to move this church was also planted during a pandemic but it looks like next month they're going to move after much prayer much encouragement much get out there they're going to move from being online and they're going to start meeting at the movie theater up there in burlington so keep them in prayer and cheer them on and then yesterday i got up early in the morning uh eight o'clock bruce johnson picked me up we drove up to princeton uh to um stonehead church and uh but there was a church meeting in there called transformation church in trenton and y'all right might remember them and pastor antonio bellamy we helped train him help mentor him i still walk with him and shepherd him and we were there and i did a men's meeting for transformation church they had 20 men that were gathered there this brand new church plant and just got to pour into these men about what biblical sonship really looks like what it means to be not an older brother but a mature son in the kingdom of god so it was incredible they're doing a great work y'all would have been so blessed i was telling elderly that they had like four their whole praise and worship team is young men and it looked like they had a remix of jodeci filled with the holy ghost and and they they were killing it they i was like in that i thought jodeci was on the stage but but i mean they are incredible but they're in trenton reaching a demographic that's different from the one that we would reach and they're doing a great work for jesus and uh they they tried to give me an honorarium i was like no y'all can't give me anything i came to serve y'all to support y'all to see this church grow and uh and god is blessing but today everybody say today today with us is a fourth church and while i've been a small part of the planting and coaching i want to be a part of us being generous we brought here this morning david show and faith show if y'all could join me up on stage here that'd be awesome david and faith are going to be planting mosaic covenant church up in paramus new jersey and they'll be going public with their services shortly they've been working with a plant team uh they've been working with a small group of people they've been engaged in the community they've been doing barbecues they've been serving the needs in the community and and now they're getting ready to go public with this church so i just want you to hear from them a little bit i want you to hear what it sounds like when god is calling people to the gospel ministry i want you to get to know them they're going to come preach here come hang out here faith also has a ministry that she ministers to women in a powerful way so i just want y'all to get to know him so dave why don't you tell us a little bit about how you guys uh were called into this how did you get here to be church planters do that in like 10 seconds and then faith if you could share you know are you just watching or what is your part in all of this just we get a sense of who mosaics is yeah uh thank you pastor kevin and um perfecting church for allowing us to be here and gather with y'all it's a privilege to be here uh for us our story and our journey uh started really in march 2020 which was a great time to start anything new um and but it really started way before that basically just got opened and closed doors where uh where in a way where that's basically just a nice way of saying our story was a mess and ultimately we were left in a place in march 2020 where we literally had nothing and we had to start all over and one thing i've learned is that one of the recipes for a miracle is actually a mess and so for us our people keep on asking me what's my heart for the church and the church planning journey but really more than anything it's been it's been god's heart and god's commitment to us when we started off and starting with nothing um we were basically have in a position where we had to move out of the house that we were living in we were had we lost all of our funding and all of our team and lockdown happened so it was just the icing on the cake for us but basically for us when we started this we felt god's commitment to the church and to his people and if there's anything that i've come to learn from this whole journey is that god's committed to his church god's committed to his people and uh just a real quick story for us we had to move out uh by june um 2020 but as my wife and i were praying about this whole journey basically we felt the lord just leading us and we felt god was just telling us to wait till may 31st and if you know anything about moving especially in the new jersey real estate market it's kind of a tough time to move from in june and for us basically what ended up happening god told us to wait we looked and looked on june 1st and we thought someone was going to give us keys to a house the next day because that's what always happens right didn't happen like that at all uh we woke up and kept on looking but then on a wednesday night god told us to pray and we were praying for the house and as we were praying for where we're going to live god told us we're praying the wrong prayer and he showed us the church that he wanted us to build and the kind of church that he was committed to more than anything the next day we saw the house that we're living in today and basically that house it was on the market for three months all the houses were being rented out almost within 30 minutes um but god showed us this house the next day this was the only realtor to call us back and so we were like you know what it's better than being homeless so we're just going to live there uh and long story short we had to have the conversation with the realtor and he was either not a good realtor or god was just covering his eyes we told them we had no paychecks no pay stubs no proof of income we just had god i didn't say that part and he just looked at us and he just said you know i'll take you out your word we signed within the hour that's not the miracle though the miracle is that as we were walking out i asked him so when you know why why was his house not sold or not rented out for three months and he looked at me and he said oh we're having renovations and because of covet and all that stuff and then i asked him when did the renovations end he said may 31st wow i looked at him and i just said thank you and i walked out and so long story short i could talk about my vision and my heart for the church all day but the truth is god's committed to his church and that's something that we felt like god wanted us to show to show us very early on in our journey that god is committed to his people more than anything let's see it from faith hey church my name is faith uh man the holy spirit is so free here and we're just so blessed by that because that's family you know we really believe that we want to build a house where the holy spirit is free where people are free uh we live right where um it's like half new yorkers half new jersey you know where people work in new york sleep in new jersey and people are tired they're tired of life they're tired of religion they're tired of fear they're tired of just making it and we believe that that jesus is the answer to all those things so we believe in a house that provides rest purpose and freedom for the people of god and and no i'm not just watching so you you see who the preacher in the family is right now but uh i wanted us to just pray over them if we could and uh if everybody would just stand up kind of like what we do on a baby dedication because we are really dedicating a baby aren't we i mean god is birthing something how incredible is it that we're not just a part of our own local church growing up but our church has our hand and our heart and our prayers and churches all up and down the east coast that are growing they have no idea that they are a part of a dream that god calls me and angela to dream that that we would participate in not just our church but we would participate in churches breaking out like chickenpox all over and that doesn't sound so good during cover but it was cool back then though i was like i get that but um and surely today we see things breaking out that only god could do and um so we planted two churches that have come from out of our church but we've had our hands and several others that have come from all over so let's pray with them let's get in agreement with what jesus said if the elders could come up a little closer and come here around them i think we'll be participating with them they don't have a whole lot of gray-haired people and they could use some wisdom around them and some uh some of that so um yeah let's pray faith y'all come over here i'll just i got my vaccination so we're cool and i got the blood of jesus so so we're cool come on baby yeah this is my wife angela you all haven't met her yet but yeah and once you lay your hand on faith and uh church want y'all point your hands towards them ask the holy spirit to use our agreement to do something special for them father we know there's nothing more threatening to the kingdom of darkness than for people to stand up and say that they're going to plant a gospel church nothing more threatening to the kingdom of darkness than people to say we're going to come in jesus name that we might create a sanctuary a place of worship where people can find rest and purpose and freedom and god yet you've caused this young couple with their four young children to stand up and make this declaration with all of the heavenly hosts watching and with principalities also watching and god we stand up and point our hands to them to say that they are not doing this alone the devil can't get a fair one out here if one of us goes all of us go so god right now we lay hands on this couple as an extension of your hands on their life we declare that from the very beginning as they've described miracles of god making a way out of no way we described that this church will be a miraculous place that becomes a way out of no way for people that are from new york from north jersey people that are uh heavy-laden and burdened that when they come here they'll find peace they'll find joy they'll find freedom they'll find family they'll find community they'll find jesus god we pray supernatural grace on them right now in the name of jesus we pray the same dna you've given us kingdom disciple society church would be resident in them and that you would do exceeding abundantly above all that they could ask or think for your glory and for their joy and delight the perfecting church comes into agreement with mosaic covenant church of new jersey now by faith in the mighty name of his name y'all [Applause] amen amen god is good is he not amen hallelujah he is a good god and he's god all by himself he created us to worship him but he is god and he is god alone and for that we are grateful [Music] there's no question of your greatness not searching of your power [Music] all the wonders of your glory to your 40 years is but one hour [Music] your knowledge is all encompassing into your wisdom there is no end you alone [Music] are [Music] everything [Music] oh your mercy is everlasting and your truth endures always [Music] you are he who was and is and is to come who is he that can number your days [Music] you flung the sun to burn in space and the night spoon powers light from day [Music] for you are god alone now unto the [Music] king is [Music] [Applause] your [Music] [Music] turn [Music] for you know [Music] [Music] glory and honor dominion and power forever is [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] for you are god hello there's no one like you in all the air you're our god hello come on all over this place come on say it for you alone my god [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] nobody like our god he alone is god and he reigns supreme you alone [Music] your god hallelujah [Music] come on if you believe that give him a shout of praise nobody like our god in all the earth confucius mohammed all of these people never died and rose again never saved the world so let's praise our god the true and living god [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] oliver if you're able would you stand on your feet for a moment not sure if you realized it or not but a dignitary just came into our presence just just asking you to stand on your feet even even if you're at home if you're online and just whenever you just stand your feet for a moment i think that the ideas of sovereignty and eternity are so difficult for us to grasp when we live in a world that has a new administration every four years we live in a world that's been so stained by sin and death that the idea of something lasting and going on forever and ever and ever amen is just such a a difficult concept for us to grasp we're accustomed that at the start of a thing we're already anticipating the end of a thing we're accustomed to that if something is real good well we're just bracing ourselves because we know eventually it'll get real bad but but we will not forever live in the world that is temporal we we will not forever live in a world that is stained with sin and death revelations 21 shouts out all the way to the front of the bible from the back of the bible that the day will come there will be no more tears no more sorrow no more sickness no more death for the former things will have passed away we're gonna one day live in a new heaven a new earth the bible says that heaven will will come down like a bride adorned jerusalem will be the new jerusalem be the center of the new creation and the sovereign god will be with us i'll the god that i i press to get into his presence daily will walk into my presence in that day we'll know we'll know our name the same way adam walked with god in the cool of the day god is is restoring god is the loser he doesn't say you know what i messed up on that first project let me start a new project god is going to carry out what he saw from the beginning that's really what this series is all about this series is about us lifting our eyes lifting our hearts from this chaotic world this better said turbulent world that we live in fosters begin to live like citizens of another world because we are if you haven't met jesus yet today you're in a room filled with ambassadors from another country that would be happy to give you an introduction to our king of kings we won't be here always this is not an eternal place this is a temporal place things won't be like this always and we need to begin to soak and shape our imaginations with what will be so we can help hope to usher in in the midst of how could this be you've got your bible this morning whether you're impersonal online if you want to stand during the whole sermon you can but meet me in second corinthians chapter 4 verse 16. second corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16 and and would you take a moment to uh check your social media real quick because i want you to share this link for this service uh this service is streaming live right now on facebook and streaming live right now on youtube would you take one moment to go to your page and say pastor kevin's getting ready to preach y'all just like that that might not mean anything to some of the people on your line but it'll be fun they'll be like who is this let's but uh if you would just share that and um i want to preach today from this topic this series beyond but this topic seeing but not seeing seeing but not seeing once you share that won't you just mouth those words with me seeing but not saying once you've shared this on your page if you're home if you would share the link text the link to somebody if you're only on youtube text it and say girl you got to get in on this text and say boy you got to look at this if your mama tell your kids you better watch this uh second corinthians chapter 4 verse 16 the seeing but not seeing lord would you be with us as we enter into the deep pool of your eternal truths lord would you be with us knowing that our lives have been so shaped and formed by life here on this planet but you've called us your sons and your daughters lord would you do with us what you did with adam in the garden where he did not just learn by information but he also learned by impartation god would you cause us to somehow be able to grasp the immense mysteries and truths of your word that we'd be able to put them on like a new pair of sneaks and walk in them today as we leave this place god we don't want to just hear your word we want to put on your word and and live your word we want to become your word even as you jesus were the word made flesh we long to make this word that's about to be preached flesh and blood that we might live it out among our friends our families our community we pray god now let your kingdom influence come let your supernatural and eternal will be done in us now by faith in the mighty name of the art of seeing but not seeing to live from an eternal perspective literally means to live fixed on unseen realities and the unseen truths of god's kingdom to live from an eternal perspective means that we live free from the the temporary and earthly limitations that anchor so many of us to the beginning of our dash and the end of our dash as being the only thing that we think about as as life to to live from an eternal perspective means to live with our our deepest affections and our deepest longings fixed on the king of kings realizing that eternity is within us so this world could never satisfy all of our needs wants and desires to to live from an eternal perspective literally means we are participating with god in his great reconciliation and restoration plan we know the world is not temporary so like people in a burning building on 9 11 we're grabbing folk and and trying to bring them into the eternal kingdom because we realize that we're in a place that is crumbling and coming to its end to live within eternal perspective means that we are longing for the new heaven and the new earth to not only be a place that we're going to but to be a place that the glory of it is being ushered into this world through us second corinthians chapter four paul is ministering to the church at corinth and he's juxtaposing these two ideas of the the temporal challenges and sufferings and hardships and the natural realities of of not only pastoring this church in corinth but living in the day and age that they lived in but then he's juxtaposing it against but this ain't my eternal place and this is not my home and i i'm not from around here if you will and and although i'm suffering on one side the glory of god is being ushered in through my life on the other side and i just want us to dive into how he closes a portion of this writing we know the bible was not written in verse and chapter it was a letter but we're we're zoning in on this one portion of this letter that is found at the at the end of second corinthians chapter four picking up at verse 16 therefore we do not lose heart even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is being renewed day by day for our light affliction which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we do not look at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are that was your part but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are but the things which are not seen are i don't know if you remember the movie enter the dragon when the movie entered the dragon bruce lee and the other contestants of this tournament that they are to fight in are on a boat and there's a bully on the boat his name is harson's and he's trying to get in the head of all of the other people that are going to be competing and as the boat goes to this remote island parsons is picking and bullying on everybody and he finally gets to bruce lee and parsons starts to picking and trying to bully on bruce lee but he can't get a rise out of bruce lee the way he did the other contestants he he can't shake bruce lee the way he shook the other contestants so he tries to to choose another way and he asked bruce lee what is your style of fighting and bruce lee responds to him in the iconic statement my style is the art of fighting without fighting bruce lee literally is bringing this man who would never grasp it into his philosophy in the martial arts see bruce lee had mastered how to use his opponent's strength against his opponent bruce bruce lee had mastered that when the opponent tries to use force bruce lee would use their force against them with the way that he moved in his fighting and his martial arts style the philosophy of bruce lee was that if you use too much energy then you're actually fighting against yourself and not your opponent what happened on that boat with bruce lee is akin to what it means for us to understand what is happening to us in this world that is perishing we must learn to live in this world that is temporary and fading and falling and passing away with the art of seeing but not seeing in other words what i'm saying is we've got to see what is we can't ignore the realities of this world but we must be able to see beyond the realities of this world so that in the way that this world tries to work against us we actually make the world work with the plan of god are you ready for this it's the idea that we actually have to learn to be somewhat blind to the temporal things that we see in front of us so that we can actually develop sight for the eternal things that are not so easily and obviously seen we got to learn the art of seeing without seeing and i want to pull from this text what i see here are are three truths that paul has tapped into that causes him to live here but live here in a different way than everyone else lives here i'm not suggesting that we're getting ready to move over into some fantasy world where we're not fully occupying this world no i'm suggesting that the bible is going to teach us this morning that if we can learn this this acquired wisdom and master blindness in some degree to the temporal world we can really learn how to live out and usher in the eternal world second corinthians 4 16 says therefore we do not lose heart has anybody lost heart recently no real honest online in person has anyone lost heart recently just three people i know it ain't a lot of truth tellers in here today has anyone recently found themselves losing heart paul was writing to a group of people who had who did who who knew what he meant by that that the temporal circumstances the hopes and joys that you have in this world crumbling falling not working out the way you thought coming to an end always challenge uh being fought on every side i thought you was with me now realize you against me therefore we do not lose heart even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is being renewed day by day here's the first blindness that we have to acquire if we're going to be able to see beyond what is into what god is ushering in we must stop seeing every setback as a loss i said we must stop seeing every setback as a loss if we are to actually be able to see the hand of god ordering our steps paul says here that his outward man is perishing day by day but my inward man is being renewed if you did just a surface reading of this text you would assume oh paul's getting old his knees hurt when he gets up in the morning paul's getting old every couple of weeks he's got to have somebody lay hands on his hair so it'll still be dark brown paul paul paul must be talking about what we all know as we age that our physical bodies change and we start to realize that they have limitations but i think there's something deeper that paul is trying to communicate to us how many know paul was deep and i know he's communicating more to us that he's also saying that although i am a brilliant thinker i'm a renowned scholar i study under gamaliel the the most gifted teachers and rabbinical leaders of my day i studied under them he tells us in other places he was an expert in the law paul was a gifted communicator he spoke multiple languages and he understood the culture and the norms of other languages and he could speak to someone who was a greek or someone who was a gentile as well as he speak to someone who was a jew and someone who had been one of the chosen race if you will he could also speak to a roman he he could he was a brilliant communicator he was a brilliant scholar but i think what paul is also getting at is god the holy spirit day by day is teaching me to stop depending on my gifts so much teaching me to stop depending on my talent so much teaching me day by day that the enemy that you're fighting is bigger than you i've got to teach you the art of seeing but not seeing you're not strong enough paul you're not big enough you're not powerful enough in some ways i think paul paul is also saying day by day my confidence in myself is going away but my confidence in christ is increasing my outward man is perishing day by day but my inward man is being renewed i think paul is is trying to communicate to us this this shifting dependence that is happening as his outward man perishes his his spirit man is growing stronger and getting more powerful too often we are on and off with god i love you jesus cause on friday it was a parking spot right there at the front when i pulled up i love you jesus cause when i got in the line everybody moved out and the chick-fil-a line wasn't as long as it normally is i could see that you're with me jesus and then when somebody nicks our car and we get a dent on our car and then somebody else gets a promotion and we don't get the promotion and then then our wife or our spouse or our friends aren't feeling the way we want then we cry lord what's wrong it's almost like we're superstitious and fickle in our relationship the reason why is because too often we let ourselves be groomed that every setback means either god is for me or against me just fickle and funny because that's the way people can be i don't want you to ever get the idea that that's the way god is often times when we experience setbacks what really is happening is that god is reminding us you're not taking me to your destination i'm taking you to my destination you think you know where you're going you think you know how this goes but i know where i'm taking you and i know what you look like in the end every setback cannot be looked at as the end of things the uh what happened with things god must not be with me in this thing and who messed me up in this thing we gotta move from being superstitious and fickle and on and off with our faith and start to see that if god is sovereign then he's in the detail of everything that is happening and he has an end in mind this first kind of blindness that we must learn is i no longer look at every setback that i have to tell me what's going on i literally look in every moment for god where are you how are you leading how are you directing what are you doing do you want to invite me in oh i couldn't handle it you don't want me to know i trust you because i know you're good somebody say we must learn to not see so we can see verse 17 paul continues in teaching this art of seeing but not seeing and he says for our light affliction which is but for a moment how long is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory here's a second kind of blindness that we need to master if we're going to be able to live life seeing from an eternal perspective we must stop seeing through the eyes of comfort and convenience if if we are ever going to learn to be able to see through a heart that hears and obeys god we've got to stop seeing through the eyes of comfort and convenience if we're ever going to learn to see in the eternal way from a heart that hears and obeys god the same man that's writing talking about light afflictions which are just for a moment in second corinthians chapter 11 and verse 25 paul writes some of his resume not for his accomplishments but for his sufferings and paul writes down in his resume i was beaten three times with rods in other words we know that uh jesus was was bruised for our iniquities and and and paul is writing here saying the same kind of rods they beat jesus with they beat paul he had this experience not one time three times he goes on in in his resume not of his accomplishments but but of his persecutions and sufferings and rights he i was stoned one time when they stone you they don't stone you to punish you when they stoned you in 1st century when he lived they stoned you to kill you in other words they threw stones at me until they thought i was dead but god resurrected me are you catching this he he's writing in his resume i was shipwrecked three times i spent a day and a night adrift in the sea i don't know if you've ever watched uh some of these movies that show people lost at sea but it is pitch black when you're at sea and you lose direction of where you're at i don't even know how he knew it was a day and a night somebody must have told him when he got back but for a whole day and for a whole night i was lost at sea also know that paul spent time in jail and not just anywhere in jail they locked him in the innermost parts of the jail this man was in solitary confinement before i've done readings about the justice system and they say the solitary confinement can cause people to lose their minds we were built for community and interpersonal relationship when you're locked away from people it dehumanizes you and breaks down the stability of your mind we also know that there was vows taken against paul that that that judaizers and zealots took vows against paul and said we won't eat until we murder paul it's in the scriptures we we know that we're death plots against this man so it's just not a guy that had a bad day that is writing and saying these are light afflictions no this is a man that was beaten unto death stoned unto death sent out to see for them oh yeah i forgot a poisonous steak bit him uh when he was he was just working around the fire and the snake jumped out and attached himself to him i mean this boy went through some stuff if you live here long enough you got a list like this too that you've you've been through some stuff but but paul says i want you to learn that what you're experiencing you've got to not let this drive you to try to live for comfort and convenience because that will keep you from being able to hear and obey god how many of us are when we read the scriptures we just kind of read over stuff that makes us uncomfortable how many of us when we when we hear the holy spirit speaking to us in prayer we say oh that can't be god cause if i did that that would make me lose this and and they might be mad at me and and people wouldn't understand me doing this so we often discern the will of god by comfort and convenience but that is a blind way of seeing and in fact if if the way we make decisions if it's god it feels comfortable to me then we literally are not listening to the same god that is described most of the times in the scriptures most of the times in the scriptures the god that is described there it feels like he's killing me as he calls me into acts of obedience because he literally is killing the me that i think i know so that he can introduce me to a me that he knows so often the version of kevin that i'm so in love with if god left me there in the end he would say depart from me i never knew this this is not the guy i created so we have to be willing to be beaten bitten set adrift left alone living in confinement we're all my friends we even though we might not experience exactly what paul did we will experience many of the emotions and feelings and have you ever felt like you were just dead yeah i have had days where i went to bed and i wasn't suicidal but i would have been happy if jesus returned before my alarm went off because i didn't want to face what was coming next i think we have been chosen to live in a season where we need to say to ourselves every day but but we don't give up hope yes i've never seen the world as tumultuous as it is right now do you realize i just stood on the platform and said that we are celebrating two churches and now a third that began during a global worldwide pandemic do you realize that no matter how much we try to ignore it because the human mind always tries to push out things that make it uncomfortable and tries to find a way to be comfortable look around we're sitting in the room with masks on we have conversations about are you vaccinated or not vaccinated i just heard this week that a 55-year-old man a father of two daughters died and he died to covet i just heard earlier in the week that that another man that was 45 years old died and he died dakota i'm not fear-mongering i'm trying to bring sobriety in for the moment that we're living in and in this moment we've got to learn to live in the art of seeing but not seeing in fact if we try to go to the place that god if it doesn't make me comfortable and if it feels like it's inconvenient i'm not doing it we stand the risk of missing the opportunity to participate in the eternal plans of god if we make that commitment we we run the risk of missing the opportunity of even living in the new heaven and the new earth this is not a joke that this is this is eternally real the moment that we are in and if we keep just locking our lives on living for convenience and what makes me comfortable we will likely miss god in one of the most important hours i believe of the church you might not say amen to that but i pray that settles deep in your soul today we've got to stop seeing through the eyes of comfort and convenience if we're going to see our lives through a heart that hears and obeys our lives are found in every word of god that gives us assignment our lives are discovered in every word of god that god assigned someone to come speak into our lives you know somebody come speak something in your life and you know that wasn't them that that was god if you don't know i'm gonna tell you how you know it just stays with you i mean it just you can't get you have dreams about it you wake up thinking about it you you you see the word on billboards and you didn't even see that word before you it just it god's word is alive and when he sends it out it's like liam nielsen it just hunts down the fine his word doesn't return to him void but it accomplishes his purpose in the thing that he sends it to paul continues with how we develop in this art of seeing but not seeing while we do not look at the things which are seen listen to what he just said while we do not look at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are but the things which are not seen are here's this third one and we're going to get our sight right and worship god we must stop seeing through the eyes of immediate gratification if we are ever going to see the role god has given us in his eternal plans we've got to stop seeing through the eyes of immediate gratification if we are going to see through the eyes the role that god has given us in his eternal plans steve jobs will go down in history as one of the greatest business innovators in the history of the world steve jobs will join names like thomas edison walt disney madam cj walker he'll join names that are luminaries that pioneered and changed the world with the innovations that they brought to the world in in 2011 when steve jobs passed away he left apple as the most valuable company in the world not just for its profits not just for its stock position but also for the assets that it had when he passed away in leading apple as an innovator steve jobs literally changed multiple industries he he changed the personal computing industry he certainly changed the personal phone and cell phone industry heck we we judge our own health now by our screen time i mean he changed the world with with his innovation he changed the way retail stores are set up where did you ever see the simple clean lines in the store you could pick up and he he brought that he changed publishing i've got more books in my on my on my ipad than i do on my bookshelf now he changed the way publishing work he changed the music industry on he changed the way people buy music he changed the way people uh get produce music he changed the way people purchased he changed multiple industries he changed packaging whenever you ever brought something and you looked at the packaging to see i mean he changed it all and he because he was an innovator steve jobs lived by an axiom that he brought into his business that that i hope that we can learn to do as christians if we could pick up on this axiom that he had the people of apple doing maybe we could bring in the innovation that the kingdom of god wants to bring in into the world and and here was his axiom his axiom was the product over the profit i'm gonna say it again his axiom that he drove the business by was the product over the profit you see most businesses have run where they've got a marketing guys and sales guys that are leading everything and they don't do a lot of r d because if you do too much r d maybe when we bring this product to market it won't bring us a profit so so we can't do that if it's run by marketing guys they say well it's going to end up the price point is going to be too high if we if we do this too long the price point will price us right steve jobs threw all those rules out the door and he taught them an axiom that if we create a product that answers something that people never even thought about then we could create our own market create our own pricing and we'll change the whole industry and the company did such innovation that it changed the world most of us as christians we serve a god that spoke the world into existence we we serve a god that created everything that can be seen everything that can be touched everything that can be felt smell and experience our god created there is no greater innovator [Applause] our god made steve jobs so he's the greatest businessman in the history of all creation but yet we rarely can innovate things through the church we rarely can usher new things in through the people of god because we always want to know well what's in it for me we can't produce because our thought is what am i going to get if i do that i'm willing to serve and help out a little bit in the children's church but but am i going to get a seat up front am i going to get a parking lot on the side i'm tired of looking for a spot i'm serving can i am i picking right now but but but but on bigger more eternal things the idea is that as long as we put immediate gratification first and say in this whole what's in it for me idea we will miss what god wants us to be swinging at we'll miss the mark and i'm guilty of it too so often i live saying lord that's a lot of sacrifice what does it look like in the end i can remember when the lord was calling me i was driving and i was at a stoplight on my way to my home church living faith christians and i would volunteer there every monday while angela and i were running two businesses and i remember one monday i was on my way to come back to the office and while i was sitting at the light the lord was calling me out of business and and to his pastor a church i remember one of the things that the lord said to me he says that you're going to be a holy man of god like like he was telling me to give up everything he said because you're going to be a holy man of god and that didn't like oh well yeah but i got some stuff now jesus and i'm on the way to some better stuff but he said but you're going to be holy man of god and here's what i said to the lord what does that look like and before he can say anything my imagination starts running and and preachers start coming up in my mind pastor come to mind and start coming maybe i need one of them to mentor me or something and the holy spirit came in and entered the conversation said you don't know what that looks like follow me follow me and if we're ever going to usher anything new and if the kingdom of god is ever going to be able to be ushered through our lives we got to take that same kind of axiom that brother jobs took we that we we go for product over profit you might remember when our good brother and now dare i say friend brian laritz was here and uh he's we learned when he was here that he's a a golf enthusiast he he loves golf you might remember he he shared with us this story that he had gone to the masters tournament at augusta to be more specific and in the masters tournaments they play on thursday friday saturday and sunday it's a four-day tournament and on sunday is the money day sunday is the day that we normally see on tv when they're playing and then show us how many strokes people are behind and they're showing us the prize money because sunday is prize money day sunday is reward day but pastor brian was sharing his story and he was there on wednesday so he was there on wednesday he got a pass to be able to watch the golfers go through their practice rounds they weren't playing for anything they were preparing for something so as he gets there during the practice rounds you might remember the story he's sharing that he's standing in the gallery and his favorite golfers there he's watching tiger woods golf and every time tiger hits the ball his ball lands way away from the pin that he's trying to hit the ball to to get it in the cup i know everybody here don't golf so i'm talking a little basic when he hit the ball if the pin was was deep right tiger would hit the ball deep left if the pin was tight and close right he'd hit it far and wide left and finally gets to this one hole and tiger woods hits the ball and it lands a good 50 yards brian says away from where the cup is and he turns to his caddy they high five they smile chest bumping all excited and brian knows the rules that you don't speak when you're at a golf match and you're in the gallery even if it's practicing but brian can't take anyone he says that wasn't a good shot good thing they throw that negro out of there but the guy standing next to him in the gallery says to him and catch this he's not hitting the ball for today he's not aiming at the pins that you see he's hitting the ball for where the pins will be on sunday we got to start playing a different game we got to stop swinging the ball as if and swing in the club as if everything is going to happen in the immediate what if god calls us to be like moses and our obedience to god never ends up in the promised land what if god calls us to be like dr king and our obedience to god never ends up in the dream that he saw what if we're called to contribute to something bigger than us our part will be important our part will be eternal but it won't be about our personal success as much as it be to us participating in a grand eternal plan are you ready to live for that what if our gratification came from not the final well done but even the little well dones that we get along the way have you ever done something for the lord and just in you you just know it's you and god high-fiving this is what the writer in galatians is getting at when he says that they'll be rejoicing in myself if you've never felt that before that's my prayer for you today that you would learn to crave for long for the supernatural high fives that happen in your inner man as you no longer live to try to avoid inconvenience and adversity when we learn to no longer live just for immediate gratification and we learn to no longer live measuring every setback as god must be against we but we learn to live seeing but not seeing father i pray that a holy surrender would overtake this congregation today those that are online and those that are in person we confess god we've been playing as if these temporal pins are where we should be hitting the ball rather than swinging at eternal markers and god we we've heard all that was preached but if but but but if we're if we're honest we just came to get cheered up the day and strengthen the day we weren't ready for all of this but holy spirit you're the great teacher you're the great revealer you're the great uh helper and i pray god that everyone under the sound of my voice will will not be in the category of people that just heard what was said but then we move over into the category of of living what was said and when the parsons of this world get on our boat and try to bully us out of the eternal calling that god has on our lives we will be the kind of people that have mastered the art of seeing but not seeing god i pray for eternal perspective supernaturally if you can god to be imparted to us and you said nothing's impossible to them that believe so we believe for you god to change our view change our perspective shift it now we believe we receive all that heaven had in mind now by faith in the mighty name of are you ready to live this no no are you ready to to live this [Applause] if you're here today and as the message was being preached you sensed god calling you to a personal relationship with him maybe you've been around jesus maybe you even read parts of the bible but you've never once given your life to jesus you've never once in a full throttled surrender said god my life is no longer my own it's yours but you sensed today god is calling you to surrender it all to him church could you pray with me as i give this invitation that god might use our agreement to draw people to the father if you would just pray right now and if that's you while every head is bowed the church is praying for you people are praying around you right now god is trying to create supernatural undertow to draw you into a forever relationship with him if that's you would you just wave your hand in the air if you're online just wave it there wave it at me so i can see it like wave it big i want jesus i want jesus i see that hand back there are there more i want you i surrendered you i give myself to you jesus if that's you just wave it wave it big like we would if they said they got something free because this is the greatest gift you'll ever get there's one you can't earn it's given to us freely by the sacrifice of jesus maybe you're here today and say pastor i know jesus i've been in a relationship with jesus but but if but if i if i were honest i would tell you that i'm that guy and that i'm that gal that is stuck in my setbacks i if i'm honest i'm telling you yeah i live for comfort and convenience yep that's me and yeah man immediate gratification is my thing if it ain't happening today then i ain't in for no long process but you sense god calling you to a much different kind of commitment today i don't want you to be a check the box christian i want you to be i'm willing to get in the box christian i'll lay it all down if that's you would you just wave your hand now pastor i just sensed jesus calling me to something different something deeper something real real personal and other folks wouldn't even know if i obeyed this or not but but i know that he's calling me right now to like a depth that i haven't been at if i'm if i'm honest i'm afraid but i've raised my hand in faith online in person that's you just wave it at me i know his word i see your hand cis i know his word wouldn't come back to avoid who is the word looking to to rescue today to redeem today to to restore today maybe you sensed god calling you to this church family you've been the kind of person that said hey man i'm not a huge fan of organized religion so i'll come but but i'm not going to stay i'll dip in but i am going to dip out but today if you're honest you sense god himself saying this is where i'm planting and placing you this is your family you're a part of these people and these people are a part of you if that's you just wave your hand i'll see it i i we i see the hand i see that hand we're opening the proverbial doors of the church of jesus right now this local branch of it the perfecting church wave your hand online wave it in person we'll see you i see that hand of those those two ladies are there more in here in the sanctuary maybe you missed all of that you're wiping your brown now good i'm glad that's over because i didn't come for no commitments i came just to to to hear and and thank you very much preacher but you know if i were to start this invitation again it would find you because you were ignoring that pull here's what i found if i find myself saying well i can't do it because of this i can't do it that's because an internal invitation is happening there's nothing to fight against if an internal invitation is not happening if you sent yourself reasoning with yourself it's not really you that you're reasoning with it's god and can i tell you that's one reasoning you can't win so if you're online or in person and yep the lord was calling me to give my life to him the lord was inviting me to a deeper commitment and intimacy with him yup he was calling me his local church that's you just wave your hand and i want you to be a part of this prayer that's you we didn't get you the first time online in person was that you don't be embarrassed say pastor i did this three weeks ago uh if god's calling you deeper just follow him it's not about reasoning it's about it's about obeying all those people that raise their hands you just stand for a moment i want to pray this over you specifically every everyone that raised i saw some people back there saw some people over there saw somebody over there saw somebody back there would you just stand for i want to pray this over your life in church would y'all pray with us father thank you for sending your son jesus the christ to rescue me to redeem me to reconcile me back to you to restore me to the life that you first had in mind today i surrender i admit that i am not the author and finisher of my life you are in fact your lord your master i yield to you now thank you jesus for saving me for rescuing me for bringing me into the family of god today i am born again saved my journey begins in christ jesus thank you father thank you father today i find the family today i find the people today i find my life in jesus amen amen amen amen amen amen if that was you standing would you just join me up front right now make room for them in that aisle make room for them there church can you just make room can you rejoice with them as they come jesus did a whole lot to get them to this place come on can we rejoice with them as they're coming like a standing ovation kind of rejoicing as they come [Applause] and um hey super excited about what jesus is doing in your life i'm super excited super excited [Music] welcome home church can we just welcome them home yeah and uh i'm just gonna ask y'all if you would follow sherry sherry's gonna get you some information be able to pray with you that girl can pray and uh just stand with you today church just rejoice with them as they go and um we're going to worship jesus with our giving this morning we're going to worship the lord without giving her like two people excited about that praise god can i tell you that our giving is impacting the world it legitimately is it's impacting the world like our giving is literally impacting people's lives which is impacting the way that people interact with jesus and one another which that means is impacting marriages and families and communities and cities and and ultimately the world so as we're giving this morning our giving is literally an act of worship that we're literally saying when the bible says in matthew 6 seek thee first the kingdom of god and its righteousness and all these things shall be added unto thee somehow i got an extra syllable syllable and righteousness i don't know what happened there but but but when it's saying that it's literally even in our giving what we're saying is i'm seeking the well-being of the kingdom because i know that the king is seeking the well-being of me so we worship i can remember times when anza and i were at this portion of the worship service and i'm sweating thinking she's going to give more than like are we going to have gas this week i mean real rap that was like our lives but but i found out that in giving to god it moved my heart over to god it moved my dependence over to god instead of living in the little bit that we had and trying to figure it out i started living in the abundance that he had in his ability to provide and i'm not trying to preach like prosperity gospel or something but but if we're going to prosper it would probably be only god that would do that and cause that to be we're going to prosper in this world and then i'm using that word in a much broader way than just money i mean there are things that money can't buy i just want us to to worship together on this portion and on your giving if you want to give towards uh some of the church planting work that we're doing if you just put on their church planting uh write that on there we're literally in a season of prayer praying about what the lord have us plant another perfecting church in another city we've never done that before we've helped plant other churches but we literally are praying through a season right now where god have us plant another perfecting church somewhere so yeah yeah so um you want to give towards that kind of stuff you can let me pray over your giving and then we'll worship with 70. father we bless you praise you god for the supernatural hand you've extended to us today thank you jesus for the miraculous eye salve that you've wiped on our eyes today thank you god that we enter into this week seeing differently responding differently understanding differently moving differently because you are with us we're with you you are for us and we're for you and eyes have not seen ears have not heard neither has entered into the hearts or the of man the things that you have prepared for those that love you [Music] but you reveal them to us by your spirit and god as we begin to practice the art of seeing and not seeing we see through the eyes of the spirit that we might usher your kingdom in now and for eternity by faith in the mighty name of let's worship lord our giving let's worship our lord with seventy bless you [Music] everybody kevin owner [Applause] [Music] the spirit of the lord is upon me his anointing is empowering the kingdom of the lord is within me and he's calling me to the heavenlies [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] hello [Music] [Applause] walking in the spirit of unity to our community show his ability the will of the lord for his children is [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] something's changing something's moving to his glory feels like heaven on earth something's moving something's changing see his glory [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello hallelujah thank you [Music] glory hey um we've got some people that have just recently gone public with their faith in jesus uh they they were baptized and we just want to celebrate these people that are bursting new into the kingdom of god so if you would celebrate with them rejoice with them as elder tony comes and uh introduces us to those that have just gone public with their faith in jesus amen amen this summer um elderly and i were able to um had the pleasure of teaching their water baptism in class to this group of candidates who i see candidates but now they fulfill their desire to be water baptized during the course of that class they learn what the meaning of water baptism actually means words like salvation sanctification things like that words we hear but they may not necessarily understand and as we all know during the summer barbecue this group of members came out and they chose to accept jesus christ as lord and savior publicly and so today we honor them as water baptized believers amen amen so with that i'm going to call your name if you don't mind come up i'm going to give you a certificate and just form a line right here for me amen barry richardson [Music] congratulations [Music] on behalf of sherry white her husband james white thank you [Music] thank you sir congratulations liana laramore [Music] congratulations [Music] madison eli congratulations madison brianna sedler [Music] i love you leticia williams congrats to crumley [Music] and last but not least sydney buxton [Music] congratulations let's congratulate this group of christians believers stand to our faith amen hey while they're here i just want to pray the benediction over you and uh and we'll be dismissed to live it father god we thank you and praise you for the evidence of your hand on us as a church family thank you and praise you for the the evidence of your goodness on us as a church family and we thank you for one another god thank you that you've given us family and one another uh we remember david and faith as they get ready to take this next step in their relationship with you as they ready themselves to stand before people that they'll serve on your behalf and one day they'll stand before you and give an account for that god we pray great strength on them we pray great grace on them we pray your overwhelming favor on their lives and all mosaics now lord jesus i pray again over this church family god that uh that you have provided and you have kept so we rest in that now by faith in the mighty name of bless you see you in p-cell this week love you [Music] come on [Music] [Applause] he is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] now [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: The Perfecting Church

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Length: 117min 36sec (7056 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 27 2021