Hillsong Church - Scott Samways

[Music] online welcome come on up you came ready to sing this morning I maybe got about two people's reaction down the front here ready to sing this morning did you bring your face did you bring your joy [Music] it's the sound of the saviors were buzzing walks into the room where people pray [Music] it's the sound of the Savior's home as he walks into [Music] [Music] so let's see his Braves alone see his friend [Music] my soul lets me see his brazen sing his praises [Music] [Music] that changes Oh wake up [Music] [Music] see this way [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] when did you come write this more maybe Jesus doesn't matter what you've been through this please Jesus in this he's ready to move in your lap look what we can live died [Music] knowing that he mates us where we are sick memories that to say thank you God thank you Jesus bro you're done [Music] [Applause] live good words [Music] come on bunny moves [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] sneeze breath [Music] see his friends when I bring him praise lift your wood we thank you Jesus crazy [Music] [Music] you're creating your Holy Spirit conceiving Christ the Son Jesus our Savior in crisis these spirits what [Music] we [Music] the name of Jesus [Music] deep inner rusev [Music] this [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] three [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] daddy [Music] [Applause] [Music] whatever [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] there is no one else for me [Music] crucify too sad now I live to bring there is no one has [Music] whose if lightest I live to bring him [Music] while give to love could I offer to a key while waiting worth could be held within my [Music] when he alone is worthy [Music] when everyone sing glory solo glory song is inscribed upon this treasure held in bastard job to bring him mother [Music] more creatures [Music] to be [Music] [Music] you don't know [Music] yes [Music] creatures [Music] [Music] praise God [Music] i father girl me [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] this [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] raise [Music] this son let's see [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] come on himself Jesus Christ well welcome to Hillsong Church 9:00 a.m. service 24 sleeps 2 Christmas I think it's 24 sleeps is that right is at 24 or 23 I'm gone with 24 gives us one full sleeve to get ready hey my name's Sam I'm one of the pastor's here and so huge Pete welcome to everyone that's joined us here and joined us through the screens you know singing about this morning and I was thinking about if this was a religion if Christian was a religion then you would spell Christianity this way do do tell about what we do have we done enough have you done enough this morning to get God on your side have we done enough this morning so that when we pray God will hear us and that's what religion is it's all about what we have to do but Christianity is not a religion Christianity is spelt done do in a it's not about have we been good enough [Applause] that's what Jesus has done to make us right with God it's what Jesus has done that gives us the confidence to know there is an open heaven over your life that you can pray with confidence and you can know with confidence that God is for you that's why the Bible says we enter his gates with Thanksgiving and I love the message it just says thank you thank you and that's our stance this morning and I pray that your stance we simply say thank you to Jesus for everything he's done and so will you pray with me will you believe God with me they've got a whole lot of prayer requests people believe in God for all sorts of miracles and breakthroughs on our trees you've been faithfully putting up people's names that you're believing that this Christmas that they're going to come to know Christ and someone here is Howard and Gary and Michael and Jamel and and I know for me I've got Peter I've got names on all the trees and all that on the different things but you know I know also in your heart there are people that you know you know there wouldn't be a greater thing this Christmas than to know that they're taken another step closer to Jesus and that's exactly what we're going to believe for so can you reach out your hands can you pray father we want to say thank you thank you for Jesus thank you for the confidence that we have and Lord you see every knee that's in my hand that's in the hands of father in other locations and we pray and we believe you that you will bring the breakthrough Lord that you will bring the turnaround and below those that are now hard right now that are away from you we ask you and we thank you that in Jesus name thank you Holy Spirit for your conviction Thank You Holy Spirit faith your kindness thank you Lord be the promise of your word Lord that you will have the last lives in Jesus name - come on boys Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we really be thankful amen father I do thank you for the open heaven over every person's life I thank you this morning for your presence it's so evident and the father that you will you will have the last say in each person's life and father we thank you for it in Jesus name Amen amen amen who loves a good praise report good praise report someone here praising God for his kindness and favor over their daughter and those of us that have daughters would say Amen I love this one thanking God for his wife and his daughter getting engaged how awesome say in the a.m. service we had day this was the praise report from Greg and Sue thanking God that our last child has been married and that last child was all in capitals and who knows that's like a pay rise that's like freedom now to do whatever you want you know to anyone else got a last child they're waiting for to be married yeah Paul Paul hey that's a couple of weeks now Paul Douglas one week away you look so happy it's oh there it is Tyler Tyler can you believe your dad is he's cheering that it's only one week away before you get married so tell us made any young could you fill us in where we go on your honeymoon like could we can we join you didn't do Instagram is a we're gonna go suffer in Hawaii will definitely be praying for you - thank you thank you I don't believe that for one minute that is gonna why hey y'all say hi to someone why do you grab a seat [Music] okay okay Hey look if um if maybe it's the first time that you're joining us here or maybe one of our other locations Hillsong so you know Hilson's not a crowd we're actually a family and we would love to do nothing more than help you get connected so please in the end of our service we have a welcome lounge just around the out there and around the corner and we'd love to host you to get to know you better and I know in other locations we do the same so make sure you don't rush off we'd love to connect you and help you become part of the family hey right now we're going to receive our giving and we have our very own and very awesome and grandmother of Lola Monday toga Vaalu as a first service in church over there yes beautiful amen I know we need someone Peter do that sort of deline King thing then you do it Peter [Music] they need David where in the room to do that can you all do the Lion King thing where is he hurry mate quick run you got yellow gee The Lion King thing and Pete's got a whole debate Laura's gonna hold the baby up now she's Peter hold the baby up huh hold in their coat an egg hold the head be ready we did do it brilliant that's all I know that's all you had and I apologize if I offended anyone yeah and excellent I may have gotten you to do that at color once when we had another baby here good morning you came to church for that de nuit amen you're looking beautiful this morning how good are you amen did anyone wake up at higher this one a little bit tired be honest be honest not a bit tire that's the end of the week come on anyone tired this morning there we go on a steep but do you feel better now that you've been in the house of God without doubt without doubt Brian sends this love he was on his way home but he needed to attend to something else and so this morning he's actually and chosen to go and preach for the very first time I'll speak for the first time in Hillsong Dallas so I hope you know that's a brand new room for us happening in Dallas central USA and he's and have fun there amen all right my joy this morning to speak to us about giving and around out giving and so you can begin to prepare this obviously various ways if you're new or visiting is you're under no compulsion you're our guest this morning but you can also contribute and there's various ways that we at Hillsong Church understanding the power and the dynamic of Kingdom finance and what the Bible says Godley finance and what the word says about our first fruit bringing our first fruit to the Lord is quite a profound thing it's an eternal principle literally as we honor God with our first then his blessing actually remains on what is in our hand his blessing remains on what remains and he just tends to bless sad and cause it to prosper and honest earth so he's pretty amazing right amen so here are the various ways but personally I think that nothing speaks louder more profound more clearly more precisely to what we're doing than the Word of God so I'm simply as you prepare I'm simply gonna read to you from 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 if I may and the amplified it's magnificent and it says verse 6 now remember this he who sews sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who so generously that blessings may come to others will also reap generously and be blessed verse 7 let each one give thoughtfully and with purpose just as he has decided in his heart not grudgingly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful Giver and delights and the one whose heart is in his gift they're saying God who God and God is able to make all grace every favour and earthly blessing come in abundance to you so that you may always and to all circumstances her regardless of the need have complete sufficiency and everything being completely self-sufficient in him and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity verse 9 as it is written and forever remains written he the benevolent and generous person scatters abroad he gives to the poor his deeds of justice and goodness and kindness and benevolence we'll go on and enjoy forever verse 10 and again God who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will provide and multiply your resources for sowing and increase the fruit of your righteousness which manifests is self inactive goodness kindness and charity thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way so that you may be generous and your generosity and as it as it is administered by us the body of Christ the church will bring forth Thanksgiving to God it's a big passage of Scripture to read but nevertheless if you allowed it to a to sink into your spirit to absorb into your spirit and become the the mark of your life it will be true in your world do I have any people in the room or watching with us through the screens who would agree is that true amen why don't you hold your gift in your hand and they're gonna pray for it hallelujah you are faithful and an honorable and a wonderful church and you enable a vision to happen amen you enable a vision to happen you enable us to light through why the doors at Christmas and invite the community in and they come they come easily they feel safe to come in here and we bless their families and we spoil their families because you enable this houses storehouse to be beautiful for them and to the glory of God amen you've got your gift in your hand now that we just thank you for your kindness your grace and Lord Jesus I pray that these verses this truth will be our portion so Lord bless every home in every household and as we honor you father God my prayer our prayer is that your blessing will reside on what remains father God in Jesus name Amen amen I love you church you're the best a HOSA serving us as they always do I have graduated onto the app can you believe that I came I know I'm so 21st century now yes but um it's my joy to do that alright they're serving us and we're going to look to the screen and we have another beautiful story in context of kilo of Christmas amen and testing my dad was in Java was born so I grew up with just mom and growing up in housing Commission there's a lot of alcoholism and violence and that really affects the community and families I remember I'm Jesus I were being four or five I had to solve a crime one day and gave us a push bike and I thought it was a lot the greatest things in the world you know I actually felt free I didn't feel like I was locked in a home I could just sort of open up and be myself Christmas is a really stressful time of the year for lots of families and we actually find in domestic violence refugees that we work with that they say that more women and children access those services at that time of year than any other time of year what I love about this campaign is that it's our church giving what they can and every single person can get involved no matter how small or how big your donation is you actually can make a difference Charlie saline into our Christmas campaign so much because they actually understand the power of a gift so I remember our first ever year of the Christmas Appeal and talk coming across the car park with these bikes and scooters and he was just so excited and I just thought wow that's his little sign that I'm gonna make some little fellas Christmas amazing you lost it might seem like a really small item but that item that that person received could really touch their heart and know that somebody is there for them its pinnacle moments like that when somebody's there and they do something for you that you don't expect makes you want to be a different person yeah we all go through things and it's only that one little thing they pre get you through that Pacific time you're in Turin Lisa story is a great example of the power of giving back and the power of a gift that makes a difference and that's why we give it Christmas that's why as a church we give it's why as a church we honor Jesus at this time by giving to those who are in vulnerable situations what a fantastic story hey and that's what kilo Christmas is all about you know for us we get this great opportunity to give and many of you have taken these bags and you fill them in others a lot of our churches got online and and contributed to the kilo of Christmas online and if you do it online that's all tax-deductible as well so we're really needing these to come in over you know this tonight and next weekend so then we can have the biggest wrap and pack party here and get everything ready to give out which will be absolutely awesome and I'll just see what's happening tonight sir Jenny any idea the whole building is going to be lit up tonight can you believe it the launch of Christmas the launch of Christmas and you know I've been watching them and right across this whole property as as big as it's been unfolding and we've got a whole lot of new areas and new things for tonight and we've got rides we've got heaps o awesome food all the kids are going to get something really special as a gift but it's got to be dark for them to fully enjoy it and and also we're going to be attempting something that's never ever been attempted I think in all of not just our church but the caride across the whole of of the hills area so you don't want to miss it and we're really hoping and praying that is going to work okay so there's an edge of the seats tough guys but it will be amazing so that's tonight don't miss it make sure you bring bring bring your family bring your friends we're gonna have an incredible light launch as we always do with a whole new dimension all I'm saying is you may need a jacket that's all I'm saying it's gonna be brilliant I have to check out the screens and check out what's next 2019 will be a year of breakthrough favour blessing yet again we can fit some miracles in motion these are the days of God together [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I gotta take Christmas at Hillsong you don't want to miss it how can we all stand to our feet everywhere where we're joined as well and I'll tell you why we do this week in week out it's not for the exercise we do it because you know what we want to honor God's Word we believe that through the preaching of the word that this morning God one word from God could absolutely change everything forever and we want to honor God's word for that and secondly hey there's no better way than which we can really think and give a huge warm welcome to Scott singer some ways as it comes and brings the word this morning [Applause] [Music] how's everyone going this morning anywhere you likes fine that's that's a good spot are you ready for the word this morning so nice to see you in our 9:00 a.m. service all right God let's pray father we just thank you God for the opportunity we have keep coming around your word father and we just pray that once again your word would speak to us father your word would bring truth would bring hope would bring life to people's situations where areas are needed father let the word bring breakthroughs and father we thank you for the power of your word in Jesus name Amen amen well you like the person who's sitting next to good it's too late now all right you could be seated you could be seated wonderful wonderful all right if you got your Bibles we're going to turn to Isaiah 43 and verse 18 if you don't have your Bibles it's okay you can read along on the screens it says forget the form of things somebody say the form of things do not dwell on the past someone say the past anyone guilty of that dwelling on the past from time to time easy to say harder to do forget form of things do not dwell on the past the title of my message this morning is outlast your past outlast your past you know wolves hunt in packs in fact wolves they're raised in packs and in every Wolf Pack there's a dominant wolf which is called the alpha wolf and the alpha wolf has the power over the pack the alpha wolf is the one that controls the pack it's domineering across the pack but every now and then in a pack a wolf breaks 3 and when a wolf breaks free from the pack that Wolf's called the lone wolf and the lone wolf breaks free from the pack because it wants to start a new pack but while the wolf is in the pack it can seem impossible to break free because of the power of the pack but you see as soon as he does when a wolf breaks free from the pack it realizes that the pack no longer has power over him and here's the reason why because when one wolf breaks free from a pack they say the pack weakens and in some cases a pack can completely break down where wolves go their separate ways and it doesn't remain a pack anymore well I say all that to say this that your past can feel like a pack it can feel like something that can seem impossible to break free from but when you do break free from it you will see that it actually doesn't have the power that you thought it did and so that's what I want to talk about this morning is how you and I can outlast your past you know your past holds emotions and feelings and holds victories and it holds failures it holds joys sorrows happiness hardship but all of us at one point or one time will have to face our past and a decision has to be made am I going to keep struggling with my past returning to my past or am I going to make a decision to outlast my see your pass might represent an old habit might be a pattern of thinking might be a way of behavior a relationship a personal floor maybe or maybe an addiction and unstable mental say maybe a dependency or a weakness a failure a place a hurt a tragedy or a loss and wouldn't it be great if we could just delete our past you know like an email just gone you know to just hit the delete button and it's gone wouldn't it be great if you could erase your past just some of it you know keep the good parts but just erase the ones you want to forget you want to deal where you just erase your past you know when Katie and I you know when we first got married in that first year of marriage I remember there's lots of romance in marriage you know in the the first year and and I wanted to do something romantic and I thought I want to take her out to a real fancy restaurant you know and so I booked this place in Sydney and Darling Harbour and thought gonna take her out for a bit of a romantic night you know and to a fancy restaurant I knew it was a fancy restaurant because the plates were larger and the meals were smaller so I knew it was fancy you see and so we go out to this restaurant we're having a great romantic time and when we're looking into each other's eyes and there's sparkles in one another's eyes and we're enjoying the meal she ordered the chicken I ordered the steak and potatoes and as we're enjoying the meal on this romantic night the the conversation took a turn and the conversation went from being nice and romantic to what I call in our marriage will not an argument but an inconvenient discussion anyone here you've ever had an inconvenient discussion yeah you know what I'm talking about and so this could you know this discussion it just kept sort of escalating and we were going each other and it was just you know becoming I mean she went from eating that chicken to just stabbing that chicken you know I mean I was looking into those eyes with a sparkle now I was looking into the eye of Mordor you know I was I was like there was fire you know it and so it started to escalate and you know I mean we were just going each other like a pit bull on a poodle you know what I'm saying them anyway there was it was just one at each other and so then so then I thought we've got to get out of the restaurant you know we've got to get out of this involved let's change go to a different place change you know and so we went across to on the other side of the harbor there was some swings near Luna Park and so she got on the swing and I started pushing her and we started having conversation but that inconvenient discussion just wouldn't go away and I was pushing her all right I was gonna push her right in you know I meant always pushing her and and and so you know we got off the swings and and then we I said right let's do something that will go for a walk on the harbor up the water you know so we we started out hand in hand walking up the water but pretty soon the hands got ripped and there was about three meters a part from us when we got to the end and I mean she was giving me the silent treatment and I was given her the growling treatment and it was just you know it just didn't end well and you've got to understand at that stage in our marriage where oh we were so young in our Bible reading we weren't up to the part where it said don't let the Sun go down on your anger no we were still in Exodus where it says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth I mean we were going one another you see it was just all happening you know I heard I heard once person say you know when you get married you marry the ideal but then if you discover the real deal which becomes an ordeal you been think you got a raw deal and then you want a new deal but we were well true so we woke up the next morning and I was like I just want to erase the whole of last night you know you know and that's the thing is you can't erase your memories but you can replace your memories you see when you start to leave out the word of God and it starts to affect your choices it starts to affect your language it starts to affect your thinking you begin to recreate new memories and replace new memories through what God begins to do in you and so true story the next morning I woke up and I said Kenny I said we can't erase last night but we can replace it I said we're going out to dinner again she looked at me with horror in her eyes like please no I said no we're going out again tonight we're doing a date and so true story we went out the very next night we went to the exact same restaurant she ordered the chicken I ordered the steak and the potatoes but that night those potatoes they were sweet potatoes coz something began to change in the atmosphere you see and and so we were that Sparkle was back and we were looking into each other's eyes then we went over to the park where the swings were same set of swings she got on the swings I started pushing her but as I was pushing her I started reciting poetry to her well that's how I remember it anyway and and so I was pushing it then we got off the swings and we go for a walk down the road and we start walking in the harbor we're slow walking you know and before you know we had a little french kiss by the water I want to tell you the whole night was a different night you can't erase your memories but you can replace them but here's the thing when it comes to your past as you never just face it as a once-off do you sometimes when your past comes up it can be something that's reassuring it can be something that you continually live with something that continually comes up every now and then and you know it might be something that you struggle with something that you fought with something that you lived with but the reality is you want it to remain in your past and there's things that I find will trigger your past there's things that trigger memories I mean you can go through life and you think and everything's good but then you can hear a song and that song can trigger a memory that takes you back you can see a photo or a picture and it and it triggers a memory that takes you back you can run into someone and have a conversation or see someone and and that relationship takes you back and here's the thing when it takes you back it often takes you back to an emotion or an experience or a feeling a desire or a thought but you can't change your past but you can learn from it and you see even Jesus had to face he's past and make the decision to outlast it have a look with me in Luke chapter 4 Luke chapter 4 starting in verse 14 it says Jesus returned to Galilee in the power some one say the power in the power of the Spirit and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside he was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up someone say brought up it was where he was brought up and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as was custom and he stood up and read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and unrolling it he found the place where it is written the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind to set the oppressed free and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor go down to verse 22 all spoke well of him and were amazed at his gracious words and it come from his lips and then they said isn't this Joseph's son they asked isn't this just Joseph's son go down to verse 24 Jesus said truly I tell you he continued no prophet is accepted in his hometown go down to verse 28 all of the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this they got up they drove him out of the town they took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff but he walked right through the crowd and went on his way Nazareth was Jesus's past Nazareth was where Jesus was brought up Nazareth was where Jesus lived Nazareth was where Jesus was known Nazareth was where Jesus boyhood years and teenage years were developed Nazareth as where the community knew Jesus the families knew Jesus his neighborhood knew Jesus Nazareth was Jesus's past but even Jesus had to make the decision I'm going to outlast my past and you and I can do exactly the same and I think it comes down to a couple of things that we learn from Jesus comes down to what I believe comes down to what I say comes down to what I see and comes down to what I do so let's have a look at the first one what I believe which is the power of the Spirit in verse 14 it says Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit to many people don't think change is possible because the power of their past I was talking to a man just this week and because of destructive behavior patterns in his life that had been done for so many years he honestly didn't think that change was possible for him and that's what sometimes the past can seem like that the power of the past seems to impossible to break too strong well you don't know what I did singer you don't know what I've been through you don't know what happened to me you don't know what people did to me you don't know the mistakes I've made you don't know the failures I've been through and the power of the past can seem so strong that on the inside people live with a turmoil that on the inside people live with heartache that on the inside people live with a bitterness and and unforgiveness and a hurt and a rejection and a loneliness and on the inside there can be like a restlessness that just continues on the inside oh you wouldn't know it from the outside but on the inside it's the restlessness from the past people live with it I remember watching dr. Phil anyone here you've ever seen dr. Phil on TV dr. Phil I loves a bit of good advice dr. Phil and so I was watching dr. Phil a couple of years back and I remember watching this episode and dr. Phil was talking about how you can achieve inner peace how to live with inner peace in your life and what dr. Phil said the way that you're going to achieve inner peace is for you to go back and finish all the things that you have started and he talked about all the things that you've started in life if you would go back and finish them then you will live with inner peace so I remember getting up that morning and before going to work I went down to the fridge and I finished off last night's pizza I finished off the Cheesecake I finished off the milk as well then I went and finished a Netflix series and I got to tell you that morning I felt pretty good I felt like I had inner peace but here's the thing as a lot of people don't a lot of people still live with an inner restlessness from stuff from their past but can I tell you this morning that the power of the Spirit is stronger than the power of your past it doesn't matter what it is it doesn't matter what it was the power of God and the power of his spirit is stronger than the power of your past you see whatever you're facing whatever is reoccurring you've got to understand what was inside Jesus was greater than what was behind Jesus he'd been with the Father he'd been with the Spirit and you've got to remember when moments start returning to you from your past you've got to remind yourself I'm not the person that I once was I'm not who I used to be now I have the power of God in my life I have the word of God and I have the Spirit of God I'm not who I used to be because the power of the Spirit is stronger than the power of the past I've seen the power of the Spirit do wonderful works in human lives people drug addicts become clean alcoholics been made sober dependencies broken unforgiveness set free broken marriages restored financial hardship recovered protocol's returning families reunited down and outers finding dignity failing friendships mended hurts and tragedies turned into joys and hopes not because of finishing something that you started but because of the power of the Spirit of God that brings change into people's lives you see the Holy Spirit knowing the Holy Spirit knowing about the Spirit is just information but the power of the Spirit is transformation that happens in people's lives so it comes down to what I believe the power of the Spirit is the second thing we learned from Jesus is what I say which is declaring your future what I say you want to outlast your past verse 16 says he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up I love that Jesus makes the greatest public declaration of who he truly is in the place of his past he goes into his past and he declares the Spirit of the Lord is upon me ah what a declaration you can see the newspapers of Nazareth today homegrown boy claims to be Messiah oh what a controversy that would have stirred in the community but you see Jesus knew who he was he knew where he was going and he wasn't afraid to declare who he was in the face of his past sometimes you've got to do that when your past starts reoccurring when that past stuff starts ring rearing its head you got to speak out loud the power of your confession you got to say out loud no I know who I am and where I'm going I Know Who I am in Jesus Christ and I am who he says I am you see your past does not rule your identity your past is not who you are note this in in the scripture the verse verse 17 it says the scroll of Isaiah was being handed to Jesus and he read from the scroll in other words Jesus got his identity from the Word of God he didn't get his identity from his past and you and I have to do the same you can't get your identity from what was done you from what someone did to you from what happened to you what failure you I made what mistake you're a partner your identity is in Jesus Christ and what he says about you that's who you are in Krannert creation behold all things have passed away all things have become new and in the synagogue custom when the reading of the word would happen it meant that people had to stand so Bible history whenever there was the reading of the word people would stand to read the word when there was the teaching of the word people would sit but at the reading of the word people would stand you know sometimes when it comes to your past you're gonna have to take a stand and it means standing with the word of God and means standing against that old habit that old behavior that old dependency that old relationship that old thinking that old attitude and you're declaring I am NOT living like that anymore I'm not doing that anymore I'm not trying that anymore and I'm not saying that anymore this is Who I am in Jesus Christ I'm more than a conqueror I'm the head and not the tail I'm the light of the world I'm the salt of the earth oh you've got to start to declare who you are in the face of your past if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything you know the last Roman gladiator match was held in January 1st 404 AD where a Colosseum in Rome was filled with 80,000 screaming Romans as gladiators were fighting one another in the arena there was blood there was shedding of lives there was killing and in the midst of that arena that day there was a monk by the name of sent Telemachus and sent Telemachus he went in the middle of the arena he starts shouting enough for bear for bear in Latin but he's saying enough enough holding the word of God and the crowd started to shun him and quiet him and try and silence a bit he kept shouting enough enough and he mateys way down to where the gladiators were knee and he yelled and enough he nobody kept shouting for bad four be enough but the crowd started to turn on him and as he got over and got closer to the gladiators where the match was in the fighting was the crowd turned on him and all you could see was him holding the Bible saying enough enough and the crowd stoned him to death in the middle of the Coliseum and that was the very last Roman gladiator match that was ever recorded in Roman history after that the game ceased when it comes to your past sometimes it means you've got to take a stand sometimes it means you've got to go you know what enough enough I'm not going there anymore I'm not doing it enough sometimes it means you've got to take a stand against what's coming against you from your past and say enough so here's the next one it's what I believe it's what I say and here's the next one what I see which is living in freedom you see in verse 22 listen to what the past said about Jesus they said isn't this Joseph's son they asked they only saw Jesus as joseph´s son - many people will do the same to you they'll only see you through the eyes of the past they'll only see you by who you were what you were like what you did they'll only see you through eyes of the past the people of Nazareth saw Jesus the same way they had Grace standing before them they had mercy in the flesh they had the promise of God right in the midst of them they had the Son of God full of the Holy Spirit but all they could see was isn't this Joseph's boy you see human nature does this all the time we paint a mental picture of someone but in our minds we never allow that picture to change or once a liar always a liar once a cheater always a cheater once a gossip or ways of gossip once a bully always a bully once a gambler always a gambler once an addict always an addict once an idiot always an idiot it's like we paint this mental picture of people but can I say that when you begin to talk like that when you begin to see people like that that is the biggest lie that the enemy wants you to believe because what you've got to understand you've got to go from a still mental picture of someone to a moving motion movie about someone because their story is not over yet your story is not over yet how the movie starts is not how the movie ends so God's not done with you when it comes to you living in freedom so don't let others hold you to your past you see your past will try and hold you in a prison you see the Bible says in verse 28 and 29 let me summarize it says they were furious then it goes on in verse 29 it says they took him to the brow of the hill other versions say that they thrust at him in their hands other versions say that they were filled with rage with him in other words they treated Jesus like a prisoner of his past they treated him like a prisoner that is the thing don't let someone else hold the keys to your future don't let someone else hold the keys to your future Jesus didn't let the people from his past hold him to his past hold him from his future your past will either prison you or it will propel you but it's up to you when it comes to your past you hold the keys to your future in fact Jesus in Matthew 16 verse 19 Jesus gave the kingdom of the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter why because Peter had a revelation of Jesus when Peter got this revelation of Jesus he was given the keys so it was up to Peter to unlock his future it was capito to unlock his potential he'd been given the keys don't give your keys to someone else don't let them hold the keys to your future you hold the keys to unlocking what God is doing in you and through you and before you when it comes to what he has for your life you see Peter was Simon the fisherman but now with a revelation of Jesus he began to unlock his future as the rock as the Apostle as the man of God as the preacher in the early church you see you hold the keys to your future you hold the keys to living in freedom jesus said in verse 18 he has come to proclaim freedom for the prisoners I love that statement that says every saint has a past and every sinner has a future you can either live in the prison of your past or you can let you pass propel you into your future but it's up to you what you see when it comes to living in freedom for your life you hold the keys so it's what I believe the power of the Spirit it's what I say which is declaring your future it's what I see which is living in freedom and then here's the fourth one what I do which is overcome daily I want to outlast my past well it comes down to what I do which is overcome daily verse 29 says they took him to the hill in order to throw him off the cliff Jesus didn't let his pass kill him he's passed tried to throw him off a cliff that's what your past will do if you let it it'll try and kill you it'll kill your god-given potential it'll kill your god-given dreams it'll kill your god-given desires it'll kill your god-given calling that's what your past will do if you let it but you have to make a decision to overcome daily things that come your way from your past and you're not doing it by willpower you're doing it by spirit power because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world you got to realize you're not alone you're not by you you're not doing it by your strength know you've got supernatural power holy strength from heaven when it comes to overcoming daily you know there's a jellyfish in the Greek islands and this particular jellyfish it only eats a certain type of snail but here's the thing when the jellyfish starts to eat the snail it takes a long time for it to digest the snail that it's eating but as this jellyfish is digesting the snail the snail begins to eat away at the jellyfish from the inside out and most times kills the jellyfish the very thing the jellyfish was swallowing was the very thing that was killing it you know that's what your past is like if you let it you keep allowing your past to come in you keep swallowing that live from your past that you have to stay in it that you have to be held to it you have to live you keep swallow it'll kill your god-given potential it'll kill that god-given calling it'll kill it'll kill whatever God has begun in your life it'll try and kill what God has started that's what your pass will do but notice something about Jesus Jesus didn't stay there Jesus he didn't stay in Nazareth he didn't stay in his past and you're not meant to either don't stay there you're not meant to keep hanging around that place that habit that behavior that struggle that dependency that feeling don't stay there don't put yourself in a place weaning now I've got to just stay this is Who I am no it's not Jesus went to his past but he also went through he's past you're meant to do the same thing the Bible says in verse 30 but he walked right through the crowd and went on his way did you know when it comes to your past there's some things you meant to walk through sometimes you'll have to walk through some past regrets some past hurts you'll have to walk through some past losses you'll have to walk through some past conversations some past offense some past relationships unresolved issues but God doesn't intend on keeping you there he doesn't want you to stay there Jesus walked through the crowd and went on his way some of you have stating things that you were meant to walk through you've stayed in hurt you've stayed in offense you've stayed in tragedy you've stayed in grief you've strayed in revenge you've stayed in hatred you've stayed in things that you're actually meant to walk through don't camp there don't stay there you know Queen Victoria she was married to King Albert in England one of the most favored famous kings and queens of England but tragically King Albert died before his time at age 41 and history records that the Queen never recovered from losing Albert her love for him was so strong that every day she had the servants lay out new clothes on his bed because in her heart she wanted to believe that he was still alive and for the next 20 years every day until her death she wore black in mourning for Albert in London wherever you go there's so many buildings that are named after King Albert so many buildings named after Queen Victoria and the story is told about this romantic love that never before has a love so strong been seen from a from a queen to the king and they tell it like it's this beautiful romantic story and yes it's a romantic love that sounds so good but when I heard that I thought yeah it's romantic but it's also so sad because I thought no one is meant to live in grief for that long no one's meant to live in loss for that long no one's meant to live in heartache in pain in depression for that long you see here's the thing is it's time to get up it's time to go through don't stay in it any longer I remember praying for a lady in church and I said what could I pray about for you and she said we I need you to pray for grief and I said what's happened if someone dies she said yes my mom I said when did your mom died she said 20 years ago and I thought no one's meant to live in that sort of grief but sometimes we camp in things sometimes we get stuck in things sometimes seasons last longer than they should and we find ourselves staying in things rather than walking through things but can I remind you what Jesus did in verse 30 but he walked right through the crowd and went on his way went on his way maybe today the Holy Spirit is speaking to some people and saying it's time to be went on your way don't stay there any longer hurt I'm leaving you cuz I'm on my way guilt shame I'm leaving you cuz I'm on my way grief I'm leaving you cuz I'm on my way bitterness offense I'm leaving you because I'm on my way failure and mistakes I'm leaving you cuz I'm on my way unforgiveness regrets I'm leaving you because I'm on my way past its time I'm leaving you cuz I'm on my way come on someone it is time to outlast your past Jesus faced his past and he overcame it so let me ask you this what is it that you need to overcome today that's something from your past is it something you're holding on to something you're returning to something you're always reminded of something that rules you but maybe today the day is the Holy Spirit's ain't come on it's time to overcome you need to learn to overcome daily you need to learn to overcome daily see if you don't let your past die it won't let you live who here you want to make a decision today to outlast your past come on you want to make a decision saying you I'm gonna outlast my past why don't you stand to your feet right now when I say outlast you passed I'm saying you know what I don't want to return to it I don't want to cave into it I'm sick of struggling with it and I don't want to live with it but today you're saying I want to outlast it I'm going to overcome it in Jesus name so can we take a moment right now as the team leaders in worship and let's think about what the Holy Spirit is saying to you personally right now come on is there something that you need to deal with that you need to let go [Music] now [Music] hi [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] very soon come on if the Holy Spirit's speaking to you where you lift your hands something from your past that you want to outlast something you're saying yep man it's time maybe the Holy Spirit is saying come on stop talking like that's time to start to change your confession stop believing like that come on the power of the Spirit is greater come on you can overcome this daily because what God can do in a moment can bring transformation so farther right now we just pray for every single person that's got their hand raised you know what their pass represents you know what their past is full of but father I thank you for the power of the Spirit of God I thank you that today is a new day I thank you that today we're choosing to declare our future today we're choosing to live in the freedom of Jesus Christ today Lord God the power of the Spirit is at work and God I thank you the today represents chains being broken today represents once I was broken but now what you're doing in their lives say Lord we say freedom under people's lives come on [Music] [Music] once I was broken but not anymore once I was broken but not anymore once I was broken but not anymore healed and forgiven whatever the past represents for you Jesus Christ has a future that is greater that is bigger that is stronger than Azmaria than whatever the past represents in Jesus name and you know those four things those four things what I believe the power of the Spirit what I say which is declaring your future what I see which is living in Freedman what I do which is overcome daily they're not just for feel-good things on a Sunday morning message they're actually life convictions that I've built into my life over time to face all of the challenges the obstacles the things that come from the past I remind myself of the power of the Spirit I remind myself to keep my confession in the Word of God declare in my future I remind myself I am free in Jesus Christ I'm gonna live in that freedom and I remind myself that overcoming is not a once-off decision but it's a daily decision in Jesus Christ but I can overcome and let me tell you you can overcome in Jesus name so I pray you receive that this morning and I want to pray for one more group of people as well every head is bowed and every eye is closed there's people here this morning that maybe you came with a family maybe you came with a friend or a neighbor but can I say that you're not here by accident you're not here by mistake but friend there is a God that loves you that is calling you that is drawing you to a life with him and friend I want to ask you do you know his joy do you know his peace do you know his forgiveness because it only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ and today if you would open up your heart and say yes to him friend God will come into your life he'll give you a brand new start a hook for your tomorrow so if that's you this morning while every head is bowed and every ice close and you're saying yes I need to connect my life to this Jesus to this God I want to know him then would you lift up your hand would you raise it up high enough and long enough so I can pray for you right now that's it hands are being raised around this auditorium people are saying yes to Jesus there are others here and you know what you once walked with God but maybe in your heart you drifted maybe in your heart you're away from God join those that are raising their hands and say yeah I'm coming back say yeah I'm making my peace with God you lift it up as well if that's you fantastic I'm gonna pray with all of these wonderful people with your hands raised you can put your hands down let's say this prayer together dear Jesus today I ask you to come into my heart come into my life forgive me of sin and all of my past mistakes today Jesus I choose you as my Lord as my Savior and as my best friend help me to live for you for the rest of my days in Jesus name Amen amen can we thank God for people responding [Applause] [Music] and if you didn't raise your hand or even if you just set that prayer but you meant it from your heart well we want to make sure you get a Bible today we want to make sure no one leaves without receiving this gift it's a free gift from our church to you and it's the Bible let me tell you the Bible this book it'll change your life if you if you let it you begin to read it'll begin to change your life it's God's whole picture for your life the plan and the purpose that he has for you and on your way out in every foyer on every exit there'll be people holding up these Bibles in the air and if you see someone holding them just go up and say hey I prayed that prayer will gladly give it to you put it into your hand because we think it's the best decision you can make with your life don't we church amen you receive the word this morning amen be blessed come on everyone everywhere and and and Scott we we want to say thank you not just for a great word but thank you for the way you've lived that and letters an example through that because this has helped this has helped a lot of people today amen would you say amen to that amen outlast your past I love it I love it please when you stay I'm gonna pray for you're gonna believe for the week that's ahead but tonight tonight we're graduating only at night school students we're really excited about that and also we're gonna be praying for all our full-time students they've got graduation we have graduation tomorrow night for them which should be pretty awesome and and as well as that as well as that we always got great praise great worship but I can't tell you how excited I am and for what we're going to be doing after the six o'clock service as it starts to get dark so it's got to be brilliant and you know what bring people bring people home any people that you know would have loved to hear a message like that that they outlast their past so bring people tonight's gonna be brilliant but I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna believe God for the week that's ahead so father I thank you in Jesus name thank you be a word that was spoken and I believe as we leave father many people when they leave this room we'll be leaving behind father so many things of their pasts that have tried to rob them and so we leave with the freedom that you're given father I thank you that your grace and your favour Lord go before your people thank you that your face shines upon them and that Lord you truly do have the last say in our lives in Jesus name Amen amen amen hey god bless you Church [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] bless

Channel: Hillsong Church

Views: 18,550

Rating: 4.8781161 out of 5

Keywords: jesus, hillsong, praise, worship, Scott Samways

Id: -jzV1MIyrow

Length: 87min 33sec (5253 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 30 2019