Sunday Service - Shane Willard - Kingdomcity

[Music] hi everyone welcome to kingdom city we're so glad you've joined us today if you're new or visiting thank you for coming our pastors and team are here to help you in any way we can and if you're part of our kingdom city family welcome home feel free to passionately praise and expressively worship and believe that the word today will change your life lift your faith even now because with god all things are possible [Music] [Music] [Music] father god move by your power and might in our service holy spirit have your way in this place may the weak feel your strength may the sick encounter your healing may the righteous be blessed may the lonely feel your love let your miracles leave us astonished let breakthrough fill our worship may the revelation of your word bring light to our hearts and may the lost be found in jesus name good morning everybody come on we're gonna praise god welcome everybody our lord we're going to why don't you wherever you are standing your feet we're going to enter in everything that has breath praise the lord come on let's go miracles happen our mercies will be [Music] made [Music] [Music] carry your hearts to go [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and praise the lord jump and [Music] praise the lord [Music] i will not be moved by what happened [Music] foreign [Music] carry your everybody [Music] is my problems hello and welcome great to have you joining us here today at kingdom city a big welcome thank you so much for coming for those that are in the room and as well those that are joining us online and around the world why don't we welcome them today great to have you all with us from malaysia indonesia all over africa all over the world really wherever you're watching from we're so glad that you've joined us today if we haven't met before my name is ben i'm a part of the team here at kingdom city and in a moment we're just going to go into worship and also we want to pray with you and stand with you and believe with you if you need a miracle perhaps you're believing for healing or maybe you've got a financial challenge or it could be anything large or small our god cares he loves you he's more than enough his promises are true and we can stand on his word amen and so we're going to pray and believe for miracles in just a moment but we had so many testimonies come through literally today as i was preparing it was difficult to find the right testimony to share there was so many people were getting healed and delivered last week in services and and even this week during our greenhouse encounter there was more than five miracles that i personally heard of and but one testimony that came through uh there was one of our ladies here in perth she was scheduled for surgery she needed a pacemaker her heart beat was irregular she had one more test uh to go had to see the doctor again before the surgery and they were already scheduling the surgery and all that sort of thing she went in this week for the final appointment for the final test and she was completely healed her heart rate was functioning exactly as it's supposed to be she told the doctor it was a miracle and they canceled the surgery come on our god is good amen he's more than enough if you're believing for a miracle if you're believing for breakthrough in a moment we'll just ask you to come forward if you're joining us on in one of our locations or online right now we just want to pray with you why don't you just lift your hand if you're online if you're in the room and you want prayer why don't you just come to the front and we will just pray with you lift your hands down and we're going to pray god we thank you that you're more than enough we thank you god that you're a miracle worker you're a waymaker there's nothing you cannot do you're more than enough and you're always will be we declare healing provision breakthrough in the mighty name of jesus we pray amen amen why don't you come forward as we worship god today [Music] foreign i will sing off your love and all the seasons come quickly you have always been enough and all the nights may get darker and though the waiting seems long you have always been faithful to remind me of your love and you are good in the morning i'll see [Music] you are good you are good to me [Music] [Music] knowing you cannot be shaken in the morning [Music] this morning that's why you are in the morning [Music] [Music] i will bless you over and over again [Music] and over again over and over [Music] over and over again in the morning in the morning [Music] me [Music] are good to me seasons come and go [Music] is yes you are [Music] is [Music] you are in the morning [Music] never [Music] when you deliver every time someone's head talks when you stand safe and invite me when you never [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] [Music] oh is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] god [Music] our future [Applause] together together is every promise that is [Music] is jesus is your promise is [Music] is [Music] hallelujah come on let everything that has breath praise the lord we adore you you're the bright horning star you're the great first you're i am you're the beginning you're the end you're the alpha you're the omega we exalt you father we magnify you we celebrate you we elevate you come on psalm 46 our god is our refuge and our strength and ever-present help in time of trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth give way in the mountains fall into the heart of the sea build although the oceans roar and foam in the mountains quake with their surging you are the solid rock on which we stand you are our sure and firm foundation every hand lifted high in this place father help us to become more aware of what your spirit is doing we thank you that your presence is here it's moving it's doing something father we pray that you would touch every heart today touch every life today father we pray that each one of us would walk out of this place different to how we came into church today have your way and have your say in jesus name and everyone said amen amen hey come on one more time can we exalt the lord [Music] right here in perth and all around the world he's worthy of all of our praise all of our worship it's great to see you in church today and if we haven't met before my name's julian i'm part of the team here at kingdom city can everyone in perth just give a big warm welcome to everyone who's joining us online and right around the world welcome guys it's great to see you if you're in the room you can go ahead and take your seats and if you are new or visiting we want to say welcome we are glad that you're here for those that are joining us online whether it's in homes or behind devices you can now click the button that's appearing on your screen to get more connected with us here at kingdom city for everyone in perth if you are new or visiting we have a gift for you and as our connect team comes to the front if it is your first time joining us at a kingdom city service or if you brought a friend to church today and you'd like to dub them in because sometimes new people might be a bit shy to raise their hand you can raise your hand for them and so as the team walks up the aisle if that is you your new or you brought a friend just throw a hand up nice and high in the air and our team will place one of these visitor bags in your hands today and as that happens this whole place is going to erupt in applause because we love it when new people join us at our services so team you can begin to walk and if that is you give us a big wave so we know who you are over here wonderful welcome to church keep that up nice and high over here welcome over there towards the back as well welcome to church we're so glad that you could join us today after the service can we just say please don't rush off we would love to meet you connect with you we've got a space called the connect lounge located right out there in our foyer our team would love to sit down with you get to know you hear your story over a cup of coffee and a krispy kreme donut come on one more time can we give it up for everyone who's joined us for the first time today not just in the room but online as well for those in perth as you sat down today you may have sat down on one of our one cards we call it the one card because it's the one stop shop for everything here at kingdom city you can use that card to bring your tithes and offerings you can use that card to notify us of any changes in your details you can use that card to inquire about anything happening in the life of our church and this week we have our connect groups meeting not just all across perth but right around the world in homes all over the globe if you're not yet part of a connect group you can use the one card fill that out hand it to the team at the information desk or the connect lounge and we'll get you plugged in to a connect group this week so with that in mind it's time to connect with each other so why don't we stand to our feet from the front to the back of the auditorium would you find five people and ask them what they're most excited about for connect group this week before you sit down today [Music] amen you may start finding your seats in a moment we're going to be hearing the word of god from our guest speaker today pastor shane willard so get ready it is gonna be a great day in the house of god we just had a phenomenal 9 a.m service now to everyone in the room as you are no doubt aware by now because we've mentioned a few times this service is being recorded uh for use online and so if we could restrict the movement in the auditorium that would just be fantastic the translation for that is if you do need to use the bathroom the best opportunity is to use kingdom city news as your window to pop over to the bathroom then plonk yourself back in your seat before the message begins but what we're gonna do right now is pray over our tithes and offerings here and as we receive them online the giving options are appearing on your screen right now and here in the room as well if you're in the room you can also give at the giving booth after the service we're going to bow our heads as we pray father we thank you for every person who is faithful and obedient to give and father over their lives we declare your protection we declare your provision we declare your blessing we speak to this seed we're about to sow we say to it be fruitful and multiply go forth and make an impact for the expansion of the kingdom of god right across perth and all around the earth in jesus mighty name and all of god's people shouted amen amen well wonderful we're going to turn our eyes to the screen for this week's edition of kingdom city news and right after that pastor jemima varghese is going to be up to introduce our guest speaker for today let's watch [Music] it is my privilege delight joy and absolute honor to be having a conversation with someone i know fairly well pastor jemima varghese see some people think uh generosity is just always spontaneous or this big heartedness what do you think are the keys to generosity because miracle offering is about being generous god says to do something no matter big small crazy reckless that that takes precedence why do you think the friends of god really responds to miracle offline because people have sacrificed and god loves sacrifice to give online head to kingdom city dot com forward slash giving on your web browser once you're there select the campus you're from and the giving details will be displayed on your screen thank you so much for your generosity [Music] happy father's day to all the dads around the world every person right now around the world asia africa europe middle east for mexico new zealand wherever you are there is a heavenly father that unites us all who's flawless who's perfect wanting you to know how much he loves you you're now part of a dynamic destiny jesus paid the price so you and i could be members of a family happy father's day god bless you [Music] what can i do can i make a difference why am i here the needs that surround us the pandemic that afflicts us and the questions that plague us 2021 launches a decade that answers these questions a journey that needs unwavering focus with eternity motivating us discipleship defining us and togetherness identifying us this year our global gathering is a convergence of two high points our connect conference and our annual miracle offering over the weekend from friday 30th of july to sunday first of august our church is going to gather globally in homes and give sacrificially as a family let's do this together this power in together following god is an adventure when we do it together giving sacrificially is world impacting when we do it together even if you're by yourself you are not alone even though we can't all gather we can do this together every family every couple every person intentionally sacrificing this year when the opportunity to do good presents itself as we at unprecedented levels bring the reality of god to our world but we didn't start here on 9th april 2006 a handful gathered but a movement started in the 15 years since kingdom city has grown to a church numbering tens of thousands across many nations around the world the momentum tangible the acceleration incredible and then 2020 happened this global pause provided us with a divine opportunity to reset our values and refocus our priorities in a way we never would have in the busy rhythms of former routine in uncertainty one thing became clearer followers of jesus thrive in crisis more than casual observers of faith which is why jesus said to go into all the world and make disciples it's hard to see a few weeks ahead and yet the longer term path has never been more lit to make disciples christ followers of every nation the explosive early church and acts or revival at three layers in larger gatherings house to house and on each soul personally while many of our larger gatherings were affected and some still are our connects have exploded with new urgency and it's changed the very nature of church ordinary people begin to meet the needs of other ordinary people and we begin to function like a real body the latent potential of every believer is awake and we have seen salvations testimonies care support baptisms and genuine loving connection in homes and personal community around the world this weekend coming up is the church gathering giving and growing you're invited join in but don't just watch play your part and give your temporary currency eternal value we are sowing into a decade of discipleship as you prayerfully consider your miracle offering see the good see the unseen see beyond because we are seeding the good seeding the unseen and seeding beyond we are seeing expansion evangelism and education as a global family we have expanded knowing god's son died for every color and corner of our world we partner with ministries who are reaching those we can't because evangelism is our privilege and responsibility we're putting a stake in the ground of education as we announce kingdom city international school a world-class christian based global online education utilizing our hubs around the world launching in 2023 which will strengthen the next generation with a godly world view whatever you do on your own to bring the reality of god to your world keep doing it but let's do this gathering together tens of thousands will be gathering in homes in many countries to worship and pray together laugh and cry together eat and drink together share and give together and connect and celebrate together i can do something this is why i'm here i can make a difference so it's come to this this is unity this is unprecedented this is a global gathering i want to welcome everybody that's joining online right now come on perth can we just give a big hand to [Music] our family in all the different countries thank you so much we hope that you will have a great day being blessed joining us in the room right here at cannyvale global gathering is coming up the end of july so make sure you're in contact with your connect leader if you're not in a connect sign up for a connect they are meeting on the friday and the saturday night then sunday we're all meeting together uh for a great service we got lots of fun things planned we've got kids stuff planned and so also we have great speakers as well it's gonna be incredible you know we have so many testimonies from last year of people who opened up their home and had a conference at home and how the glory of god just came and just settled in their home if you need the glory of god why don't you open up your home say hey canex you can come have it at my house and be blessed with what god is going to do so we want everybody to be involved in that you can talk to your connect leader about that we are so privileged today to have pastor shane willard he is like a wow preacher like you listen to him and you go wow i never thought of that wow i never saw it like that he is from um south carolina yes in america and he was trained by a rabbi he preaches from the jewish perspective of the bible so he gives you all this information that you didn't know by simply writing it he has been ministering to our staff to our greenhouse students have had amazing sessions with him and he did an episode for a green room so make sure you sign up for green room uh to be able to get some of that as well and so he's coming today to share with us it's a great word he speaks all over the world but i guess in this season just in australia so we're glad that we've had him so come on kingdom city if you're standing please everywhere standing let's give honor to pastor shane willard thank you very much thank you very much you can be seated oh it's so good to be here with you it's um an honor to be with my kingdom city family if you're the type likes following an actual bible first john chapter three we're gonna get there in just a second for everybody uh joining us for our online service uh thanks so much for the opportunity to be in your living room or dining room or or bedroom or whatever wherever you're watching on your device um anytime i speak i want a couple things to happen i want jesus to get bigger the cross to work better the resurrection to be central and scripture is to get bigger not smaller and i hope that um is your experience today as we engage the story in the scripture we're going to look at because when you open the bible you want to ask a couple of questions one what happened and two more importantly what's happening in me right now because of what happened and what does this mean for an eventful way of looking at the world because at kingdom city we are not called to be people who believe in jesus we are called to be more profound than that jesus is not simply somebody to believe in jesus is somebody to connect to to fundamentally shape the way we see our whole world and that's two different things and so in that vein i want to i want to look at something john said it's an ancient letter written to the first century church the first century i'm going to read out of the middle of it so i'm going to set up the context for a second because it's the middle of the book so what's going on here is john is writing back to a church that started to be divided i know it's going to surprise you but hold on hold on to something the church of jesus christ in the first century started to divide over doctrinal debates now we would never do that today we understand that there's one christ that unites us all and we would never show the world how divisive we could be because we simply disagree with somebody we've evolved far past that that doesn't really really apply to us but in the first century was a problem in the first century if you're not picking up my sarcasm i was laying on play thick there in the first century they started to be divisive over doctrinal bait so john is writing this letter back to sort of go hey let's keep the main thing the main thing and here's the here's the entire book of first john up to chapter 3 in about 20 seconds ready here we go everything you saw in jesus christ was true since the beginning of time before the foundation of the world jesus did not inaugurate a new reality he just simply showed you what god was always like from the beginning that god was like jesus exactly like jesus god had always been like jesus we did not know that but now we do and because god is like jesus god has always been like jesus we did not know that but now we do god had always been in the forgiveness business but he wasn't just forgiving jews he was forgiving everybody everywhere the whole entire world is letting on the good news all right which leads me to john chapter three and for the basically the rest of the book is essentially this what difference does it make if you're the most doctrinally correct group of people in the world if you're not known for being the nicest group of people in the world what difference does it make if you understand all these mysterious doctrines if all that understanding about god doesn't motivate you to be more centered on jesus more centered on compassion what difference does it make if you believe all the right things if all that belief doesn't leave us to a life of love so if i was to say kingdom city all over the world exists to be communities of christ-centered people who are determined not to just believe in jesus but to see the world how jesus saw the world and be communities of love in our world that is something called obvious if i said look kingdom city exists wherever we exist in the world to be christ that are communities of love no one goes no we need less love the the problem is is that if i say something obvious without language around what that means that obvious thing becomes a platitude and platitudes lose their energy pretty quickly and so what i want to do is put some language around this by borrowing from john's language in 1st john this is first john chapter 3 verse 11. and this is the message you heard from the beginning we should love one another do not be like cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother and why did he murder him because his own actions were evil and his brothers are righteous do not be surprised by brothers and sisters if the world hates you for we know that we have passed from death to life because we get all of our doctrines straight nope we know we passed her death to life because we did the right ritual at the right time in the right moment of the right posture we know we've passed from death to life because we love each other anyone who does not love remains in death and anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him so let's examine this with what happened and then let's ask the question what's happening in us right now because of what happened so let's let's say it this way for john to choose to be in love or to live in love you're experiencing some version of eternal life right now that for john eternal life is not something that starts when you die eternal life is something that starts right now and when you die it just carries on heaven is not a place you go someday heaven is a place that can be firmly established in you now so that when you do go to heaven you don't get whiplash that's the idea that when you love you're experiencing some version of eternal life now and conversely when you hate you're experiencing some version of death now see for us life and death tend to be static images you live you die that's how westerners or modern people think about life and death it's not wrong in terms of the context by which we visualize it but words always matter less than how we picture those words functioning so for us life and death are static are you alive or dead not in the first century in the first century life and death were words that spoke of a dynamic dimensions or dynamic realms that you could move in and out of and in scripture it's presented as a choice life or death choose life that you might live obviously a metaphor not literal life no one chooses when they're born no one chooses when they die right this is about choosing to live in god's ways or choosing to live outside of god's ways and they called those things life or death see the problem is for us we obsess about life after death it's an obsessive topic it it's taken over the western world in particular what happens after you die like if i if i died today and you came to my funeral on thursday and then i showed up here next sunday i'd ruin your service right they'd be like oh my goodness shane willard's back whatever we have cancel it get that man a mic we're gonna have a q a with a guy who lived died and rose again right what would the first question be it wouldn't even be are you okay are you thirsty it would be oh no no no solve the mystery please please tell us what happens after death here's the problem with that jesus lived died and rose again comes back from the dead how much does he talk about after death none how much to talk about heaven none how much does he talk about hell none i find that unbelievable what i find more unbelievable is no one asked him jesus comes back from the dead you would expect the response to be ha you're back what was heaven like what was hell like we heard you preach there how'd your altar call did you clean out hell you rascal you you know when you rose from the dead tombs everywhere empty all these weird things they could have asked him not one person asked him that's unbelievable jesus comes back from the dead and their response was ha you're back great are we going to take over rome now is it now the kingdom is coming to the earth see for us there's an obsession on how to have life after death for john in first john he's not really dealing with that question he's dealing with how to have life before you die how to live here what does it look to be a person of love here now today the word he uses is metabolicamen which is a long greek word that just simply means to change basis essentially he says if you're finding your life on the basis of death and you want to know that you've been moved to the basis of life your first choice is to choose to be a person of love for your fellow man in other words if you're finding your life going to disrepair you're finding it taking more energy to go less distance you're finding yourself non-consenting to god's consent of love you're finding yourself making life hard on yourself if you want to if you're finding your life on the basis of death and you want to know that you've been moved to the basis of life your first choice not your only choice but your first choice is to choose to be a person of love now again that's a platitude if we don't have language for that why why does kingdom city exist all over the world for everybody joining us for our online service wherever you're watching this from why does kingdom city exist in your world and that is this we intend to be an intentional group of people who seek to see the world how jesus saw the world by being a people of love now what does that mean let's examine some language around this so for john one entry point into life is to commit to loving each other let's see if we can frame this a few different ways central to seeing the world how jesus saw the world we'll call that christian so when i say christian i don't mean a group of people who believe in jesus i mean a group of people who are fundamentally committed and connected to the risen christ in such a way that it fundamentally shifts the way we see our whole world central to the christian worldview is seeing all of life as a gift everything's free in other words if you look at your life god consistently predictably treats us not as we deserve but as we're worth like god doesn't consider what we can pay back before he blesses us with life right and i'm talking about some big free gifts too like life free none of us deserve to be here none of us deserve to be there if you're breathing air right now you don't what did we do to deserve that did we introduce our parents no did we give them amorous feelings for each other no we did not right we don't deserve to be alive on this earth here's another good one breath free everybody take a deep breath in and wherever you're watching online i want you to do it too everybody take a deep breath in and then out that was free and we take it for granted everybody takes breathing for granted until you can't the the only people who don't take breathing for granted are people with asthma where they suddenly can lose their ability to breathe or emphysema or pneumonia or if you have a rare lung disorder but in general just the normal joe blow walking right like we we take breathing for granted we just kind of do it and and we don't think about how valuable that free gift is until we can't like if you've ever acutely lost your ability to breathe like if you've ever choked uh you understand how saying i i've choked one time my whole life i'm 45. i choked one time and my whole life it was horrible i was i was meeting someone at a thai restaurant in germa side on the west side of brisbane um and i made a horrible first impression um i swallowed a piece of calamari down the wrong pipe and when i say down the wrong pipe i not mean sort of i mean like way down and i was really far down in there i suddenly lost my ability to breathe and honestly all the things i thought mattered didn't like i was making noises you can't believe i didn't think it was possible to make those kind of noises i actually didn't care what kind of impression i make to be frank with you i made a terrible first impression she didn't call back you know what i'm saying i just i and all the things i thought were important weren't like before that moment i thought money was important in that moment i'd have wrote a check for everything i had just to get breath like suddenly it was important how i looked to the person i was trying to impress suddenly that wasn't important what i put all over my clothes wasn't important and because my breath my free gift of breath was taken away from me suddenly things that i normally am not okay with i was okay with like a thai man that i've never met putting his fingers in my mouth i'm normally not okay with that i don't want men putting their stinking fingers in my mouth not under normal circumstances but not that day this thai man come running out of the kitchen because they were yelling for help this thai man come running out of the kitchen never met him in my life he put me in a reverse headlock took his two fingers and shoved it down my mouth and i loved it i was like oh yeah get you some of that right why because the gift was taken from me and when that gift is taken from you the value of that gift gets exaggerated here's another free gift forgiveness that's free like no one in here and no one watching online none of this is none of our stories you know what god was like really grumpy with me and he wasn't gonna forgive me but then i prayed the right prayer at the right moment at the right time in the right place in the right posture and i gave the right offering and god was like you know what i wasn't going to forgive you but now i will no what it's free resurrection's free and we take that for granted because resurrection isn't something that happened one time it's actually a fundamental way the world works that death never gets the last word resurrection always gets the so anytime something dies it's just something new it's starting and it's happening in every person right now as you sit and every person watching online it's happening right now on you right where you're sitting wherever you're wherever you're watching this online i was take a second once you look at your hand resurrection your hand is resurrection it's happening right now let me tell you what i mean the skin on your hand is 28 days old it's brand new 28 days ago that skin did not exist why because skin cells replicate themselves every 28 days and we know that that that's why we don't panic in the winter when we wake up and there's a bit of dandruff on our pillowcase right our response is never oh no i'm losing skin at an alarming rate at this rate i'll be dead in 28 days no we just know it's replicating itself so if all of life is a gift life breath forgiveness resurrect all big things salvation huge free these things are free gifts then that means certain things don't belong in the light and certain things don't belong in life so certain things don't belong and seeing the world jesus saw the world like greed greed doesn't belong if all of life's a gift you can't hoard it to yourself that's not how that's not how the world works that's not how jesus saw the world to use a hyperbolic example murder treating someone else's gift of life as less important than your gift of life that doesn't belong how how does that have a place right complaining come if all of life is a gift complaining has no place right you imagine if christmas comes and and you give someone a gift and their response is they open the gift and they're like really that was your best effort are you serious like if somebody did that it's the problem with the gift giver or the gift receiver it's always but how many of us devalue the gift god's given us by complaining about the gift set i like we've been given life and breadth and forgiveness and resurrection and salvation and mission and passion and personality and purpose and we're like yeah but i want someone else's like that doesn't belong and it's uncompelling let me illustrate years and years and years ago i was the single and young adults pastor at a large church this is oh 23 years ago right and so i loved it we had this big thing going it was awesome it was so much fun i loved almost every bit of it except single adult are notorious for obsessing about the one thing in their life they don't have namely a spouse so half my week was spent listening to this shane i just want to be married i want to be married chain i want to be married shane pray for me to be married shane i just want to be married chain just want to be married please pray for me to be married chain i just want to be married and i was like no you don't follow my logic here if you're struggling with the stress of being single you don't have a prayer on earth coping with the stress of being married like a single person's prayer tickles me it goes something like this for all of you online this is for youtube dear blonde hair blue eyed english speaking jesus shane here let me tell you about my life i'm 27 i'm able bodied and i'm single but i'm stressed let me tell you about my life lord i get to do what i want to do when i want to do it i don't have to run it by anybody before i do what i want to do when i want to do it nor do i have to feel guilty about doing what i want to do when i want to do it and most importantly lord jesus no one on this earth is spending my money other than me but despite all these things that i know sounds awesome i'm still stressed so i'm asking you lord jesus to entrust me with one of your daughters in order to make my life harder [Applause] no way the problem is is that my master's degree is in clinical psychology so so i was also the church psychotherapist now 90 of church counseling is what kind of counseling marriage so half the week was this shane i want to be married i want to be married i want to be married i want to be married i want to be married you don't want to be married the other half of the week was shane we want to be single we want to be single we want to be single the married people wanted to be single the single people wanted to be married and i was like i don't know what to do i can hook you all up seriously like seriously no one wanted to bloom in the field they were planted in like honestly if you're married be the best married person in the room right [Applause] what other hope do you have pray for a comet to come to earth to bring you sweet relief and if you're single be the best single person in the room the most attractive single people are not the ones begging god for a spouse they're the ones waking up every day saying yes to the infinite possibilities god has for them the throttles on the ground and one day they might realize someone's doing it with them because you got to be choosy about these things listen in jesus day the average age of death was 32 till death do us part was more doable now you got to live with them to 84. you got to be careful there's a couple things if i could take i'm gonna do it aside here and just wherever you're watching this i want to talk to the single adults as authentically as i can for a second and wherever you are if you're married you better say amen to this after this because i'm right about this first the most attractive single people are not the ones focused on what they don't have they're the ones taking audit of what their field has and doing everything they can with passion in that field right that that's that's first second if you're a single adult you do not need to find the one that's just stupid you need to become the one that the one you're looking for is looking for right if i mean if you're going to make a list the list should be where am i someone that someone like this is looking for right and i would just say in general because most people don't think of it that way put your list away like if like they're embarrassing like if have you seen these lists where people say hey shane i've got this list i believe in god for a spouse i'm believing god for his spells i've got my list i've got my have you seen these lists seriously i had a guy just a while back now he was asking me to pray for him to find a wife right he had a list i said let me see your list you should have seen this list right i'm convinced this woman doesn't exist she was blonde for the sake of appropriateness curvy she was successful educated she had money and she was emotionally low maintenance all in one power packed package i said to him i said might that tells you where he lived i said mate this girl's a 10. he said of course she's a 10 pastor shane when you're believing god you believe god for attend we serve the god of more than enough we serve the god of the possible if you're making a list you believe god for a ten i said but bro you're a four like on your best day you're a four girls like this don't marry people like you girls like this very brain surgeons the last thing you need is for god to bring this girl in your world she wouldn't give you a time of day what you need to do is become a seven yourself lower your standards thirty percent and something might have it one other thought you single adults you listen to me i'm telling you the truth the married people fixing to tell you i am never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ask someone to change while you're dating dating is someone's sincerest attempt to impress you if their sincerest attempt to impress you fails to impress you leave [Applause] when you're dating pick the thing about them that annoys you the most multiply it by five add some occasional horrendous smells under the covers and you got marriage if you still love them you probably found the one and all the married people said [Applause] [Music] back to what john is saying so john is saying wait a minute if jesus is a fundamental way of seeing the world not just somebody to believe in that means we should be a people of love what does that mean it means taking an audit of our life and realizing that god is consistently and predictably and intentionally always treating us not as we deserve but as we're worth actually that was the that was the first definition remember they asked jesus they said jesus what's god like and he's like what's god like um uh think about it like birds and flowers like they do nothing to deserve it but god feeds them and clothes them because they're worth it how much more worth in other words if you want to know what god's like god treats people as they are worth and not as they deserve so here's my question is kingdom city all over the world are we treating people as they are worth or as they deserve when i say we exist to be a people of love here's what i mean by that we are intentionally trying to see the world how jesus saw the world not simply believing jesus we're also intentional about treating people as they are worth and never as they deserve now this is the very next verse watch john's specific application for what love looks like here's what he says and this is how we know what love is jesus christ laid down his life for us so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters in other words you got what you don't deserve look around and find ways to do the same for others and then he gets very specific if anyone has material possession and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them how can the love of god be in that person in other words you see a need you know you could meet the need and you purposely do nothing and you think god lives in that how i'd love to hear your theological argument for that john in great rabbinical tradition leaves it as a question if you can see a need and know it's within your power to meet the need in other words don't be stressed about things you could do nothing about what if christianity wasn't known for ranting on the internet about things we could do nothing about and christianity became a group of people who when they saw needs that they could do something about they refused the temptation not to engage it if you see a need and you know you can meet the need and you have no pity on the thing how can god be in that dear children let us not love with words or speech but with actions in other words don't be a group of people say we love you here we live what what's that love is a function by which we will treat you as you are worth and not as you deserve love is a function by which we see the world as jesus saw the world not just believe in jesus and love is a function by which an entire community of people wherever we find ourselves when we see a need and we know we can meet the need we do not refuse to do what we can do to meet that need he keeps going watch this next slide this is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence if our hearts condemn us we know that god is greater than our hearts and he knows everything dear friends if our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before god and receive from him anything we ask because we keep his command now i don't have time to go through the the depth of this but just trust me the word keep there words matter less than how we picture words functioning the word keep there does not mean to obey the commands actually he goes to great length earlier in the letter to go anyone who claims to obey the commands is a liar and the truth is not in them the word keep there is an ancient greek word that was a wartime word for a castle it's called a castle keep it was a place of last defense it's where you put the vulnerable in time of it that's where we draw a line of defense now we use the same word today in two areas one is athletics in soccer or football we have goal keepers in ice hockey you have goal keepers their job is not to obey the goal their job is to protect the goal to defend the goal we also use it in child care if you were holding a two-year-old and an emergency happened you had to tend to very quickly you might find someone you trust you might hand them the two-year-old and you might say hey i'll be right back please keep her for me for a second that doesn't mean obey the two-year-old that means defend the two-year-old protect the two-year-old make sure the two-year-old doesn't get harmed so what john says is he says in being a community of love we are to defend jesus's keep the command which leads to this question which command and this is his command to believe in the name of his son jesus christ and to love one another as he commanded us see sometimes people ask me hey where do you draw the line like where's your because i preach all over the world and all kinds of different denominations all kinds of different stuff right people say well they don't agree with you and you don't agree with them or you i'm like course i'm okay like are you serious the world should see the christ that holds us all together more than we need to be right about some point of view right so so where do i draw the line i'll discuss doctrine that's fine but we're going to defend love at all costs this is where we draw the line to believe in the name of jesus and to love one another as he commanded us to now what is love it's a function by which we intentionally see the world as jesus saw the world instead of simple belief it's a function by which we treat people as they are worth and not as they deserve and it's a function by which when we see needs and we know we can meet the need we do everything we can do to meet that need now there's a sentence in there that doesn't read well well here's what it says in english if anybody has material possession and sees a brother sister in need and has no pity on them how can god be in that that's a weird sentence i can read greek okay i know nerd alert i can read great and i could tell you it is a weird sentence in greek translators have had trouble with that sentence so so one of the things you do one of the most basic bible study things you could do is check different translations let me show you four different ones um the niv says have no pity on them that's the one we read i see a need i know i could meet the need i'm gonna have no pity on them the isv the nlt says show no mercy to them i see it i know i could do something no mercy for you the isv says withhold compassion from them the asv says shut up compassion toward them how can a sentence be so difficult that all these translators are going what do we make of this but but my personal favorite is the king james version and in this case it nails it let me show it to you next time shutteth up thou bows on them how good is that isn't it amazing how much the english language has changed in the 1600s when the king james version was translated it was a good thing to open your bell on somebody it was a metaphor for charity it doesn't mean that now i get it like it's it's um i'd like to go on record right now i'd like to keep all of i'd like all of you to keep your bowel shut in my general direction i i i get it but in this one case the king james version totally nails it it gets it exactly literally right and here's what here's why in the first century the center of your being was not your heart so today the center of our being is our heart let me give you an example if you want to tell someone you love them you say i love you with all my heart or man i gave my heart to that or i engaged in that with all my heart it's like an infinite metaphor for the center of everything i am is found in my heart and so i loved i loved that movie man that really spoke to my heart so we we have all these metaphors around the heart being the center of our being not in the first century in the first century the center of your being was your bowel it was the it was the lower part of your stomach the reason is is because by observation babies come out of here and so if babies come out here the idea is is you grow life there you deliver life there this the center of your being must be the lower part of your stomach and so that so so the first let me give you example in the first century if you were dating someone and you said sweetie i just love you with all my heart she'd be like you creepy weirdo get away from me the beating thing in your chest that's so weird right but if you were dating someone in the first century and you really wanted to express how much you loved them here's what you would say you'd say sweetie [Music] oh boy i just got to tell you um i just love you with all my bowel well if you said that she'd be like oh you move my bells too this was the the way they they talked let let me show it to you in the original this is the original greek john wrote it in okay the original language says clay say tosh blackner your bowel um don't close your spite now see here's what he says he says if you want to be a community of love if you see a need and you know you can meet the need and you clay say tash black na you as the kjv says it shutteth up their vows if you clay a satosh black now how can god be in that now we would say don't close your heart don't close your light source we would say that way in the first century they said it more poetically and quite frankly more impactfully don't clay a satosh blacknaw so for john to be a community love it's about seeing the world of jesus all the world it's also about treating people as they are worth and not as they deserve but i would say if i summarize this whole message in one sentence it's john's key to entering life is to open your splechna what does that mean it means when we see needs and we know we can meet the need we do everything we could do to open our splatners all over that need that we do not stress ourself with things we could do nothing about but if we only pay attention to where we see needs and know we can meet those needs that we open our splatners on the need now great sermons are not meant to be agreed with uh nor disagreed with they're meant to be wrestled with for application and the best way to wrestle about what's going on right now is to ask the right questions so let's ask a few questions about this like one do you encounter god yet leave the same like is that your story so you come in and you have truly meaningful experiences with god and wherever you're watching this in our online service you're you're encountering god in these services but then you start to question i wonder if any of this works because i'm in i'm engaging with god but then i leave the same so i wonder if it's all a lie so we could go egocentric and go i'm the key to everything so if it doesn't work for me it doesn't work for anybody so i wonder if this doesn't work and that's ridiculous the question is not whether it works or not it works for lots of people and the question i would like to set you free from is maybe it's not working not because you're a bad person it might be because you're engaging with a close blackness instead of an open one there's something held back there's a protectiveness or maybe we could ask it this way do you relate to someone who's hard to love you know that person you just wish god would go ahead and take him to heaven right that one what if what if it's what if the issue isn't the conflict it's both people or one side is engaging it with a cloche black now instead of an open one but the most obvious application for today is this do you see a need and you know you can do your part to meet the need so why don't right now before we give you a photo and why don't i stop and talk to the online audience and to everybody here and let's quiet the white noise of our week and just ask this question if you're brave enough holy spirit would you speak to my heart about a need that i know i could meet please don't burden me with things i don't have the resources to do anything about would you speak to my heart about a need and i know it's within my power to do my part to meet the need let's look this way in a few weeks time kingdom city is going to be engaging in something they call a miracle offering which is essentially everybody doing their part with resources in order to take the vision of kingdom city for a decade um wherever you would be watching this from kingdom city does not have a vision deficit problem okay you look at what we're doing around the world it's amazing the question with that offering is not is it right or wrong it's is your splatnut open or closed it's do i have the resources to do my part to meet a need it is statistically improbable that there's not a few people who could give a thousand dollars to that and let me finish and wouldn't even feel it like you wouldn't know you like a month later you wouldn't notice what are you gonna do bro open your splackner man it's statistically improbable that there's not a few that can give ten thousand and you wouldn't notice it a month later what are you gonna do you're gonna close your splatna or open it it is in a in an organization besides the kingdom city it is statistically improbable that there's not a few that could drop a hundred thousand dollars in gift to that offering and not realize it a monthly like you would you wouldn't make any difference to your life a month later your your net worth would go from 10.1 million to 10 million oh no what will you do are you going to open your splatna are you going to close it you might be thinking here or wherever you're watching this you might be thinking shane hold on seriously seriously you're misjudging me um i only have four dollars to my name seriously that's all i got i got four dollars that's it okay then hear me if you only have four dollars you are not the financial answer to anything you probably need a different job right but let's take money for a second and let's put it to the side let's pretend money doesn't exist for just a second here's the one thing that we all have the same amount of time all of us are gifted each week the 168 hours of time and you know what in an organization that does not have a vision deficit you mean to tell me that you can't look around wherever you participate in kingdom city and find a place of need that we know we can meet today i pulled up at kingdom city and i didn't know where to park for six seconds which is an appropriate amount of time to be confused within six seconds a very nice person was guiding me to let me know that i was going in the right direction as a guest well that's important you mean to tell me that we can't use a few more friendly people out there who are involved in our connect groups and that carry the heart of kingdom city that go wait hang on hang on let me what's our story i can't show up 30 minutes early and be nice to people yet i'm going to pray for god to give me more why would god ever give us more when we're not using what's within our power to use now why would that ever how would that ever work [Music] open your splatna man you know somewhere in this facility and around kingdom cities around the world there are people looking after our children and giving them age-appropriate education and you know what i don't know who they are but i know i love them why because without them kids would be running around in here disrupting the whole thing and moms would be spending half the time shut up be quiet sit down why because age-appropriate education for children is important i shouldn't be a children's pastor i'd be horrible children shouldn't have to listen imagine if i was asked to speak to kids all right boys and girls we're going to talk about splatness no learning the fruit of the spirit is being patience that's what needs to be happening right by people who know what they're doing at very least thank them on your way out for what they do you mean to tell me that there's not room for some friendly people to be a part of molding the values of the next generation what's our story there no i can't be 20 minutes early and be nice to kids what open your splatna man you kidding me be a part of a connect group and then open your splatna look some at some point probably friday nights i'm guessing is is is kingdom city's youth ministry and let me tell you something about youth in 25 years they'll be running the joint and we'll be complaining about what they do but we can't complain about where the next generation takes the world if we're not willing to be a part of molding their values when it's moldable that doesn't make any sense what's our story there come on man open your splechna you might be the best musician in perth and you're sort of holding that to yourself listen and let me be clear this is an awkward one okay let me because i gotta if you're not sure if you're good or not get it checked out first by somebody not named mom [Music] but if you're really good what's your story i can't give a couple hours a week to help cancel the white noise that people live with six days a week to help them become aware of what god's been up to says before i can't do that what open your splatna man say you don't know me man you know me i'm a jerk no one would want me on their team okay couple thoughts on that one if you know you're a jerk here's an idea stop being a jerk [Music] see the world of jesus all the world treat peoples they are worth and not as they deserve but if what you mean by that is i'm introverted and i don't like people that's okay you could always be a sound guy there's a wall separating you from the entire room you just turn knobs make it sound nice you know if you're really introverted they could dress you in all black you could be like a camera ninja there's always a place for us to live and learn love why what does that mean it means we intentionally seek to see the world how jesus saw the world not just believe in jesus we we're intentional consistent predictable about treating people as they are worth and not as they deserve and may kingdom city be a place that when we see a need and we know we can meet the need that we consistently open our splatnus all over that need now let's quiet our spirit for a second and ask holy spirit speak to our heart about a need i know that i could meet maybe you're here maybe you're online maybe you're watching on a device and maybe your next move is to open your heart to jesus and you've heard you've heard different language around that your whole life like give your heart to jesus trust jesus put your faith faith in jesus accept him as your lord and savior or maybe something like get saved and you've wondered i wonder what that even means all those words can come in here here's what it means it means that before the foundation of the world god was writing your story and what you've experienced up till now is in some version a counter narrative to that story it's a story we write on our own and salvation is any time we surrender to god's version of our life story instead of the one we've been writing on our own and we allow god to be the one who writes our story and then holds it together as the song says and so what i'm asking you to do is to consider online right where you are if you'd like to make this decision you can just put your hand over your heart or whatever gesture um you you feel comfortable with and and for those of you in the room if you'd like to respond to this just so i'll know you're responding if you could lift your hand up and say you know what today's my day i would like to trust god's version of my life story instead of the one i've been writing on my own i'd like to surrender and put my faith and trust in that if that's you would you just slip your hand up in the air really quick so i can see like no one's looking around i see you there that's that's awesome that's awesome anybody else yep over there yeah great great we celebrate that with you you have anybody else over there yep awesome awesome any anybody else right anybody else at all okay over there i see that great and over here great it's a it's a it's a decision and it's never that god was grumpy with you and then you made this decision now he suddenly changed his disposition jesus did not come to change god's mind about you he came to change your mind about god and say you know what hang on there's a story that you can surrender and trust to i'd like to be the lord of that story and if you're online and you'd like to make that decision you can just make that decision right where you are and if you need a word some sort of prayer to pray you can pray something like this lord jesus today i'm choosing to put my trust in your version of my life story instead of the one i've been writing on my own i'm surrendering to that i choose to consent and participate in your version of my story amen did you look this way thank you so much for being part of your your day and and thank you so much for letting me be a part of your life online um i hope jesus got bigger the crosswork better the resurrection of central scriptures got bigger not smaller may we be people who live in love to see the world how jesus saw it treat people as they are worth and not as they deserve and if we see a need and we know we can meet the need we open our splatnuzz all over that knee grace and peace everybody [Music] come on kingdom city can we stand to our feet and just honor and thank the man of god pastor shane willard for that incredible word right around the world as well come on let's give honor where honor is due so powerful so challenging if you have just raised your hand or if you're watching online and you've just made a commitment in your heart we believe that you have just made the best decision that anyone could ever make and so can we just celebrate that one more time people taking steps closer to jesus we believe that every step is a miracle if you're joining us online there's a link that's appearing on your screen now please click it we'd love to connect with you and help you on this journey of faith that you're on for those that are in the room after we close today please don't rush off you've just made a profound and powerful decision and we want to take this seriously we want to put a bible in your hand introduce you to some great people point you in your next steps and so we'd love to invite you again to join us in our connect lounge before you go what we're going to do right now is we're going to receive a love offering for pastor shane and so here in perth the ushers are getting ready now if you're watching online there's a link that's appearing on your screen as well if you'd like to contribute towards this love offering i love i love pastor shane's heart i love the the gift that is on his life he travels from place to place doesn't take a salary from any church he just is faithfully obeying god moving from place to place bringing the word of god so profound so powerful in a moment we'll talk about his resources that he's brought as well but get this everything that is sold his teachings his books all of the proceeds from those sales go towards charity he supports orphanages across china that's the kind of guy that he is and today it's our privilege to be able to sow into his ministry and just believe that the gospel will continue to be preached right around the world so here in perth if you need a one card another one you may raise your hand now the team will get that to you you can also give it the giving booth after the service or online the options are appearing on the screen we're going to pray before we pass the bucket so would you bow your heads close your eyes father we thank you god for the gift of god that is on path to shane's life father we declared that you would continue to bless his ministry that father as he moves from place to place god that his teaching would continue to draw people closer to you lord we pray that his teaching would continue to bring revelation and understanding of the scriptures to people right around the world father we thank you for every person here today that is faithful and obedient and generous in their hearts to give father we pray just like the scripture says that the the world of the generous gets larger and larger and father we pray that that would be so true to everyone who is generous in their heart to give today in jesus mighty name we pray and everyone said amen amen well thank you ashes you can pass the buckets now just as we close our service if we could restrict the movement uh in the auditorium uh pastor shane has come today with a whole host of resources and here in the room if you'd like to purchase maybe one of his books or one of his teachings he's brought usbs he's brought electronic things he's brought physical hard copy books as well you can head to the resources booth after the service now as we said earlier all proceeds from his sale of resources go towards helping the charitable organizations that he has partnered with those online there is a link appearing on your screen right now to go straight to his website to purchase those as well can everyone here in perth one more time just give it up for everyone who's joined us online today right around the world god bless you we love you we'll see you guys next week jesus jesus [Music] jesus [Music] in jesus jesus jesus jesus [Music] jesus you

Channel: Kingdomcity

Views: 13,595

Rating: 4.9402986 out of 5

Keywords: mark varughese, church service, church online, mark, mark varagas, mark varugas, mv, jemima varughese, jemimav, kingdomcity, kingdomcity perth, kingdomcity online, kingdomcity kuala lumpur, kingdomcity kl, church, preacher, brian houston, lisa bevere, sunday, sermon, message, speaker, christian speaker, christian sermon, jesus, god, holy spirit, holy ghost, god is good, steven furtick, bill johnson, pentecostal, kingdomcityonline

Id: CWNc5bu_rGM

Length: 88min 32sec (5312 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 26 2021