Danger In The Distance | Steven Furtick | Hillsong Conference - Sydney 2018

god bless you come on give god a great shot of grace [Music] i said a great shot of grace real quick um stay standing for one moment turn to the person next to you and say you look different look back at him say of course i do look at him and say i got my confidence back [Applause] [Music] the right kind of confidence look at him and say you didn't give it [Music] and you can't take it away so i'm i'm really thankful for what god has already spoken in this conference and i know you are too before we receive anything else from him let's thank god for all that he's done let's thank him for his presence [Music] we thank him for direction we thank him for assurance [Music] [Applause] now let's get radical let's thank him in advance for what he's going to do that we don't even know about yet [Applause] let's thank him for the hard things that we're going through that he's going to see us through and glorify himself in the process radical gratitude and when all else fails and we don't even know what he's doing let's thank him for who he is and what he means to us [Applause] come on i said thank him for who he is for who he is to you that's personal praise him right now according to who he is to you who is he to you praise him how you think he deserves to be praised great is the law and greatly to be praised feel his presence in this place i always feel his presence at hillsong conference and this is my fourth time at this great conference and i want to take a moment and um thank pastors brian and bobby houston i was asking god the other day how to be a dad it's confusing to me and i had this thought i told holly it's a theory i'm working on and i'm not writing a parenting book yet my oldest is only 12. but um i said i think the main thing you can give your kids is experience and example and so um i want to thank pastors brian and bobby houston for consistently giving us an experience you know the whole team for giving us experiences like this where we can encounter the presence of god and tirelessly uh exhausting yourself and exerting yourself and pouring yourself out so that we can experience the presence of god how many of you have had moments in the presence of god at hillsong conference where you were about to give up and god spoke something into your life that caused you to keep going or something was birthed so thank you for those experiences am i looking at the right section it's hard to tell there hey hey and thank you for your example sometimes when i feel like complaining all i have to do is scroll through a hillsong instagram feed and i realize i'm not even working like it is amazing and i thank you for your example the greatest gift of all come on let's thank god for the entire hillsong team the incomparable judas smith that amazing message the force of nature that is john gray that's coming to bless us the leadership machine chris ah just so many great people in the presence of giants and the company of giants and uh just take a seat do that i want to share with you today from mark chapter one watch this judah if you ignore it it'll go away mark chapter 1 verse 40 through 45. now this is this is a passage of scripture i think it's kind of unusual and um i preached a series in our church this year called savage jesus [Applause] this is not snuggy jesus this is not sprinkled jesus savage jesus and uh just looking at the links that his love is willing to go to for us and i thought this passage would help us today and uh it's just five verses of scripture really the first is the most important to what i want to share today my wife is here holly stand up real quick my kids are here everybody's here it's great it's wonderful only one of my kids wanted to come hear me preach today the other ones are a kid song but i'm not hurt mark chapter 1 verse 40 a man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees if you are willing you can make me clean he didn't doubt the capability of jesus see jesus has already done a lot by the time we get to mark 140. he's been traveling through the region of galilee and not only is he speaking but he's casting impure spirits out of people and they're coming out with a streak because they recognize the authority the presence of jesus and so word is getting around him this teacher is transformative he can do things that other teachers can't do and they're amazed at his teaching because he teaches as one who has authority and not as one of their teachers of the law so he is backing up the belief system that he came to proclaim and so this man this man who is given no name and it interesting how sometimes we identify people by their issues have you ever noticed that sometimes your your issue can get to the point that it consumes your identity and the bible is going to tell us what the man did and the result of his actions but we don't know his name the bible says a man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees if you are willing you can make me clean doesn't doubt if he can do it jesus has been healing people he healed he healed peter's mother-in-law many scholars believe that's why peter denied him sorry so it's not if you can i know you can but will you sometimes it's not doubting the greatness of god that causes me to stay in dysfunction is questioning the goodness of god on a personal level to me in my particular situation a man with leprosy came to jesus and begged him on his knees if you are willing you can make me clean jesus was indignant and he reached out his hand and touched the man i am willing he said be clean immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed and jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning see that you don't tell this to anyone but go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them instead he went out and began to talk freely spreading the news this guy as a result jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places yet the people still came to him from everywhere i want to speak for a few moments this morning about danger in the distance danger in the distance the great theologian carl lintz once said distance creates distortion and he's right even in a room this size i think it's more difficult for me to communicate because there's a fear that what i'm saying all the way down here can't get all the way back there there's a speaker system there's imac and video and i hear you and that encourages me because i know that all the way but now the the the farther good the farther a message has to travel it's a little bit delayed if you notice because it's got distance the farther a message has to travel the the greater the opportunity for misinterpretation and misunderstanding and that's why holly was reading an email one night at the dinner table and she said i don't know why she had her phone at the dinner table i put my phone up and focus on my kids but um and she said abby abby seven right she said abby what did you tell your teacher and she read the email because they had prayer time at the christian school and abby's teacher emailed holly that they were praying as a class for graham's cancer graham didn't have cancer graham had strep throat but abby went to class and had the whole class praying for graham's non-existent cancer by the time the message got from our house to arbor brook christian academy graham had cancer not a strep throat cancer and so you know it's kind of hard sometimes communication the greater the distance the greater the opportunity for us to misunderstand and the more we talk with our thumbs the less likely we are to really understand the context of other people's conditions and so it's hard to have compassion for someone's condition when you're not close to them you get close to somebody you stop saying things like oh well if i were you i would because somebody say you're not me touch them and say you've got issues too i think that would be a great dating conversation by the way like just to start the whole process just you know what kind of crazy are you i told my church i don't have issues i have a subscription because i want them to understand but but here's here's the beauty of this passage this this man whose name is not mentioned a man with leprosy his name could be larry his name could be leonard his name could be lawrence his name could be leroy if he lived in charlotte his name could be anything that starts with an l but but he's not called by his name he's called by his issue refuse to let people identify you by your issues because i've got news for the devil i am not my issues not in the presence of the great i am see in the presence of the great i am everything that i'm not is consumed by everything that he is and i refuse to let my identity i am the righteousness of god be consumed by my issues i i refuse to be something that that that is limited to what i did so when moses says to god i can't go god says to moses i see what you're not but instead of correcting what you're not i want to fulfill what you're not with the sufficiency of who i am i am now the the man with an issue is in the presence of one and and he's he's desperate he's desperate leprosy is a condition that is difficult for us to identify with today because there's a cultural distance between this biblical period and the time we live in and so i wanted to show you really quickly in leviticus 13 45 and 46 that if anyone was afflicted with the issue of leprosy now some of you are new christians i don't recommend leviticus 13 for your morning bible reading it's um and in some parts it's it reads less like a devotional and more like a dermatology manual because all of leviticus 13 is describing that when the condition of leprosy begins to manifest on your skin the the types of the types of the types of actions that have to be taken in response to this skin condition and after you read through leviticus 13 you come to this part where it says anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes let their hair be unkempt cover the lower part of their face and cry out unclean unclean to identify yourself by your issue and the worst part of this issue is not the pain of the sores on your skin because leprosy eventually progresses to the point that you become numb so it is not so much physically that the greatest pain of this disease would be experienced it's it's a different pain it's the pain of isolation it's a pain of isolation because when this issue shows up you can't hide it certain issues are easier to hide look at the person next to you look look at them as hard as you want to look at them look deep in their eyes and you will not be able to discern whether or not they are struggling with the issue of pride because i can hide my pride and i can even spiritualize my pride but leprosy is one of those issues that you can't hide and when it breaks out on you watch what happens verse 46 not only do you have to show it outwardly and not only do you have to proclaim it verbally but as long as they have the disease they remain unclean they must live alone there it is they must live outside the camp and so this is one of those issues that since you can't hide it you are quarantined because you are highly contagious i don't think it's out of cruelty that the command was given it was in an effort to quarantine the people to keep it from spreading you know like sometimes you don't want your kids to be around certain kids and it's not that you hate the kids but it's easier to love some people from a distance because you don't want those kids to rub off on your kids and if their values are different you don't want them to pick up behaviors and attitudes and so in in a in an attempt to keep the disease from spreading you stay outside the camp and now this leper in mark chapter 1 has become so desperate to connect that he no longer cares about the rules and the reason i know that he's desperate is because he does everything that he's not supposed to do and he doesn't do what he's supposed to do he doesn't announce himself unclean unclean he doesn't say a word and he doesn't stay back he does not keep the appropriate distance he moves in the wrong direction he moves forward towards something that he doesn't deserve in this moment just real quick one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1 22 lebron 24 5 2 6 2 7 2 8 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50. this is the distance that he was supposed to keep from other people 50 paces away you stay 50 paces away so that nobody can catch your condition i thought about calling this message 50 paces to grace not 50 shades it's a different thing stay away you stay you stay back you stay out outside the camp at a distance and he sees something in the distance that he believes is greater than his issue and he has a decision to make see because he's supposed to stay back he's he's not supposed to be out here and so you stay there but he doesn't stay there because he has become desperate to connect and he's allowed to come to church see lepers were allowed to come to synagogue and they could worship but they couldn't worship in a normal sea beside normal people they were permitted to enter but they had to sit behind a special screen and while i was thinking about this conference i realized some of you are here but you're behind the screen [Applause] behind a screen not a beautiful 435 million dollar screen like this one see shame will always keep you behind the screen so it's like you're here but not really because i'll come up for a second everybody in here has spots and sometimes you can't see the spots sometimes there are secret spots secret insecurities that you deal with secret shame that keeps you behind the screen so you come to conference and you're present you're you're here but but you're worshiping at a distance and you're relating to people but you relate at a distance behind the screen because if i stay behind this screen they can't see me if i allow people to get close i risk rejection and so instead of risking rejection i will hide behind this screen this this persona a hide behind the screen a hide behind the screen a hide behind my screen a high behind my screen a hide behind my screen i hide behind my screen and i'll create an image of what i want people to believe i'm like because if i create an image maybe they won't see my issues because if they saw my issues if they saw me for who i really was so i stay behind this screen shame always creates a scream some of us hide behind sarcasm and cynicism some of us hide behind cute christian cliches that we say but we don't really mean because we speak on a surface level but we never really acknowledge what our souls are really wrestling with this man could have stayed at an appropriate distance back here where it's safe back here where he's supposed to be because i like it back here because i can't see you but you can't see me i like it back here i can't tell whether you like this message or not it's kind of it's kind of a great way to preach actually i don't have to look at you i like it back here behind the screen and i'm lonely back here you know i'm lonely it's kind of lonely but uh but at least i feel safe yep one day this man made a decision i don't know his name but i like the decision that he made he made a decision and and you know the first step had to be the hardest 49 48. now you got to think this guy is jeopardizing his life to get to jesus 47 46 and with every step 45 he's got to be wondering are they going to kill me for this because they could stone him for not keeping his distance 44 43. but i made it this far and peter didn't cut off my ear yet so 42 41. i'm walking softly but 40. there he is 39. i wonder i wonder should i do this 38 i heard he could heal me 37 but he can't heal me behind this screen 36 and i feel like if i could get in the presence of the great i am 35 34 i feel like if if i can make it past 33 32 and one step at a time with no fanfare and not announcing his attention what number am i on 32 31 30 keep going see if i get too close they might kill me but apparently this man has come to a point where he realizes that the danger of isolation is greater than the risk of intimacy so 29 28 i'd rather get killed out here then die back there 27 26 i would rather die trying to get to jesus than die inside behind a screen of shame so i don't care how it looks and i don't care what it costs and i'm not asking permission i can't stay back any longer i'm dying inside i'm pretending to be something that i'm not and he has all power and if i can get close enough 25 24 23 22 21 they hadn't stopped me 20 19 18 17 i know i'm supposed to shout unclean but i'm tired of announcing myself according to what's wrong with me what number am i on 18 what you're all saying different numbers [Applause] 16 15 14 and every step is risky and every step means that he might get rejected because to really connect with god requires risking rejection and that's why we hide because if i stay behind the screen if i project see we don't really connect we project because behind this screen i don't have to risk you rejecting me so if i make you love somebody who's not really me i stay behind the screen today god didn't bring me 13 11 10 i'm this close i made it this far 9. i mean what kind of life was it back there anyway what kind of what kind of relationship is it if people love you but not really you 987 i'm going all the way i said i'm going all the way i refuse to live at a distance when the god who came near with emmanuel is in this place when the word did not stay at a distance from the corridors of heaven but stepped through time and entered into humanity five four three big steps two one now somebody shout i'm here come on shout i'm here here i am i'm unclean but i'm here i've got issues but i'm here i've got fears i've got addictions i've got struggles but i refuse to hide behind an image one day longer i'm here and if you are who they say you are and you can do what they say you can do one touch from you can make me whole will you will you and jesus said something i love this he said um i am willing i heard all of them i am the bread of life i am the good shepherd i am the way the truth and the life i am the resurrection i am the gate i am the door i heard all of them but i never heard this one i am willing god's nickname is will oh i i know he's able but i found out he will and yet it wasn't the 50 steps that got the leper healed it wasn't it wasn't his initiative it wasn't his effort it was what he did when he got there because when he got there he did he did this and that's 51 and this is a vulnerable position and jesus reached out and touched him can't do that you can't do that according to levitical law if the unclean touches the clean the clean becomes unclean that's why he was supposed to stay back but this is a great high priest and i heard a prophet say yesterday morning that he is not unable to be touched by the feelings of our infirmity and so when jesus touches the men something amazing happens because this is a great high priest and so in this particular instance now get ready to shout some of you don't shout very much but i'ma give you warnings so you can get ready to shout about this when this priest touches this man who is in a vulnerable position where true transformation and connection takes place not behind the safety of a screen but the risk of intimacy and opening yourself up to god for real and letting him have his way for real and presenting yourself as a living sacrifice for real and coming before him like you are not like you wish you were and not hiding behind disguises and cleverly crafted esau costumes so you can get a blessing that's not really intended for you but when you come before him like this the desperation to connect and jesus touches the man and when jesus touches the man the unclean does not make the clean unclean but this high priest when the clean touches the unclean it makes the unclean clean i came to announce grace is contagious grace is contagious and that's why i don't have to be ashamed or afraid to come into his presence with my issues and come before him and make myself vulnerable and present myself before the all-powerful all-merciful almighty everlasting god because grace is contagious high five everybody you can reach and say grace is contagious grace is contagious and when jesus touched the man jesus didn't catch what the man had the man caught what jesus was grace is contagious you know what else praise is contagious i dare you to praise god for his grace right now until everybody on your road start sneezing oh magnify the lord with me is contagious it's contagious it's contagious and i don't have to be ashamed to worship him even though he's holy and i'm not because he is not ashamed to be identified with my issues my issues don't consume my identity his identity consumes my issues i'm gonna write a song when i get back home call i am who you say i am and it's gonna be about this moment this moment when this man got down like this i got touched i really fought against preaching this message because i don't like all this dramatic you know what i'm saying though this back and forth but but i wanted you to see something that this passage is not about condition it's about position i wanted to show you that because if you notice when the passage started the leper was in a lonely place but after he rubbed up against the righteousness that was not his own like right in this moment after he got done with this encounter with jesus christ look at verse 45 this dude did exactly what jesus told him not to do because grace is contagious and now he can hold his daughter again and he can't help but tell somebody and now he can be with people again and he can't help but tell somebody and he doesn't need an evangelism class when you really get it even if they teach you the anti-evangelism class apparently you will tell somebody it's crazy because the bible says that jesus was indignant some translations say filled with compassion the translators couldn't decide how to translate the greek word spagnitzo i can barely pronounce it so i certainly can't translate it but i understand that it is the seat of emotion or the guts or the bowels and so whether jesus was moved with compassion or whether he was angry at what this man's condition had done to him the bible says that jesus was filled he felt for the man he did what the man couldn't do the man had gone numb and jesus felt for him the man had been isolated so long that he had lost all sense of connection and jesus fell for him i want to feel again god restore to me the joy of your salvation i know we don't live by feelings we live by faith but god i want to experience your presence again i don't want to experience your presence this week i want to experience your presence in a way that that goes beyond this encounter the bible says that because the man couldn't keep his mouth shut about what jesus did verse 45. as a result jesus could no longer enter a town but stayed outside in lonely places now when the story started the leper was in a lonely place and when the story ends jesus is in a lonely place this is the gospel not just that he healed my skin but that he took my place [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and he became sin who knew no sin that i might become the righteousness of god and that's why i'm not ashamed even though i have issues here i am because he took my place that's why i'm confident he took my place that's why a dirty rotten sinner can stand in the presence of a perfectly holy god because he took my place if he took your place stand up right now and thank him for his amazing grace and don't be ashamed and don't cross your arms and don't play it off you don't have to hide you don't have to be embarrassed you don't have to ask permission we can enter by the blood you took my place lift your hands i hear the savior say thy strength indeed is small a child of weakness watch and pray finding me thine all in all lord now indeed i find thy power and thine alone can change this leper spots and melt this heart of stone and when before the throne i stand in him completely jesus died my soul to sing [Music] my lips shall still repeat jesus paid it off [Music] jesus paid jesus paid it all [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on lift your hands come out of the lonely place come in his presence now [Music] is jesus christ [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] come on [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] shall return in robes the blazing sun shall peace [Music] transfixed [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] can we praise the name of jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] oh [Music]

Channel: Hillsong Church

Views: 9,497

Rating: 4.9506173 out of 5

Keywords: jesus, hillsong, praise, worship, online, sunday, live, church online, steven furtick, danger in the distance, mark, hillsong conference, 2018, hsc18, conference, hillsong conf, conf, Sydney, identity

Id: mr1B4Pg3kMY

Length: 47min 34sec (2854 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 12 2020