Every Nation Southern Africa REBUILD Conference: Session 2 - “Repurpose”

[Music] we lift one voice to sing this chorus cuz you are the one the one who made us spin is in it that's a blessing [Music] then you get life eternal set aside as your own [Music] you promised as you must keep Lord New York is easy and your burden love your spirit gives me fresh perspective and darkness brings me light I can't begin to describe your beauty I'm not even sure I comprehend I'm so glad I have this honor you will never know how much you love us but you sent your only Son we lived one voice and sing to this chorus because you are born the one who made us lean is it me that's a blessing on its own then you give this life eternal set aside as your [Music] we sing yeah [Music] we see we say hi we sing [Music] yeah we sing [Music] we sing Oh we sing [Music] we sing new [Music] we see you [Music] we sing [Music] we sing [Music] we sing you sing [Music] we say [Music] we see [Music] father you're the center of my being all there be spores in me I incur my gaze father you're a center for me the very stars I love you I will trust you keeper of my heart I'll never be apart [Music] father your ever true I put my you father you're always good come out to worship you I will trust you keeper of my heart I never beat you I love you I will trust you keep my heart [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] from love Jesus [Music] [Music] they are spirit this Bay breathe new life and new life in me I can sense it presents too change the atmosphere and speed [Music] may your spirit [Music] yeah breathe [Music] since [Music] yes [Music] change the [Applause] [Music] we're cool selling it Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] when I miss eating pie yet [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] he's your Oh [Music] Oh oh boy [Music] Oh [Music] we are full set Oh [Music] [Music] Oh [Music] yeah [Music] we are in town Oh [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well good morning every nation rose bank it's 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and of course has been our rhythm over the last few weeks that means it's time for online church but before we climb into session number two of the rebuild conference what we thought we'd do is just take a moment in response to our president's call for a National Day of Prayer we want to submit ourselves to God we want to call out to him and trust him to heal our nation and all of its beautiful people so please join with me as we pray this morning [Music] Heavenly Father we just pray first and foremost for all of those in authority right now Lord we pray that you would lead them wisely that they might govern correctly at this time father we just lift up all the doctors and health care workers that are on the frontline of fighting this epidemic father we pray that you would protect them we pray that you'd give them courage and strengthen them at this time Lord we pray for the protection over our children and over of the teachers that are about to go back to school this week Lord we just pray that you would go with them that this will be a smooth transition back father we pray for our economy and God we cry out to you that you will begin to rebuild this economy Lord we pray for godly men and women that are prepared to take the principles in your word and say father help us to release wealth in this nation help us to rebuild it in such a way that it will create wealth and obliterate poverty for father as your word says you have not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind and so we speak and we rebuke any fear that would bring us down at this time and Lord finally we just say God if you urges please expose sin and idolatry in our lives and use this as an opportunity to draw all men and all woman back into a loving relationship with you we ask this in your precious name Amen welcome every nation southern Africa family my name is Carolyn Kizzy and it is my joy to be a host for the first part of Session two of our very first online conference rebuild I don't know about you but I was really impacted by our time together last night thank you Pastor Gillian Pastor Chris and Cape Town team for leading us so powerfully in a time of refreshing this morning we are shifting gears this session is about repurpose now before you start thinking that we scheming to repurpose the church or repurpose who we are as every nation church that's not what we doing this session is about reminding us of who we are as the church as the people of God what our purpose is and what God's purposes are for us especially during this time you know during times of seasons of storms and trials we have the opportunity to repurpose our lives with God's purposes and it is my prayer this morning that you would hear God speak to you about repurposing your life with His purposes you're gonna hear from a good friend of mine from Mauritius as well as the president of our movement it's so we in for a treat but before that let us go through a ship together over to you label [Music] the name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous run [Music] in HoN name of the Lord there is power yes you are the name above all names Oh God God said you know chamkila ya know tambaqui [Music] he's only feyza he's only fears our he comes coaches these only peers are learson Lisa you got my Oh [Music] Oh the name of [Music] is a strong time righteous Friday [Music] there is powders yes you [Music] yeah yeah you nice all DP ah Oh he's on TV yeah yah [Music] ha ha ha [Music] [Music] he god [Music] Oh Oh God [Music] god girl [Music] [Music] your people all together bring you on give you red understand in your prisons [Music] biosphere you have called us a chosen people sons and daughters [Music] you're [Music] this is your charge card this is your charge card [Music] Jesus corners your [Music] of the stage - I did you watch in the dog your wings [Music] within seeker city shake the nation said this is your church god me sergeant Godley this is your chest god lead this is your church god me gee [Music] we stand we stand secure under Jesus nation sister because I fears are we stand secure this [Music] Foundation back no man here's our because this is your church god [Music] [Applause] [Music] god god this is your choice god [Music] skál come forth we our pride come for [Music] Jesus we look to comfort we are pride for your breakup Jesus we look to you come for [Music] [Music] Oh may your spirit fill up this space breathe new life in me I can sense it present stirring change the atmosphere and my sphere [Music] your face preview [Music] I can sense it if Reza changed the atmosphere yeah Oh see my god [Music] [Music] [Music] I'm a [Music] shifting as your rush with [Music] luckily [Music] yeah Oh [Music] we have Oh Oh my by bye-bye fire [Music] near near near sailor [Music] since under t say [Music] Britany love do you say [Music] safeassign or do you say [Music] nice save son say Fasano say [Music] sample sale [Music] you say yes he say [Music] yes Lord father we salute you King of Kings Lord of lords we salute you the one who can calm the storm from every tongue every tribe every nation we lift up our hearts we lift up our hearts to you O king we lift up our hearts to the one who gives us peace that surpasses all understanding thank you father for what you're doing thank you father for who you are thank you Father that you are constant never changing faithful God we lift up our hearts from my help comes from help comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth thank you Lord Jesus name Amen and amen well now we're gonna move on to our next speaker our first speaker for this morning her name is Rashmi Mullin and she is from Mauritius she grew up Hindu and moved in 2000 she moved to Cape Town to study at the University of Cape Town and after graduating in fact in his second year she got saved and after graduating she joined the full-time campus ministry and we went to the school of campus ministry in 2005 and that's where I met roshni and there are just two words that always remind me of roshni and who she is that's humility and she's so she's she has such humility and the second one is a friend indeed a friend in need and a friend indeed one of my closest friends and I'm so grateful that we're gonna be hearing from her this morning so Thank You Rashmi we are ready for your message [Music] hello Venetian family this is roughly here from Mauritius it's great to be with you all at this conference Carol thank you so much for introducing me and thank you to their relation to the Rose Bank for leading us in worship in this session we look at how does God repurpose for rebuilding the theme of this conference is to revolt and then three different focuses are refresh repurpose and release and this session regal and look at to some stories and Bible and to some of the personal testimonies from my own life and I want to share about repurposing you know what comes to your mind when you think about the word repurpose you know I just think about things that were used for one purpose for one thing and not being used for another purpose you know to repurpose is to give a new meaning is to adapt to something new and you just think about just stories even in the Bible or just man and woman whose life had been repurposed for a greater purpose you think about Joseph Joseph was a rich kid that became a slave and became a prisoner and became a ruler in Egypt Esther who was a poor orphan girl or probably never dreamt of being the queen of Persia and then you see the story of mine and her Maya was a cabarrus you the king and one day he had a life-changing conversation with his brother and that led him to crying not to God you know he was weeping for a war how many of us we we've four walls you know he was weeping because God had given him a burden you know and as God had given him the burden he was crying out for it just to God for a solution and God used him to rebel the war and these are just stories of man and woman whose life had been repurposed you know I want to just share a little bit of the story of this house you know this house was abandoned is broke and he just had old things you know and even the garden look like a dump site it was just not very pleasant be here you know this is this house was pulled by my dad but I really fought you know just God saying to me you know trust me you're gonna revolt this place and this is gonna be such a blessing to you and to your family I had not experience in construction you know I had never done anything like this before and here I was finding myself you know just redesigning and breaking down walls you know and just making new plans you know from the garden to the house the bathroom to the kitchen I just don't know how everything happened but I know it happened and that's just such a beautiful picture of how God reports our lives you know nothing is a waste in God's eye as you know what what people see as trash you know what people see as brokenness and God sees potential in those things you know I think for me just you know looking back to some some valuable lessons I've learned you know into season of rebuilding you know that's God's heart God's heart is to revolt God's heart is to give a new purpose where you know we feel like we don't have any purpose we feel like you know well you know we've we've messed up you know how can God use us but when we give him those areas when we invite him in this areas of brokenness he actually turned those things into something beautiful he gives purpose to to those things in our lives and as we as we think about even the theme of this conference about rebuilding you know suddenly we were hit by coronavirus you know and life came to a standstill lockdown you know confinement or just working from home or are you homeschooling your kids just suddenly you know everything is changed you know would receive some unexpected news and everything has changed and how do we actually go through this journey you know where we actually may be receiving unexpected news about a health or a job or finances or family members here just remember Joseph years ago I received some unexpected news that just brought life to a standstill and I was still eating the campus ministry at DC teen I was just loving my job and loving what I was doing and then one morning I got news that my dad had passed away I can't even describe just the pain that I felt in that moment just their fear is and the uncertainty just not sure how life was gonna look like for my family for myself and you know I just didn't know like all I knew that life was gonna look very different and I just have to trust God for a new normal and that was just just a very difficult time of my life you know just having to go through a season of rebuilding with my family with with my mom and with my brother and a year later I made a decision to go back to Mauritius and going back to Mauritius you know it was just full of uncertainty I just didn't know what I was gonna do I didn't know that you know where they were gonna plan to church a campus ministry go into the marketplace there was just too many unknowns you know all I knew that time was I needed to be with my mom I needed to be with my family I needed to revolt and just so much just a brokenness in the family you know it was just a season for us to revolt to unite and to revolt and I was going back to a country where I didn't really have friends I didn't really have a Christian community I got saved in South Africa and Cape Town so to say that it was a humbling experience with probably an understatement you know it just says you know my life where I just Falls deep sorrow and just disappointed you know just feel broken feeling purposeless and I'm useless just wrestling You Know Who am I like what am I called to do and it's really just just a difficult season I'm alive and I remember just crying out to God as I got all I knew as to come to Mauritius you know and now I'm here I'm like I really don't know what I need to do and and just going through seas and rebuilding in my own life just you know when you go through through times of disappointment you're just some deep sorrow you know the errors in your own life that you may be ashamed of you know a decision that you have made that you're ashamed of you know we kind of like we don't want those errors in Halawa like how did we how did that happen and I went just three season of accepting accepting my journey and accepting my story and bringing those there's errors of brokenness and and sorrow before the Lord I just said God you know I know there's a bigger purpose here and this guy just started just healing me and rebuilding my own life and giving definition to my life and just crying out to God to say God like how do I even start where do I begin and God just encouraging me just to focus on the things that I knew how to do you know my previous season in Cape Town was all about ministry and you had to pray for people and you had to preach to to the students you were to share the gospel to lead connect grow and to raise up leaders and that's all I knew how to do and God just encouraging me just trust to trust him in that process and I remember just waking up every morning I'm like God I'm gonna trust you today you know I'm sure they're people that you want me to reach out to you and lead me to those people take me to those places so I just started driving around the island like rediscovering the island again and I would just find myself in a fishing villages you know spending time with the kids kids who meant to be a school but because there couldn't afford they were selling fish on the side of the road and just just seeing the hopelessness to see the brokenness on the island and you know just seeing just how people live in the townships you know I just I did not even know that there were a ton ships on the island just being with families and hearing the stories you know sometimes just even practically helping them you know cleaning the house or you know just washing their dishes you know just being there I just it was just a beautiful season in my life I felt like God was leading me to inspect the walls you know the broken walls and the gates that sneha might talk about you know we will never build something that we don't weep over and and I just felt that time God was giving me a burden for this country just burning for it for for the people here and just I just started trusting the Lord for it you know as I got one more family one more person one more kid that I want to reach out to you and as I just being obedient to God just one day at a time one moment at a time you know rewarding is it's about that as you know rewarding is one brick at a time one moment at a time and Isis just being obedient to the Lord I just started feeling the life flowing and just a sense of purpose again and and just seeing how God was just leading me to different families and I I want to share one story my friend invited me over to meet her mom and her brother who were wanted to know why I became a Christian and they were still Hindu then and I was just quite nervous just going to their home and I was just like I'm not sure they're gonna ask because I've faced a lot of rejection in Mauritius so I was just not sure what to expect and I went to their home and you know just they heard my testimony and it has changes some some stories and after I've finished sharing they lifted me and said to me we're ready to receive Jesus in our life we can see what God is done in your life and we once is Jesus and I live - I was just shocked you know I just probably were not expecting such a response you know and but that story marked my life you know I just remember thinking god this is really you this is this is what you want to do this is the picture of what you want to do on this island you want to reach out to the last to the broken you want me to partner with you to to see just a ship to see it as Island being impacted to be discipled and the journey just carried on you know we we started a connect room in December 2015 there was our first connector that we started you know four or five of us we just got together and we just pray and just encouraging one another and you know we just saw that community growing in you know we just started reaching out to the expat community the mercial community you know just seeing just God bringing different groups of people together and you know emerges you find Elizabeth as expansion or Indian church but I've never seen like a diverse community coming together and I just really felt like this was what we were called to do a call to break down through the wall was the barriers and to build a community you know from every nation every tribe you know just bringing generations together bringing cultures together and the community just started growing it is amazing what the Lord has done the last few years and in 2018 we we started having services here in my house and just an amazing just blessing to to have a place where we can host people and my house was becoming too small for the growing community so we had to trust God for a venue for her services and a year ago we were looking at and you know God led us to to this beautiful venue where we have our weekly services so we're going into our one-year anniversary now this really amazed by what the Lord has done in our lives in the last few years and we know that this is the beginning of something much greater it just it's a sense of destiny over this church and I think as I look back you know just say I've never thought that this is where we would be today you know oftentimes when you go through a season of brokenness you know you feel like no that said like God can't use me but I just learned in the season that God takes those broken pieces of our lives and he actually heal us you know he gave us a new purpose you know only only God can do those things in our lives he takes this ashes and give us beauty and a lot that is real purpose a lot that is ribald really speaks about God's resurrection power you know you think about just even Joseph and Esther you know it just in here my god just supernaturally you know bringing changes into their life you know repurposing their life for a greater purpose and you know I love the story of Nehemiah as we think about rebuilding I think there's just so much to revolve in this season think about the economy you know just finances or family or churches or even relationships you know there's just so much you know I think we're finding ourselves in a season where we really just have to hold on to what is certain you know who God is the the character of God the goodness of God the faithfulness of God as I was going through a time of rebuilding I I just remember just going and reading through my journals just I just needed to remember what God had done in my life in in my previous season and you know just amazing testimony Murrow calls and signs and wonders and how he provided supernaturally it was just that was what was feeding my my soul and I was just drawing encouragement from previous testimonies and I think even for us you know there's just a lot that is on at the moment you know but we we can hold on to to the truth of who God is in the season and I want to just kind of like close now and I just you know it share just two scriptures but as we look at our lives you know maybe you've gone through you know some season of pain and hopelessness you know it doesn't matter it doesn't matter how weather the world have rejected you you know the world had labeled you it doesn't matter you know I think the story of Nehemiah really you know blesses me that the walls and the gates were broken for over 150 years and probably am I kind of like knew the facts and the walls were broken but in that moment where he had the conversation with his brother and he heard the news about the broken walls something happened God gave you a new burden and oftentimes the society starts with a burden and that burden you know made my crying out to the Lord you know he was weeping and and fasting and praying to God you know for Peru the rebuilding of the walls and I just really feel that this is the point in time you know it doesn't matter what you've gone through in this season or I just the your own brokenness you know or you know whatever you're facing right now maybe some major shifts in your life you know maybe you've received some unexpected news just about you know your job or your family you know the uncertainty of you know your kids education whatever whatever you're going through I feel like God just encouraging us in this time you know that this is the point at time as we getting all these news you know about you know things happening you know losing jobs or you know the loss of loved ones but the feeling this is just such an appoint to that time to press to revolt just like God gave my dad burdened the vision and the he also gave me my the resources to report that God is giving us the resources that we need to rebuild in the season wherever God has placed you whether in governmental business or education that this is a season of rebuilding that may we partner with him to see you know a rebuilding happening in our nation you know I want to just close with two scriptures is that 41 verse 10 says do not be afraid I am with you do not be discouraged I am your God I will strengthen you I will help you I will hold you with my victorious right hand and the second scripture is it's from her mind to verse 20 which says the God of heaven the God of heaven will give a success and this is what I sense right now that God's saying I will give you success as we go on this journey of rebuilding that the God of heaven will give a success a man [Music] Wow roshni thank you what a powerful message and I hope this is there's a lot of take-home value for each one of you roshni is our leader from our mauritius church and the religious plant actually and keep on praying for many if you want to actually go on a mission there but check your motives but you know as we continue this morning or encourage you we know we meeting on different platforms and many of you are watching on Facebook now and it's different for all of us but you know what it's the same faith it's the same gospel and it's the same Jesus we serve and I'm gonna encourage let's keep on eyes on Jesus as we continue and it's it's actually amazing privilege to have so many of our congregants actually participating in a conference the first time ever that we have so many of you participating because of lockdown and that's the good news about this and as we continue this morning you know it's my privilege to introduce to you somebody that I'd dearly respect has had an major impact on my life and many people's lives and many of you may hear him for the first time today but many of you have been deeply impacted a sincere humble leader who loves Jesus and has modeled a way that we can follow and I want reduce to you our very own as a Steve model who is our founder of every nation one of the cofounders of every nation and also the founder of every nation Manila which is called victory Church victory now meets in 10,000 small groups across the city and about 80,000 people when they gather on a Sundays which they're not doing right now and this is amazing to see what God has done not just in Manila but from they planted in 22 other nations you know even Asian churches and continued planting all over the world currently is no longer just living in the Philippines he's not living between Nashville the Philippines and Delta Airlines you know moving all over the world's all the time and serving our family with an open heart and a humble heart all the time human is five Deborah they have three children and two daughter-in-laws and then also four grandchildren and you'll always see him bragging about his grandchildren and that's what is so amazing but a Steve is a humble man but he loves family and he loves people and we have an honor this morning to no better person speaking into the purpose of this family boss a Steve model thank you welcome it's enjoyable Roger and Nicola and our every nation regional leadership team in southern Africa and all of our pastors and campus missionaries and church planters and leaders thank you for always leading with faith hope and love especially during these trying times while Deborah and I would sure rather be there with you in person I am grateful that at least were able to participate in our Southern Africa rebuild conference through this video these are strange and uncertain times we're experiencing all over the world different than anything I have ever experienced or anything I've even imagined in my lifetime what started as a global health crisis quickly turned into a global financial crisis that is creating a social and relational crisis and for some people it's becoming a spiritual crisis a spiritual crisis can actually be a good thing when it causes people to turn to God or return to God solving the global health crisis and fixing the financial crisis is way above my pay grade but as the people of God we have a clear answer to the spiritual crisis right now some people are blaming all of their health financial and relational problems on God others are pretending God doesn't exist so now they're either trusting the government or self to solve their problems and we know how that works out but there are also millions around the world who are crying out to God for help for these people we have an answer for the church crisis time is a time to serve to sacrifice and to share the hope that is within us through the gospel of Christ let me tell you a story about a crisis that was sudden unexpected and deadly it was tragic but God used it for his purpose here's the background the main building on the campus of Philippine Christian College in Cabanatuan City was built in 1964 with three stories several years later three additional floors were added making it the tallest building in the city all seemed well until 426 p.m. on July 16 1990 when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck I'll never forget that moment I was at home in Manila talking on the phone with my friend Julius when suddenly my floor started vibrating things on the shelves started rattling the the shades on the windows started banging into each other and the books on the bookshelves were shaking the next thing I heard was a scream on the phone and then the Julius's phone hit the floor I didn't know what happened but a few hours later when we talked again he said a bookshelf fell in the next room and he was afraid that they might have fallen on his daughter fortunately she was okay as soon as Julius his phone hit the floor I immediately went outside to see the damage that was done I expected to see buildings crumbling all around me but thank God there was little damage in Metro Manila but a hundred and seventy kilometers north in Cabanatuan it was a completely different situation the tallest building in Cabanatuan City the sixth floor Philippine Christian college main administrative and classroom building had collapsed crushing a hundred and fifty-four people to death and injuring over a hundred more it was the only building in the city that fell completely the foundations had held up for years even with the additional three floors until the shaking started the shaking proved that the foundations were inadequate for six floors tragedy struck and lives were lost not only because of the strength of the earthquake but primarily because of the weakness of the foundations storms and shaking and life are inevitable fortunately we have a way to storm proof our lives the words of Jesus in Matthew seven verses 24 through 27 speak to this idea of how we can survive no matter how strong the storms are here's what he says everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rains fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it this passage is the conclusion of the most famous sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever preached Jesus ended his Sermon on the Mount with this simple but profound parable in the parable there are two builders one wise one foolish there are two buildings one strong one weak there are two foundations one on the rock one on the sand and there are two completely different results after this fourfold storm hits one stands one falls now let's think about that four-fold storm for a moment verses 25 and 27 gives the exact description of the storm that hits both houses there wasn't any different the same thing happened here's what it says the rain fell the floods came the winds blew and beat on the house the house built on the rock and the house built on the sand both experienced the same storm think about it a minute rains came down that's what rain does floods that's when the water rises but then it says winds blew and winds beat I think of that as it's like being surrounded it's a picture of storms hitting from every side it wasn't just one storm most of us can handle one storm at a time but this is a picture of being surrounded and overwhelmed by storms from every side all at the same time the way Jesus describes storms in this parable reminds me of the way that great philosopher and theologian Forrest Gump describes storms in Vietnam here's what he said we've been through every kind of rain there is little bitty stinging rain and big old fat rain rain that flew in sideways and sometimes rain seemed to come straight up from underneath shoot it even rained at night one day it started raining and it didn't quit for four months well perhaps Forrest Gump was prophesying about the world we're living in right now but even in the midst of this covin 19 health storm this global financial crash and the social isolation our text reveals a way we can storm proof our lives let me explain the idea of storm proof for a moment this watch on my wrist is a dive watch that means it was designed to get wet not just a rain shower wet it was designed to survive at a depth of three hundred meters now I've never been deeper than a hundred feet and no intention of ever diving even 100 meters let alone three hundred meters the fact that this watch is waterproof does not mean that if I wear it in the ocean it when I get wet that would be a water free watch there are no water free watches waterproof means that when it does get wet the water does not negatively affect it there is no biblical promise of a storm free life no matter what anyone else tells you in fact jesus promised the opposite john 16:33 he says in the world you will have tribulation but take heart I have overcome the world jesus never promised a storm free life the Sermon on the Mount ends with the promise of a storm proof life about how to build a life that stands strong no matter how many storms hit it at once and no matter how long those storms last so how can I have a life like that how can i as a spiritual leader help others build a life that will not be crushed by the storms of life what is the difference in a life or a ministry that stands strong in the storm versus one that is destroyed by the storm the answer is in verse 25 the house that was founded on the rock was still standing when the storm gave it its best shot in other words if our foundation is on the rock we are storm proof we're not storm free but we're definitely storm proof on the other hand if our foundation is on the sand the storm that will inevitably come will also destroy what we have built to better understand foundations I did what we all do I googled the word it didn't really help the top hits were for makeup companies I didn't expect that the second most common hits were about charitable foundations those are really good but that had nothing to do with this finally I found some information about construction that was semi helpful the the idea of building foundations as we build buildings so to make sure I really understood what I was reading about foundations on a construction site I called my friend pastor JT before JT was the men's pastor at our every nation church here in Nashville he built houses for a living I mean big houses with big foundations JT really helped me understand the importance of foundations and also the process he said that when building a house obviously the foundations are the first things we built he then went on to explain that there are at least five to ten different foundation options when building a home it all depends on the soil the weather and the size or weight of the house that's what determines which of the five or ten foundations is best for each particular house building on a beach requires one type of foundation building on a mountain or on a hill another type building on flat ground has another one if there's more rain or freezing weather that requires something else no matter what is being built and no matter where it is being built the possible adverse weather conditions have to be taken into consideration and foundation work must be done in order to predict and to prepare for the worst-case scenario when we built the every nation building in Manilla we were well aware that the Philippines is in the Ring of Fire with is the Earth's most dangerous earthquake in active volcano zone while the Philippine government requires strict building codes to survive the possible and probable earthquakes iron leadership team decided to spend extra money and take extra time to build not according to the Philippine standards but we picked the place that had even worse earthquake problems and we use the standards required in San Francisco we did it just to be safe just to be sure but it was costly in terms of money and time in the same way when establishing spiritual foundations wise builders recognized that potential destructive forces in the culture and in the spiritual climate where we're building and then that wise builders willing to pay the price and take the extra time to build according to the highest standards not just what will get by but what will protect us spiritually no matter how intense the temptation or the persecution or whatever kind of storms hit so how we as individuals and how we as ministry units churches campus ministries kids ministry music ministry or whatever even businesses how we survive this health financial and social storm will expose whether or not and to what degree we have built strong foundations the question then is how do we build or rebuild strong spiritual foundations how do we build on the rock what does that mean how do we storm proof our lives our families our churches our campus ministries first we must hear God's Word or if we're pastors preachers we must preach God's Word our text starts with this phrase in verse 20 for everyone not just spiritual leaders or pastors or vocational ministers everyone who hears these words of mine every good thing starts with a word from God even creation started with a word from God pastors and preachers remember the people who go to your church go because they need to hear from God they don't go to hear from you if you're not a pastor and you're not a preacher then remember you go to church not to hear your favorite preacher but to hear the voice of God through the pastor not to critique the pastor's accent or grammar or style but to hear God what is God saying to you through that sermon and through that worship experience and through that pastor it all starts with a word from God both builders in the parable heard the word but one heard and did and the other heard and did nothing do you hear and do or do you tend to hear and do nothing if we want strong foundations that storm-proof our lives first we need to hear God's Word second we must be doers of the word James 1:22 exhorts us to be doers of the word and not hearers who deceive ourselves if we hear but don't act on it we become self deceived similarly in John 4:34 Jesus said my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work every pastor in every campus missionary at some point has heard someone who came to them after a service or after a sermon to announce that they were leaving to find another church because they quote I'm not being fed how many of you have heard that I've heard it many times used to bother me a lot it doesn't anymore I'm sure those people are telling the truth that they're not being fed but listen that's not an indictment on the person preaching it's an indictment on them Jesus said food spiritual food is to do the will of God not to hear it when someone is not being fed they're not getting food it means they're not doing anything about what they know in what they hear the obedience to the word is what nourishes our spiritual lives yes some are malnourished because they're shepherds who don't know how to prepare a nutritious meal yeah that's true but most who complain of quote not being fed are just telling on themselves they're admitting they're not doers of the word don't be that person in order to storm-proof our lives we must first hear God's Word second we must put God's Word into action do it practice it we might not be very good at it but we practice and the more we practice generally the better we get and finally if we want to build strong foundations that will enable us to stand strong no matter the storm we have to build on the rock not on the sand what does it mean to build on the rock 1st corinthians 10:4 after dropping some spiritual metaphors about moses the crossing of the Red Sea the glory cloud Paul then concludes quote they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was Christ so here's Paul looking at Moses is saying the rock that Moses referred to was Christ if Christ is the spiritual rock then what we build on him will survive the storms another way to look at it is this whatever is destroyed by this storm or any other storms was probably not built on Christ in the first place often we assume we're building on Christ only to find out during the post storm autopsy that we're actually building may be fully or sometimes partially on sand and not rock a couple of weeks ago I visited every nation New York's Sunday service my good friend Chino Prater had text me on Saturday night asking if I would watch his sermon and give him some feedback as expected pastor shino sermon was powerful soon as it was over I sent him text with encouraging feedback telling him what I learned and how great the sermon was and with a little bit of suggestion about his introduction I also sent a text to every nation New York senior minister pastor Ron Lewis telling him how powerful the online worship service was Ron responded with a few texts back and forth and then he said this on his text what's your big thought about what's going on besides making disciples I respond to Ron's text with this I just put Matthews this storm will show each of us how where we have built on the sand rather than on rock I don't think it's either/or as if one builds a hundred percent on rock another builds 100% on sand I think I build sometimes on rock sometimes on sand I'm trying to discern which parts of my ministry will stand and which parts will be swept away because of weak foundations then how to rebuild everything on the rock I want to end with a story that underlines the importance of building foundations on rock rather than on sand about 15 years ago while making my way through the Singapore Airport on one of those moving sidewalks I noticed a huge indoor billboard on the wall with a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa I think wasn't advertising a bank or maybe a car or hotel something I don't remember it must not have been a very good advert since I have no idea what the product was but all these years later I do remember the tagline here's what it said good facade bad foundations too many Christians are like that Leaning Tower they look good on the outside but because of shallow and weak foundations they start leaning toward collapse as soon as they emerge from the baptismal tank some are leaning so far that the smallest temptation or the little bit of persecution can potentially knock them down even though the tower began to lean early on in the construction process moving ahead with the project was obviously more important than fixing the foundation even when they knew there was a big problem they kept trying to make it a functional building by compensating for the fact that this whole building was built on sinking sand somewhere along the way the Italian architects just gave up and preserved it as a tourist attraction good facade bad foundation that's not how we want to build that philosophy of building will not preserve us when the storms hit with that in mind I want to end this message with the familiar words written by pastor Edward motes almost two hundred years ago my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name when darkness veils his lovely face I rest on his unchanging grace in every high and stormy Gale my anchor holds within the veil on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking sand [Music] righteous man [Music] the Swedish but wholly trust in Jesus on crisis side all Oh [Music] to hide his face rest on here [Music] we high in stone Oh [Music] Oh [Music] on crisis [Music] [Music] yes yes all of these car [Music] support me [Music] so gives way there it is [Music] it's [Music] [Music] we shall come [Music] is righteousness for the stand [Music] on crisis got Stan all of the ground [Music] Oh [Music] you say Oh [Music] well pastor Steve thank you what an incredible reminder and actually the truth it's just simply the truth on Christ the solid rock we build our lives friends in moments like this where things are uncertain we have to find a place of certainty we have to find their solidness that we can believe in and explain and actually motivate people and encourage ourselves and our families to stand strong and no better way to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ I mean even I'm reminded in John whether say which is asked who the you say I am and it says you are the son of God and sit on this rock I will build my church friends the strongest church we can bolt is we individuals not just the church but every individual based their lives found themselves on the solid rock Jesus Christ when you make Jesus the anchor and not the news and everything else let's keep our eyes on Jesus in this time and thank you bosses Steve it's a great reminder but I hope we take this home and really apply Jesus to our lives and keep eyes on him friends as we conclude today I want to pray for you and many of you sitting here and you're facing incredible challenges you're facing business challenges I mean you may face uif challenges and we know all of us are going through things keep your eyes on Jesus the solid rock and I want to pray for right now that may god minister to you you know you wee ministering on an online platform but I believe the anointing of God is not limited to our platforms and as I'm praying for you which you exchange your faith with me now and ask Jesus to intervene in your life your family life and your business father God we come to you right now and we thank you Lord God and Christ the solid rock we build our lives and Lord as we a mindful of what you don't know cross in the midst of turmoil and everything came to an end when you died on the cross meat for it people thought it was the end it wasn't it was just the beginning of a new face was the beginning of the new life that you release through your death on the cross it was the moment God that set the world free when everything thought came to an end father and we thought it's the end it was the start of new life and the same now we fought ask your father that you began a good work in us will be faithful to fulfill it to the end and now we pray your blessing father over your people's lives everyone listening stir their hearts lovely five god lifts their spirits guarded we would keep our eyes on Jesus and not deviate from that Lord I pray for every business woman every businessman I pray for every business every employee Lord that you would strengthen them I pray for miraculous interventions god I pray for creative ideas I pray for provision in ways that we have not yet seen and for these things be born out of the season God as we Father understand the purpose of you Father and a purpose of your kingdom we pray God it because of your purpose you will take us through the season God so we can fulfill your purpose on earth we pray this in Jesus name bless your people amen friends as we conclude this morning I've got great news for you it's not the end we're not yet done I want to ask you prepare your hearts join us for tonight tonight you're gonna have an injection of even a little bit of local and us a positive Johnson will be ministering to us tonight also don't miss tonight invite your family and friends it's Sunday why don't you call a few friends and invite a few family friends and people may you may never invite the church why don't you invite them to tonight and may God touch their hearts tonight god bless you and may you have a awesome Sunday afternoon enjoy the chicken god bless you mishegoss cannot hope to cannot wait to see you again god bless [Music] [Music] [Music] alright guys so CRT I think what's defining us at the moment is just the growth and underneath it's phenomenal and the first week I think we have 12 families who were reaching out for some assistance this week we'll know at the end of today but this week it looks like somewhere between 100 and 150 households are going to be receiving food and these aren't random households these are people that have applied we've interacted with them we vetted them and they are genuine needs we in suggestions with we really have to decide who gets and how much they get but it's such a blessing when they come and we get to actually hand the food over and and just share a bit and hear a bit about their circumstances and and how it lifts their load and helps them get through it hi my name is imagine what she's going through but this is the reason why I really feel that we should be out here the most rewarding part of this I don't say the most one of the most rewarding parts of this whole covert 19 endeavor as every nation has been the team this we are so varied and broad our congregation and people you guys have come from all different ministries in areas where we don't normally blend and interact and we've worked alongside each other and I really just want to say great thank you to them and and they are heroes there's individual and personal sacrifices that they're making so if you're looking to get to know new people if God is nudging you to get involved please consider it and it's been incredibly rewarding for all of those involved but it's also been tiring and it's been taxing I won't lie to you but we found a grace and we find that God's Spirit comes and lifts us up and strengthens us hi my name is Jesse I have been a member of this church for a long time but I've actually spent the last year in Switzerland and I've come back during this corona pandemic and I was so struck by seeing the inequality that exists in South Africa and how a pandemic like this is really affecting mostly the poorest of the poor and the people in the worst conditions so I decided to give up my time and try and volunteer with the crisis response team we're putting together food packs for families people who have lost the income during this time who are in need and we really are trying to help as many people as possible I mean we started out with helping 40 families and it's now up to 150 packs that we're doing and we're still needing more food needing more help if you want to get involved please visit our website it's every nation rose bank org and there's information for how you can get involved in volunteering and how you can give towards this there are so many families that are need and it's really been so beneficial to me that I'm able to actually help do something that I'm not just staying inside without helping anybody but that I give one day a week that I can help families in need thank you [Music] [Music] victory can't is going online new method new take new experience we've identified some key topics that are relevant to us during this time of lockdown will be delivering these sessions on video and then using various platforms to have discussions and facilitated ministry moments such as whatsapp Google meat or zoo how to work is that females will go first on the 15th of June Maine on the 16th females again on the 17th and then men on the 18th that way the whole family come through youth will also have their own future we can happen in parallel to add us so the whole family is invited there will be no cost at this time as no possible and see you there in 1 chronicles 12 verse 32 the Word of God speaks about people known as the sons of Issachar these were men who understood the times and the Word of God tells us that they're therefore knew what Israel ought to do at the marketplace forum we are equipping connecting and mobilizing marketplace leaders from across southern Africa these are men and women who are seeking to understand what God is saying to us at this time and trusting him to move forward in faith to see his kingdom established in the marketplace join us at 8:00 p.m. on Monday evenings as we explore these principles together as service moves online we'll be making use of two methods for giving during this time EFT and snap scan please make use of these for giving during this time [Music] you

Channel: Every Nation Rosebank

Views: 3,113

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: e8qL1EfZu_I

Length: 93min 50sec (5630 seconds)

Published: Sun May 31 2020