JUN 24 2020 | Sparking the Flames of Revival S1E4 | Fasting

Sea Change Church · Sparking the Flames of Revival · "Fasting" · June 24, 2020
Genesis 27:30–38
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Hi LJCF, it's Carmen here hailing from the Middle East. I want to say hi and I love you and I miss you all and I'm lifting you up. I know this has been really difficult few months with Corona, but we are coming through and this week I have your weekly reading from Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 through 18. I am still here in the Middle East working to advance the kingdom and today you'll just have audio because I'm in a country with much less religious freedom and I don't want to cause any potential problems for the people that I associate with here.

So here's your reading from Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 through 18. When you fast, will reward you. The word of the Lord. And well, hey, thanks to Carmen. You are, oh, we got a video. Play that video, my bad. Do it. I want us to see what is a Christian. What is a follower of Jesus Christ? I would like to use as a subject from which to preach this morning. Remaining awake through a great revolution. I'm not asking you tonight that you won't not kneel down and make confession.

And after that, your life was no change. Your lifestyle was no different. Your appetite was no different. Your prayer life was no different. Come on. Well, amen. You get it all here. You get readings from the Middle East. You get Pastor Jim and his Parsons hat. He actually wrote in on a donkey to read that, which was awesome. It's amazing. I didn't know he owned a donkey or was it a mule? I don't remember. And if you want to know who mixed the beat track behind the revival video, you're looking at him.

So I just want you to know, I downloaded some, I got some new tools. Comes COVID quarantine tools and mixing beat tracks on a Serato studio is one of them. So just FYI, when you hear those things, you will know. Let's get to the things that matter. We are moving to, continuing to move into episode four of the Sparking Revival series and Sparking the Flames of Revival. And it's a series that talks about tipping points.

If you have heard of the book Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, many of you have. It is a book that talks about small things that end up going viral. He talks about everything from actual viruses to why hush puppies became really popular with kids in the 1980s after it was an almost defunct company. And within one year, it'd become one of the most popular brands was on Paris, you know, runways when that was happening.

He talks about crime epidemics and how that happens. He talks about all types of things, even hamburgers. When you look at McDonald's and things of this nature, how does something go from something that is small, almost unknown to going viral? And this is what we see happen with revivals all of the time. He says in The Tipping Point, the tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, a trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold and tips and spreads like wildfire.

Let me say it again. A tipping point is that magic moment. He calls it magic, but in the spirit world, we would say that spiritual moment, that moment where the momentum of God says yes. There's a levying, a breaking of the dam, that spiritual moment. You're looking for that one extra person, that one extra prayer. Sometimes I wonder how many revivals have been missed by one prayer. If it was just one prayer, it is, is God, does he act like that?

Does he, you know, is he, is he, is he, is he, is he, is he, you know, some, some kind of God that's, that's, you know, trying to test us all the time? No, but he's looking for collaboration. And the amount of collaboration often has to do with the if. And so he says, the tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, spreads like wildfire. I believe that as a church, let's not even talk about a nation, as a church, we are moving towards a tipping point.

It's not a tipping point, perhaps, of numerical growth. But as a church, I am seeing a tipping point in the way we respond to the things of the world, the way we respond to each other, the way that we respond to God. Yesterday, a good 10% of our church or more showed up to pray outdoors in public. On their knees, just in one location. If I would have planned that four years ago, I'm not sure 10% would have come. What is the tipping point to become a spiritual people that are no longer concerned what the world thinks?

Caring for people, but not caring what they think. There's a tipping point that happens. Jesus talks about these tipping points a lot. And he talks about the internal, invisible parts of our lives that create tipping points. Now, one of the things, I was trying to think about it today. Is there anything that is massive, like the universe, or a mountain that has come out of the sea, that didn't start with a small nucleus?

With a small movement. Even if you look at the atom, like a nuclear explosion, what does it start? It starts with the splitting of one atom. Over and over again, we see that massive movements start very small. And the more I look at society, the more I even look at secular science that talks about a big bang theory, and even as God has created, God could have created with some massive event. I bet it wasn't small when he did create.

But even they say, secular science says, that this entire universe that you see started with something very, very small. Jesus understood this. And when he speaks, he speaks oftentimes about a smallness of life. An interior life, an invisible life that goes from the inside out. I tried to think of things that started massive and got smaller, that didn't originally have their genesis in a small beginnings. Scripture says, do not despise small beginnings.

And I believe we were seeing some small beginnings. Jim spoke about a zone of people who lived in the Haight-Ashbury district up in San Francisco. And in that time, if you were to ask most Christians what they thought about the Haight-Ashbury district, you might not have got the response that it would be the place from which a revival would come that would change the entire globe. If you look at worship through the vineyard and the different things, if you know your history of revivals, you will know that a group of hippies trying to live an autonomously free life were living in a zone called Haight-Ashbury.

And out of that place, a Jesus spark began. I wonder now, as we look around as Christians and we see different parts of the country where different things are going on, are we always just antithetical to that? Ah, they're not godly. They're not doing this. Or do we have the eyes of God? You see, as many Christians were pointing fingers at an area rather than praying, God was working a small genesis seed. And Jesus talks about this in this passage.

He talks about one of the tools, one of the invisible tools, to change the world. One of the invisible tools to change your life. And so he says at the very beginning of this, when you fast. Now, what is fasting? Fasting is kind of in vogue right now. There's a lot of intermitary, I can't even say it, intermitiary. Is that close enough? Are we close enough there? Fasting. Where we're fasting for health reasons. And while we might fast for health reasons, when Jesus and the Jews of Jesus' day spoke about fasting, they were speaking about a spiritually nuclear atom.

That when we did something within, quiet within our hearts, we did something on the outside, but it was to bring the outside and the inside together. We'll talk about that in a moment in these points. But what is fasting? Fasting is a component. It is not eating, actually, if you're just unaware of that. It is fasting something. So with the Jewish context, it was fasting food. They would not eat for a certain period of time to bring body, mind, and spirit together.

But I put fasting as a component of the inward secret and invisible spiritual life. Fasting is a pause button on the flesh. Fasting is a pause button on the things you do normally to create open spaces in your life. This is what prayer does. Prayer creates margin. Fasting creates margin. Meditation creates margin. Stopping and reading the scripture creates margin. And we do these things invisibly in the secret place for God, with God, in collaboration with God, so that he may do something on the outside of us.

Because change in the Christian life starts with the invisible from the inside out. But fasting is this. And I don't know if this is in your notes, because I usually tend to add a few things in the morning. But we are getting there quickly. Fasting is the willful refraining from eating for a period of time. It is often religious. And it brings into alignment spirit, mind, and body. Spirit, mind, and body. And so what fasting is, and what Jesus is talking about, is Jesus here is giving you a tool.

There are no revivals I know of, personally. I'm sure there might be some. Because there is no, like, recipe. You know, there are some components to the recipe. But God does it as he wants. That did not include people of God willfully sacrificing the flesh, which is eating or other things that they enjoy, for God, for the purpose to say, God, I'm willing to sacrifice my inner flesh. I'm willing to sacrifice my wants so that I can become in alignment with you.

I'm going to say, what fasting does is it brings into alignment the spirit, the mind, and the body. And these three components that God has created, we live so disjointed. Some people are very spiritual. But their physical lives, the way they treat their bodies, have no congruence with their inner spiritual life. And God can do a lot with that. But imagine if we get to a place where spirit, mind, and body, where we are doing these things.

And so Jesus offers something like fasting. And Paul speaks about that as well. It says that I crucify the flesh. I do these things. And Jesus is talking about it. So that I might know God more. It's a pause. Some of us need a pause. We need a pause from the things that we go after. We need a pause for the things that bring our comfort. During the quarantine, I'm sure many of you came face to face with all of the comforts that we use in order to make ourselves feel good.

Some of those were stripped away. Some of those became easily and readily available. And if you look at some of the statistics of alcohol abuse and things like that in the country during the quarantine period, you saw that people start reaching for the things that bring them comfort. But all the time, God's stripping back, stripping back. Fasting, you can fast many things, but Jesus was talking about food, is the willful restraint from eating so that you can bring together your spirit, mind, and body.

I just want to give a book that you can read by Richard Foster, and it's called The Celebration of Discipline. There's a whole chapter on fasting. If you want to go deeper, it'll tell you everything you need to know. Today, I'm not talking about the health components of it. I'm speaking about the spiritual components of it. I'm going to speak about three things, and then we'll be done. The first, the invisible essentials.

That when Jesus speaks about an outward change that sparks revival, he cares about you, and he cares about the invisible essentials. As we prayed on the prayer call Friday before the pastors, all the pastors prayed before the event yesterday, and one of the things I kept hearing come up is God didn't want us there to lead the revolution for him. God didn't want us there to lead some massive event to take the nation for God.

God wanted us there because God loves us, and he wanted to spend time with us as individual pastors. Sometimes you're so busy wielding the sword that you forget that there's a candlelight that burns next to the heath, hearth. And we sit before God in that time. And God wants my heart as much as he wants yours in the invisible essentials. We'll talk about the invisible essentials. You can write that down if it's not in your notes.

The next thing we're going to look at is hypocrites and oil. We're going to talk about being true and having congruency between what's going on in your heart and your actual actions. This matters to God. He would rather have sacrifice than obedience. Excuse me. He would rather have obedience rather than sacrifice, he says over and over again. He wants obedience in the invisible heart. He talks about the hypocrites, and then he talks about oil, which is an anointing, and he speaks about anointing.

We'll speak about this in this passage. And then finally, in verse 18, rewards from a father. So three things. Invisible essentials, hypocrites and oil, and rewards from a father. Let's start with the invisible essentials. Verse 17. But when you fast, put oil on your head, wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your father, who is unseen. And your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

How do we know that this isn't essential? How do we know that fasting is not just for the hyper-awesome, super-religious people in the church? It's not just for the pastors. It's not just for the 90-year-old women who live in their prayer closets and are going after it with God because, you know, they have the time now that they're retired. It's not just for these super-spiritual believers. How do we know that? Well, Jesus, when he speaks to all the followers, doesn't say, hey, if you fast, and you super-Christians, when you fast.

No, he doesn't say that. He speaks broadly to everyone. And he says, but when you fast. Jesus is more speaking of the essentials of the faith here rather than a smorgasbord for you to choose from. I mean, just say that. We love the promises. We love living in the promises of God. But rarely do we live in the commands. I would say, try living in the commands for a while. Not in a way where you, you know, are just constantly, you know, living like, you know, you're guilty and whatever.

But joyfully saying, I want to live in the commands, God. I'm showing up. Where are your commands? Can I please live in them? Not, what should I do? Because God won't love me if I don't do this certain thing. But because you see these commands, and we live in these commands because we love God. Living in the commands. Jesus says, but when you fast here in this verse. This isn't if you fast. It's when you fast. He doesn't give you a, you know, when to fast or how to do it, although the Jews had their laws.

But when you fast. Is this part of your spiritual essentials? I want to say, if you want to have a, give yourself the opportunity to have your mind, your spirit, and your body come into alignment. Try fasting. Try one meal. One of the things I will try to do is I'll do like a thousand calorie a day. Now, trust me, that's not a lot. It's like a thousand calories. That's amazing. That's a lot. I couldn't eat that much, you know.

Well, I'm assuming we eat more than that. But nonetheless, I'll do thousand calorie days just in order for fasting. And I'm trying to get better at fasting. Now, I told you last week that I had success, and I finally asked God. I don't know if I did tell you guys this. I finally told God I will do anything you want. Remember, I told you for like two months I've been dealing with that prayer with God. I've been wrestling with it.

I didn't want to tell God I will do whatever you want. So I finally said to him, everything's submitted. Ask anything of me. Tell me what you want. I'll do it. I'll go to Africa. I'll give you everything I own. You want all the money if I have my four shekels that I have in the bank. And I will give it away, whatever you want. And the answer I got from God, some of you already heard, was, I don't want anything. I was like, really?

Like all that? Months and months? I mean, like fighting to do that? He goes, no, I don't want anything. I'd just love to be with you. If I want anything, I want to do with you. I want to invite you in to do things with me. It was so freeing. So restful. And God here is speaking, and he's inviting us into this as well. He's inviting us into an essential to move forward into these things. And for me, fasting is probably going to be the next level that I want to jump up to, because I haven't been a great faster.

So I want to start trying that. And I want to invite you as a congregation to join me in that, as you can read the book by Richard Foster. Next, it's invisible. It says, your father, who is unseen. Here, Jesus is speaking of spirits in the material world. Here, Jesus is speaking about a dualism, not a Gnostic dualism, which means a complete separation, but that we are spirits that live in a material world. Now, if you are a police fan, you will remember the album Ghost in the Machine, which I love.

I still listen to that album. No, I don't. Just kidding. And it is called Ghost in the Machine. And what that was inspired from was a British philosopher, Gilbert Riles' description of Rene Descartes. Rene Descartes had this idea of a ghost in the machine, which Gilbert Riles came up with this idea of the ghost in the machine based on Descartes. What we mean by it is we have a Holy Ghost in this machine. And sorry to limit us to the language of machine, but you get what I'm talking about.

In this matrix that we live in, the body, mind, and spirit is this Holy Spirit that unites to our spirit. And it is in an invisible place that God works. It's in the invisible places. You know, what's interesting is a lot of us live our entire lives in the machine, and we don't spend time with the Holy Ghost. We don't spend time in the invisible. We don't spend time creating space and margin. The devil loves chaos. The devil loves a lack of margin.

The devil loves lawlessness. What Jesus wants to do is to draw you into himself so that you can have space and margin. Where are you setting aside? It is out of this quiet place in individual believers that a tipping point begins. And I want to see it begin with us. So the challenge is, how's that invisible place going? Are you caring for the invisible place in your heart? The first corner of your heart, four corners, Joe spoke about them.

The first corner, the corner of your heart. Or maybe it needs to be remodeled. Maybe you need to spend some time remodeling that place. Invisible essentials. The essential is fasting. And maybe you can add that to that place. That's the first one. Next, we're going to talk about hypocrites and oil. Verse 17. Do not look somber as the hypocrites do. Now, the hypocrites, when Jesus was speaking, was speaking about the religious people.

He was speaking about me. He wasn't speaking about you. He was speaking about the religious people of the day. Very religious with the big, giant, high hats. Just huge hats and fur coats. And, you know, I was in Israel recently. And I'm not saying that these people were hypocrites. But they walked by. It was probably 105 degrees. And full-length trench coats, fur with fur hats on. It was unbelievable. The dedication.

And I do appreciate some dedication. But the ones that Jesus were speaking about. That's different from the people I saw. Because I believe that they're probably just incredible people that are faithful and devout. But Jesus was speaking about people that did all types of outward symbols. All types of serving the poor. Giving alms to the poor. And all of these things in order to do a virtue signal to the society that inside is really clean.

I'm going to do these things on the outside. I'm going to show you on the outside. I'm going to, you know, use a megaphone. I'm going to cry out loud. In our society it might be, I'm going to post something on my social media account. I'm going to do something. So that you know that I have virtue inside. And everybody can know. And Jesus said there's a group of people who are hypocrites. Because the inside, what they feel.

They hated the poor. They would rob the poor. Jesus speaks about this. They would rob the money from the poor. They would take their houses. There was all types of laws that the Jewish leaders created so that they could rob the houses and rob the poor. They were doing all these things but showing up with all the virtue in the world of all the things that they were doing. And that they were doing right. Jesus says as the hypocrites do.

The word hypocrite is rooted in the Greek word hypocrites. Which means a stage actor. A pretender. A dissembler. In the great divorce. A man is a ghost. The spirit of a man is traveling to heaven on a bus. And he keeps meeting people along the way. And he watches other people. And he sees a woman come up to a man. And the man is about this tall. He's about three feet tall. He's about the size of the Lord of the Rings.

Gimli. The dwarf. And the man is there. And he has a giant tall man with a bolo hat on a chain on his neck. And the woman comes up. We come to find out is the wife of the man. Of the dwarf. And she begins to speak to him. She says Frank. Do you remember how much I loved you? And the man wasn't able to receive the love. And so he had a fake self on the chain. Which was called the tragedian. Which is an actor. And he would pull the chain.

And the tragedian would say. You never loved me. You didn't care for me. I did everything for you. And she would look at him. And she would try to speak. And she had love in her eyes. And she had this incredible love. And she almost breaks. She says let go of the chain. Let go of that acting. Let go of the hypocrite. The tragedian. Let it go. And he almost lets go. But then he catches himself. And he says no. And he jerks the chain again.

And he becomes smaller. And she speaks to him. And he jerks the chain again. And the tragedian begins to speak over and over again. Louder and louder. Until the dwarf. The man. Is no longer. You can no longer see him. And then all you have is the tragedian with the chain. And he's disappeared. Because he's a hypocrite. Because the inside doesn't match the outside. One of the things you'll see with God. Is that God's commands match his character.

Interesting. There's a lot of things that the culture is getting on board with now. That I have to say. We've owned as a church. For 2,000 years. The world is getting involved. Like it's a brand new thing. But many people in the church. People for social justice. Around the world. You can point them out over and over again. Abolitionist. William Wilberforce. All through the country. All through the world. The world is getting on board with something like it's new.

You've got to say. For 2,000 years and beyond. The church. And people within the church. Have been crying out for justice. People like our missionaries. Around the world. You talk to them. They are already doing these things. These things are not new to us. We want to make sure that it matches our hearts. Jesus says. You can do all this virtue signaling. But if it doesn't match your heart. And he says. It means nothing to me.

Will you die for your beliefs? I see a lot of social virtue signaling these days. I see a lot of corporate virtue signaling. And I just wonder. If the money blew in a different direction. If there would be a different signal. My thought is probably. And I question the virtue sometimes. I don't know. I want to pray for it. But my question is to me. As I always turn it backwards. As I ask myself. Will you die for your beliefs?

Is the invisible. Match the outward. And that's a difficult question to ask. Hypocrites and oil. Jesus then says. Put oil on your head. And wash your face. Oil was a sign of anointing. It was a sign of. When you anoint for the sick. For different reasons. But when you put oil and fragrance on your head. It was an anointing like your favorite. It meant that you were cared for. It meant that you were loved. What the hypocrites would do.

Is they would fast. They wanted everyone to know they were fasting. And so they would put sackcloth on. Just you know. Ruddy clothes. And they would tear their clothes. And then they would take ashes. They would bring a bucket. I mean a bowl of ashes. And they'd rub it on their face. And they'd throw it in the air. To say. Oh woe is me. Woe is me. I just want you to know. I identify with the poor. I identify with the sick.

I'm just fasting. Because I love God so much. But all they really wanted. Was to virtue signal. To those around them. That I'm a. That I'm a great person. And what Jesus said. Is when you do these invisible things. Keep them invisible. Keep them invisible. And when you go out. Know this. Go out like you're favored. Yeah. It might be difficult. I'm not asking you to be a hypocrite. And lie. Maybe you don't feel well. You haven't eaten.

But at the same time. What I am saying to you. Is when you go out. Know that you are favored. Know that you are loved. My mom has an incredible statement. She said. You can go a long way in this world. With a Bible. A good attitude. And a smile. Man. That is going in a book someday. I don't know who's going to write it. But that is a really. You can go a long way in this world. With a Bible. A good attitude. And a smile.

I got to say. Jesus is right. And so the question is. As do we do as the hypocrites do. Put oil on your head. And wash your face. I say. This is a. This is a great lesson. A spiritual exercise. To do for a week. For a week. Wash your face. I'm sure you do it already. Get oil. Anoint your head with oil. And walk out. As if you are favored by God. Walk out into the world. As you are. As if you are favored by God. And see if it does not change your day.

And you begin to celebrate on the inward. Maybe even try fasting when you do it. Fast a meal. Put a calorie limit on your day. Do some fasting. But step in. And let the invisible in your life. Become a mansion. There is a. I think it was Teresa of Avila. Or Catherine of Siena. I forgot the. The female monastic. Who wrote the interior castle of the heart. You can look it up. Interior castle of the heart. I'll probably.

Probably neither of them. And it talks about just developing this mansion in your heart. She would meditate on letting Jesus into another area of her heart. And building the interior of her heart. In meditation. And contemplation. That there is this massive castle inside our heart. And it is from that place. That she would step out and change society. Jesus talks about invisible essentials. Hypocrites and oil. And rewards from a father.

This is the final one. As we come and circle the tower. Verse 18. And your father who sees what is done in secret. Will reward you. And your father who sees what is done in secret. Will reward you. The first thing we have to say on Father's Day is this. We do not serve an absentee father. He's not an absentee. And he chose to display himself as a father. I don't know why. He is more than a father. The word father limits God.

He's more than a father. He's more than a mother. He's more than a king. He's more than a savior. He's more than everything. That was a Lionel Harris song. More than everything. He's more than everything. But for some reason. He created us. And then he found the metaphors. He found the words. He found the images. In order to create a pathway of understanding. To what he created. If he would have created us different.

Perhaps we wouldn't have a father God. Perhaps we'd have a mother God. I don't know. But he limited himself. In order. So that we could be. He could make himself understandable to us. And for some reason. And I don't know why. He chose the idea of a father. He chose the idea of a father. And the idea. The Christian world view. Of the necessity. Of a father. Is inseparable. Need for a father. Is inseparable from the gospel.

And that is why. When it comes to a familial system. The church. The church of Christ. Advocates. For a family system. That advocates. For a father. That wants to see. Godly fathers. In the home. And believes that children. Need fathers. And we will not step back from that. To step back from that. Is to step back from the essence of the gospel. Is to step back. From one of the primary. If not the primary. I would say.

The primary metaphor in the Bible. Is God as father. And the call to myself as a father. In my home. And to father. Other children. Or that aren't. That don't have fathers. To step up as a mentor. Or to be a father figure to them. Like Dick Cotton was in my life. Is a calling from God. And is a calling directly. Only to men. To be fathers. In this world. That we represent the good and loving father. Why did God do this?

I don't know. But it's what he did. And it's the truth of the gospel. That I will live according to. And so we have a father. Who's not an absentee father. American studies. See there's a. I put a footnote in your. In your notes. It says. American studies. Into the seemingly. Shows a seemingly incontestable link. Between fatherlessness. And delinquency. Dating back to the mid-1800s. Google fatherlessness. In Africa. Look at the studies.

The things that are having fatherlessness. In our society. When you see. That fathers. Are not in a home. Engaged father. I'm not talking about any father. Just does what he wants. An absentee father. I'm talking about an engaged. Male. Father. Presence. In the home. Makes. A difference. Today on father's day. I want to be. Completely crystal clear. Of my stance. And the stance of our church. On the importance. Of fathers.

In the home. Representing the father God. And a good and loving father. Who is gracious. Finally. Says the father's identity. I put this in the notes. The father identity. Is inseparable. From the Christian worldview. And its understanding. Of the nuclear family. Moving on. Finally then. To a discussion. I have with Elliot. As we close. Is that God will. Reward you. Now this is interesting. The. The longer I was in my faith.

The. The more I cared about God. Rewarding me with stuff. I just wanted stuff. I thought that was cool. The more I have realized. That he's my reward. And I just enjoy. Creating an invisible space. With him in my heart. The less I care about. Getting a reward. I think. Not too long ago. I had a thought. Like if you could ask God. For anything. What would you ask? When we had this. Talked about my daughter. And I thought to myself.

It was funny. I thought. I was. Ice cream cone? Like I know that. World peace. Right? You should say world peace. But I just. When you're like. Content with God. As your reward. You can ask for others. But the sense was. For me. It was kind of like. What do you want from me? And I really couldn't. Come up with anything. Because I'm like. You died on the cross for me. Why do I need a reward? I'm not looking for a reward.

Like. You are my reward. And when you get to heaven. There will be a reward. But God still likes to give rewards. And I talked to Elliot about this. If I haven't plugged Elliot's class enough. And I didn't get the chance to go to gyms. And mine's on Tuesday. There's three more spots left. In my Holy Spirit class. So you can be a part of that. It is a workshop. Not a class. Excuse me. So you're going to get your hands dirty.

He talked about the difference. Between a gift. That the. The gift of Jesus on the cross. Is a gift. That salvation is a gift. You can't earn it. It's a gift. But then he said. There's a difference. Between a prize and a reward. And here's some homework for you. Go look at. Verses. On gifts. Google. Verses on gifts. Biblical verses on prize. And. Biblical verses on the reward. And look at the difference there. There is a reward.

And here's all I can understand. As a father. I know I love giving my kids. Things. I love giving my kids. Things. I like them earning things. As well. But I like giving my kids. Things. I like giving them. Lavish gifts. And I have to hold it back. Because I don't want to. Spoil the children. But at the same time. It's just in my nature. It is the nature of a father. And a mother. It is the nature of a parent. To want to bless your children.

To want to bless them. And to care for them. And to love them. And to send them out. With a blessing. And this is the biggest thing that we see. Is that God will reward us. So. I don't think I'm really. The Bible does talk about going for the reward. And going for the prize. And. And. I think that language is important. But for me. Jesus has been enough of a reward. And enough of a prize. And I think in the end. If you were to.

You know. Extra. Get. Extra. Get these. Words. In the scripture. You would find that Jesus. Is the reward. That he's talking about. But God does give us other things. So these are. This week. Here's your assignment. That you would move into the. Invisible essentials of your life. That you would realize. Where there's hypocrisy in your life. You put oil on your head. That you would go out this week. With the Bible. Smile.

A good attitude. And let the father reward you. As he sees what is done in secret. That we can change the world. There's a tipping point coming. Hopefully a tipping point in your life. And a tipping point for this church. This city. And this world. Amen. Amen. Let's stand. If you would. Chris is going to play a little music. And I'm going to bless. Or Olin's going to play some music. And I'm going to bless you. Because we like to bless you.

And in a world. That is full of curses. We want to bring blessing to you. So. Even if you're. In Papua New Guinea. On the internet right now. I don't know how the internet is down there. Let me extend your hands. I want to bless you. Jesus. We pray the father's blessing. Of mercy. Grace. And kindness over these people. Lord God. That your goodness would come. That your power would come. That you would touch them. Lord Jesus.

And that you would raise them up. And you would begin to reward them. Jesus. For some. You are showing them a place in their mind. Right now. Where you want to meet them. It's a chair at home. It's a place in the backyard. It's a place they'd love to go. It's a place of quiet. That is not the internet. Where we can draw away. And get some space. You're giving them plans. The Holy Spirit is working on a calendar. Some of you see your calendar.

You're seeing a day right now. Say that day. That's the day. That's my day. That's my God day. Really want to focus with you on that day. I want to sit with you. And so Jesus. Bless them with ideas. This is spiritual imagination. Spiritually nuclear imagination. God. And I pray for their hands that are extended right now. And those that are not. That you would bless those hands. And for the hands that work peace. We pray God for their feet.

That you would bless their feet wherever they go. You'd bless their mouth. Their eyes. And their hearts. Mostly God. That they grow the interior castle of their heart. And we send you out now. With a commission to change the world. In the name of the Father. Son. And the Holy Spirit. Amen. We love you. Wear a mask and change the world. See you next week.