Sunday Livestream — 17 May 2026 | Vision Church, Canberra

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]What else could we do? [music] Cry out in worship.

[00:00:09]Praise be your [music] holy eternity.

[00:00:17]You are holy.

[00:00:20]You are worthy. Lord of host, our redeemer, the restorer [music] of our soul.

[00:00:37]You are holy.

[00:00:39]You are worthy. [music] Lord of all, our redeemer, the resurre of our soul. You are craving to be praised.

[00:01:01]Oh, you are [music] craving to be praised.

[00:01:16]Oh God [music] of glory, God of might, we bow down to lift you high. We join the host of [music] heaven singing holy, holy in our praises.

[00:01:41]We glory to your name, Lord. Joy our voice to high worthy Lord.

[00:01:56]God of glory, [music] God of might. We bow down to lift you high. Join [music] the host of heaven singing holy, holy and all praises be glory to your name [music] alone.

[00:02:25]Jo I want to cry out worthy you think worthy of you.

[00:02:47]Who shall we for? We [music] know you are near.

[00:02:55]You are [music] out there and all the wonders [music] of your mercy and all the riches of your grace. [music] Lifting high your name forever [music] will sing with endless pain [music] and all the wonders of your mercy and [music] all the rain shields of your grace.

[00:03:50]Lifting up [music] your name forever.

[00:03:59]We'll sing where [music] they pray.

[00:04:09]Sing along. Sing along.

[00:04:13]The world deserve your mercy. Sing aloud.

[00:04:18]Sing aloud.

[00:04:20]The riches [music] are yours.

[00:04:23]Lifting high. Lifting high. Lift it high. The name of [music] Jesus.

[00:04:31]We'll sing with praise.

[00:04:37]Sing along. Sing along [music] the wonders of your mercy. Sing aloud.

[00:04:46]Sing aloud the riches of [music] your grace.

[00:04:52]Lifting higher. Lifting higher. Lifting high. The name of [music] Jesus.

[00:05:00]We'll sing away his praise.

[00:05:10]Peace and grace.

[00:05:13]Great are [music and singing] you Lord.

[00:05:17]Enthroned in praise forever.

[00:05:21]Glory to your name alone.

[00:05:36]Your grace to be praise your rightousness, oh God.

[00:05:54]Praise your rule and reign [music] above.

[00:06:02]Praise your splendor. [music] Holy one, great praise [music] are you Lord most high.

[00:06:21]Praise are you Lord [music] another king of glory.

[00:06:29]Your neighbor alone is [music] worthy.

[00:06:35]We sing praise.

[00:06:38]Great [music] are you Lord and we fall in praise forever.

[00:06:46]Glory to your [music] name.

[00:06:51]We sing praise.

[00:06:54]Praise [music] you Lord on God the king of [music] glory.

[00:07:02]Your name alone is worthy.

[00:07:08]We sing praise.

[00:07:11]Praise [music] are you Lord in praise forever.

[00:07:19]Glory to your name.

[00:07:24][music] You're the great I [music and singing] am ever living one. You are great and you are greatly to be praised. [music] You're the Lord of [music] all and we stand in [music] all. You are great and you are greatly to be praised.

[00:08:16]You're the great I am heavening one.

[00:08:25]You are [music] great and you are waiting to be praised.

[00:08:33]You're the [music] Lord of all and we stand [music] in it all. You are great and you are greatly to be praised.

[00:08:49]We sing praise.

[00:08:52]Praise are you Lord King of [music] Lord.

[00:09:00]Your neighbor alone is worthy.

[00:09:06]We sing praise.

[00:09:09]Praise are you Lord in praise forever.

[00:09:17]Glory to your name. [music] Glory to your name.

[00:09:27][music] Glory to your name.

[00:09:40][music] Good morning everyone.

[00:10:57]>> Welcome.

[00:11:08]>> Let's just come in. Come into worship.

[00:11:14]>> [music] [music] >> Lord, we just invite you into this place.

[00:11:28]Lord, we invite your spirit to come and work, come and move.

[00:11:34]Open up our hearts, God.

[00:11:37][music] wash away our stresses and [music] put our our eyes fixed on you, Jesus.

[00:11:57]Lord, we just [music] want to meet you this morning.

[00:12:01]We want to see you receive the glory that you deserve.

[00:12:07]The most high, [music] most holy Jesus the lamb of God.

[00:12:15]You are worthy of our praise [music] and our affections.

[00:12:21]So Jesus fix our eyes on you to see you high and lifted up in your place of glory to seek your face to lay down our own wants and desires and [music] pick up yours.

[00:12:43]Jesus we love you. It is our joy to worship you, to praise your holy name.

[00:13:05]We worship you.

[00:13:12]Great.

[00:13:14]Great. Are [singing] you Lord [music] mighty and strength?

[00:13:21]You are [music and singing] faithful.

[00:13:24]You will ever be.

[00:13:29]We will praise you all [music] of our days.

[00:13:36]Your glory.

[00:13:38]We offer every [music] nation to God of creation. [music] Awesome is the world.

[00:13:58]Send us God for you.

[00:14:06]answer the world to know.

[00:14:12]We will trust you.

[00:14:15]You are our name.

[00:14:19][music] Follow the way to all creation. [music] Raise your hand.

[00:14:54][music] Heat. Heat.

[00:15:25]Hallelujah. [music and singing] Hallelujah.

[00:15:31]Awesome [music] is the Lord most [singing] highle.

[00:15:36][music] [music] [music] is the Lord.

[00:16:08][music] Awesome is the Lord.

[00:16:21]Praise your name. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:16:39]Heat.

[00:16:48]Heat.

[00:16:59]>> [music] >> Lord nation to God all creation. [music and singing] Awesome is the Lord most high.

[00:17:20]We will praise you together [music] for now and forever.

[00:17:29]Awesome is the [music] Lord [singing] most high.

[00:17:42]Praise the Lord.

[00:17:47][music] [music] Praise you Lord.

[00:18:02][music] There is one who sustains [music] the universe.

[00:18:15]Knows the stars [music] by name. For his word all things were made.

[00:18:24]There is one who remains seated on the name above all names [music] beyond the highest praise.

[00:18:41]Lord Almighty [music] is his name and in rightuousness he reigns. King of glory, strong and mighty, [music and singing] one and only God.

[00:18:57]The Lord almighty [music] is his name.

[00:19:01]He alone is strong to say. Praise the [music] Lord. Praise the Lord.

[00:19:22]This is [music] why so love [music] so love is only son only There is one who's the same yesterday [music] and always for one he does not change his name [music] to Heat.

[00:20:12]Heat.

[00:20:22]Praise [music] his name. He is strong to say. Praise the Lord.

[00:20:30]Praise the Lord.

[00:20:35]Lord Christmas. [music] [music] [music] Lift up a shout.

[00:21:29][music] Yahe.

[00:21:32]Great is your name.

[00:21:37]greatly [music] to be praised forever.

[00:21:47]Yahweh [music] praise your name.

[00:21:53]Greatly to be [music] praised ever.

[00:22:05]Praise your [music] name.

[00:22:12]We praise ever.

[00:22:20][music] Praise your name. Praise be to [music] Christ.

[00:22:36]Lord Almighty is your name.

[00:22:41]Heaven [music] you pray strong [music] and God for is your [music] name. You are strong to say praise [music] you Lord.

[00:23:03]Praise you Lord.

[00:23:07]We praise you Lord.

[00:23:09]Oh, we praise you, Lord. We praise you, Lord.

[00:23:19][music] Praise you, Lord.

[00:23:27]We sing to our king.

[00:23:36]Fore your praise.

[00:23:51]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:55][music] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:24:13]Glory.

[00:24:18][music] [music] Yah.

[00:24:30][music] Great [singing] is your name. Greatly to be praised forever [music and singing] and ever.

[00:24:43]Yahe, Yahe. [music and singing] Great is your name. Greatly [music] to be praised forever and ever.

[00:25:02]Great is your [singing] name, Lord.

[00:25:08]All the higher amor [music] sustaining [music] king lord of all lift [music] up your name your way beautiful [music and singing] name powerful We join with all the earth join heaven songs your [singing] You give life.

[00:26:19]You are love.

[00:26:21]You bring light [music and singing] to the darkness.

[00:26:26]You give hope.

[00:26:29]You restore every heart that is broken.

[00:26:40]Great [music] are you, Lord. You give, you give life.

[00:26:49]You are love.

[00:26:51]You bring light [music and singing] to the darkness.

[00:26:59]You restore [music] every heart that is broken.

[00:27:10]Great [music] are [singing] you, Lord.

[00:27:16]It's your lungs.

[00:27:21][music] So we pour out our praise. Pour out our praise. It's your [music] lungs. [singing] So we pour [music] out our praise to you all.

[00:27:40]>> Great [music] are you, Lord.

[00:27:44]You're good.

[00:27:46]You give life. [music] You are love.

[00:27:51]You bring [music] light to the darkness.

[00:27:56]You give hope.

[00:27:59]You restore.

[00:28:01][music] Every heart that is broken.

[00:28:09]Great are you, Lord.

[00:28:17]your [music] lungs.

[00:28:21]We pour out our praise. Pour out our praise. Your [music] lungs.

[00:28:31]So we pour out our praise [singing] to you. All your lungs.

[00:28:41]So we pour out our praise.

[00:28:44]Pour [music] out our praises your we praise you.

[00:28:57][music] Great are you.

[00:29:04]Great.

[00:29:06]Great.

[00:29:10]Great [music] are you all great are you [music] [music] great are Even the rocks cry out and the mountains [music and singing] bow before you.

[00:30:00][music] We sing your praise all creation.

[00:30:15][music] Earth will shout your praise. Our hearts [music] will cry. These words will sing.

[00:30:27]Great [music] are you Lord.

[00:30:37]The [music] earth will shout your name.

[00:30:41]Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing.

[00:30:49]Are [music] you [music] the earth will shout surely our hearts will cry these words will sing [music] by you Holy earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing [music] for you.

[00:31:34][music] your we [music] [music] [music] pour out our praise. Lord I [music] you are you great are >> [music] >> Great. Are you great? Are you Lord?

[00:32:55]Cuz it's your breath in [music] our [singing] lungs.

[00:33:01]So we pour out our praise. [music] Pour out our praise. It's your breath in our lungs. [music] So we [singing] pour out our praise to you [music] only.

[00:33:19]Great [music and singing] are you Lord.

[00:33:29]Great are you Lord.

[00:33:45]Lord seal our hearts for you and you alone.

[00:33:52]Forgive us for where we pour our affections to other things, where we put other things before you.

[00:34:00]Where we steal your glory, God.

[00:34:06]Jesus, be the first desire of our hearts, our first love.

[00:34:16]Our Lord, our master, the one whose voice we listen to, the one who leads [music] us, who protects us, who provides for us, our shepherd.

[00:34:42]You gave us breath and we pour it back in praise to you, Lord.

[00:34:50]Giving back out of gratitude for who you are, for all that you have done, for the life that you have breathed into our lungs.

[00:35:00]All we can do is pour [music] it back to you, God.

[00:35:03]To give it back to you, to give back what is yours.

[00:35:15]So, Father, seal our hearts with your [music] name.

[00:35:26]For we are yours, a people set apart for your purposes and for your glory.

[00:35:36]a pure and spotless [music] bride devoted to you. Lord, that is our prayer.

[00:36:07]To the one who [music] sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb be [music] blessing and honor and glory and might forever.

[00:36:27][singing] [music] Amen.

[00:36:36][music] [singing] Amen.

[00:36:45]We sing holy, [music and singing] holy, holy, [music] holy, holy, holy [singing] are you. Lord God Almighty, [snorts] Lord God [music] Almighty, [singing] the one who was and [music] is and is to come.

[00:37:15]Are [singing] you Lord God Almighty?

[00:37:22]Lord [singing] God Almighty. [music] To the [music] one [singing] who sits upon the throne, to the lamb [music] be blessing and honor and glory [singing] and might forever.

[00:37:58][music] Amen.

[00:38:09][music] Sing. Holy, [music] holy, holy, holy, [singing] holy, holy [music] are you Lord God Almighty.

[00:38:32]Lord God Almighty, [singing] the one who was and is [music] and is to come.

[00:38:45]>> [music] >> Are you are God almighty [music] God? We sing holy.

[00:38:56]We sing holy, holy, [music] holy.

[00:39:01]We sing holy, holy, holy are [music] you Lord God Almighty.

[00:39:12]Lord [music] God Almighty, the one [music] who was and is and is to come.

[00:39:25][music] Are you one God Almighty?

[00:39:32]What God [music] Almighty?

[00:39:40]>> [music] [music] >> You hold back for your ride. [music] So we join the living creatures as [music] they never cease to worship.

[00:40:06]We bow down [music and singing] with all the elders as they cast their crowns before you.

[00:40:16]And we sing around your praises [music] with the Mary [singing] of angels here on earth. Now [music] as we worship we are joining heaven [music and singing] songs.

[00:40:36]We join the living creatures as they [music] never cease to worship.

[00:40:46]We bow down with [music] all the elders.

[00:40:51]They cast [singing] their rounds before you see all your praises with Mary and [music] our angels near as we worship.

[00:41:11]We are joining every song.

[00:41:21][music] [music] your hand.

[00:41:51]Sing holy.

[00:41:56]We sing holy, [music] holy, holy, holy, holy, holy are you Lord [music] God Almighty.

[00:42:12]Lord [music] God almighty. [singing] The one who was [music] and is and is to come.

[00:42:24]>> [music] >> Are you Lord God Almighty, [music] Lord God?

[00:42:35]We're singing [music and singing] holy, holy, holy, holy, [music] [singing] holy, holy are you, Lord God Almighty.

[00:42:52]Lord God [music and singing] Almighty, the one who was [music] and is and is still God.

[00:43:05]Are you [music and singing] Lord God Almighty?

[00:43:11][music] Lord [singing] God Almighty.

[00:43:32]Just sit in this moment, the stillness.

[00:43:38]Just invite you [music] just to close your eyes.

[00:43:47]Just that picture in your mind, the angels, the elders [music] saying this crown that I have is not mine.

[00:44:05]It is yours.

[00:44:08]All the glory is yours.

[00:44:12]You are the only one worthy.

[00:44:29]>> [music] >> What can we do but praise you?

[00:44:48]When we look on [music] your face, see the love in his eyes.

[00:45:05]See the scars [music] on his hands.

[00:45:11]What a king.

[00:45:16]Create a love.

[00:45:20]Lay your life down.

[00:45:33]You were set apart.

[00:45:36]No one beside you.

[00:45:41]Holy one.

[00:46:25]I was a wretch. I remember who I was.

[00:46:32]I was lost. I was blind and I was running out of time.

[00:46:40]See separated reaches far too wide from the far side of the castle.

[00:46:51]You held me in your side.

[00:46:55]So you [music] made a way across the great divide.

[00:47:03]left behind heaven's [music] throne to build it here inside.

[00:47:10]And [singing] there at the cross, he paid the debt I owe.

[00:47:18]Broke my chains, freed my soul. For the first [singing] time I have more.

[00:47:26]Thank you Jesus for the [music] blood of life.

[00:47:34]Thank you [music] Jesus. It has washed me away.

[00:47:41]Thank you Jesus. [music] You have saved my life and brought [music] me from the darkness into glorious light.

[00:47:59]>> [music] >> You took my place and laid [music] inside [singing] to see.

[00:48:09]And you were buried for three [music and singing] days. And then you walked right out again. And now death has no skin. And life pass away.

[00:48:25]For I have been transformed by the blood of the lamb.

[00:48:33]Thank you Jesus for the mus.

[00:48:48]Thank you Jesus. You have saved my life.

[00:48:55]You brought me [music] from the darkness to the glorious light.

[00:49:05]There's not a sol [music] [music] [music] there is Cuz there is nothing stronger than the one [music] working power of the blood that You the blood.

[00:50:06]Thank you Jesus for [music] the blood.

[00:50:14]Thank you Jesus. He has washed me.

[00:50:21]Thank you [music] Jesus. You have saved my life and brought me [music] from the darkness into glorious light.

[00:50:55]Thank you, Jesus. Won't you just take a moment this morning? Just thank you.

[00:50:59]Just put those words on your lips.

[00:51:02]Sometimes it's the most powerful, sweetest [snorts] worship is just to say thank you. Thank you.

[00:51:11]Thank you, Jesus.

[00:51:13]Thank you for the blood that you shed.

[00:51:16]Thank you for your love expressed.

[00:51:19]Thank you for your grace.

[00:51:22]Thank you for your mercy. We thank you, Lord. We thank you.

[00:51:28]You know, I have this uh this conviction, could even call it maybe a a fear, just this this reality in my heart that there must be always one reason that we gather.

[00:51:45]The fear is that somehow something would distort, would in some way distract us from that purpose. That we'd gather around just wanting to hear a a good sermon or sing some good songs.

[00:52:01]Maybe gather out of religious duty.

[00:52:05]There's value in all those things, discipline, and we meet the Lord through the the scriptures and the word and songs and fellowship.

[00:52:13]But there's one reason, there's one reality, there's one affection and pursuit of our hearts that must be the reason.

[00:52:24]And that's to gather, to seek, and to love [music] him, to respond to his love, to come and to pray that he would become more real, that he'd open our eyes to see him aresh, to know him more deeply. I want to read to you from Colossians.

[00:52:47]Love this proclamation as the apostle Paul begins here and he says, "He is speaking of Jesus, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers.

[00:53:06]That pretty much covers everything on the list. All were created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things exist. He's the head of the body, the church, who's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.

[00:53:31]This wonder of the supreme unccreated author of life.

[00:53:38]And yet it goes on. It says, "Yet it pleased the Father that in him the fullness of God should dwell and by him to reconcile all things to himself where the things on earth, things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross."

[00:53:55]That's the centerpiece of the gospel of this great story of his purpose and plan. He made it all that he would come give up his life on the cross of wood.

[00:54:09]As the saying goes, although he made the mountains, the hill, the planet on which that stood, the wounds that he [music] bore for us.

[00:54:17]And just in case we miss the personal application, it goes on. And you, that's me, that's you, that's humanity, who once were alienated and enemies.

[00:54:30]Enemies. Our sin had separated. It's turned us in defiance and opposition to this holy God [music] through our wicked works. Yet now he has reconciled. He's brought us into the body of his flesh through his death to present you and me holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. There it is. the beauty of the gospel, the power of his blood.

[00:55:03]You know, we sing of it, we we talk about it. It's not just good theology.

[00:55:08]It's the best theology.

[00:55:10]It's not just a cliche statement.

[00:55:14]It is the fullness of his plan of reconciliation.

[00:55:20]the blood of the Savior that was shed to bring us in to pay the penalty for our sin.

[00:55:32]That our sin, our shame would be washed away.

[00:55:37]That we would be restored to that which we were created for to know to live in the one in whom we live and breathe and have our being.

[00:55:48]That is the power of the cross. That is the gift of grace that we see expressed through the blood of the Lord Jesus. And we're going to remember that this morning as we gather around the Lord's table for communion.

[00:56:01]If you're visiting this morning, you're welcome to join with us. This is open table as we come as Jesus commanded us to. He said, "Come in remembrance. [snorts] come recognizing the price that he would pay, the penalty of sin as he hung there and died in our place for our sin, the provision, the free gift of grace he would offer and proclaiming the power of his death as he rose from the grave again to offer us and assure us of the hope that we have in him and his promise of everlasting life. If you didn't receive the elements, just raise your hand. We'll have our ushers bring them around.

[00:56:48]I'd love one up the front here if we could. Thanks, Bruno. Does anybody need the bread and the cup this morning? Few just up here.

[00:57:04]Such simple elements but profound in the reality that they represent in the proclamation that we make. We don't do this lightly. We do this examining the need of our heart. Recognizing he died for me but receiving again the free gift of his grace. Got some hands up the back there Bruno too if you're happy to run over there. Wonderful.

[00:57:32]On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread. As he sat that final meal with his disciples, he broke the bread. He said, "This is my body.

[00:57:42]The body that would be broken, hands and his nails and feet, the crown of thorns upon his head. The price that he was willing to pay that by his wounds we might be healed."

[00:57:57]Let's take and eat in remembrance of him.

[00:58:11]In the same way, in that very same moment, the Lord Jesus, he took the cup and drunk from it. He said, "This is the cup of a new covenant, a covenant written in blood.

[00:58:23]There's nothing [music] greater. There's no greater claim. There's no greater promise. There's no greater assurance.

[00:58:30]As Romans 8 says, if if he gave up his very life, if his blood was shed, what an assurance we have of his everlasting love, what could ever separate us?

[00:58:44]It's no greater way he could proclaim.

[00:58:47]There's no greater gift he could offer.

[00:58:49]There's no greater assurance to build your life upon the power of his blood. Let's take and drink, shall we? remembrance of him.

[00:59:03]We thank you, Jesus. We thank you for your blood. We thank you for your sacrifice.

[00:59:08]We thank you for the assurance of your grace. We live in, we breathe, and we proclaim each and every day of our lives. Amen.

[00:59:20]Well, we love to take a moment as we gather to recognize and to celebrate the reality that the Lord places us in family. We're brought in to relationship with him, to relationship with one another. So, I'd love for you to take a moment just look around you, particularly if there's somebody you don't know. Would you introduce yourself? Would you love on someone?

[00:59:39]Give them a hug. Give them a word of encouragement. Give them a blessing.

[00:59:44]Kids, you can head on out. If you're looking for the Vision Kids program, just follow the kids as they head they head off to the back rooms and someone will be there ready to greet you.

[01:04:13]All right. If you haven't already, you might like to find an appropriate moment and move back to your seats.

[01:04:21]And as you do that, we're going to run through our weekly news.

[01:04:36]>> [music] >> Good morning everyone. If you could please turn your attention [music] to the notices.

[01:04:45]If you're new to Vision this morning, welcome. [music] We'd love to shout you a free hot drink. There's a card in the seat pocket in front of you that you can take out [music] to the cafe to your left after the service. You may like to fill in your contact details on the back of the card so we [music] can connect with you.

[01:05:04]Vision women are gathering this Tuesday, the 19th of May, from 6:30 p.m. for [music] soup and stories. This will be a valuable time of fellowship and inspiration with other women. To register for this free event, see [music] the QR code on the posters around the building.

[01:05:22]We [music] will be running the God Dreams course starting on Wednesday the 20th of May and continuing for [music] five Wednesdays until the 17th of June.

[01:05:31]This course will continue to equip us to hear and recognize God's voice, [music] particularly through dreams and visions.

[01:05:39]There's no cost to attend, but please register using the QR code on the posters around the building.

[01:05:46]We are collecting [music] items for new moms in the First Steps pregnancy support program. Please bring long life food and baby clothes quadruple zero to 2 years that are in new condition to [music] the baskets at the car park door. Thank you for your generosity.

[01:06:03]The National [music] Day of Prayer and Fasting is coming up on Sunday the 24th of May this year. There's opportunity to join with other [music] churches and believers from our city to pray and seek the Lord from 3il 6:00 p.m. [music] at WWAM in Watson.

[01:06:20]We desire to honor and welcome the lordship of Jesus [music] in every area of our lives, including our finances.

[01:06:27]You can bring your tithes and offerings to the Lord today. There's the electronic option to the church bank [music] account or using the FPOS machine. There's also a locked box in the foyer for cash offerings. [music] Thank you for your generosity.

[01:06:42]God bless you as you head out into a new week.

[01:06:47]>> Wonderful. There is always a lot to try and get through on a Sunday. I know I've said this before, but probably not for a while. Please do sign up to the weekly newsletter. You can jump on the website and sign up there if you need any more information. Um, and uh, what was I going to say? There was something else and I've totally forgotten what it is, but I'm sure it was good and it'll come back to me. Um, we have a course starting this particular week. It's not too late to jump on in. Um, hearing the voice of God, Tanya, uh, her, she was with us a few weeks ago. Really good material. If that's um, an area and you're available on Wednesday nights, please come along.

[01:07:23]And is there someone giving a plug for the women's this morning? Joe, are you gonna come? Would you welcome Joe?

[01:07:37]come on up.

[01:07:39]>> Thank you. Good morning.

[01:07:42][laughter] Hi. Um, so this is our going to be our second evening women's event of the year this Tuesday night. Um, if you could register for that, it would be great. It says QR codes around the place. It just helps us with to know numbers for catering. We're going to be meeting in the cafe area. So, we'll have those doors open. We're starting an hour earlier than normal this time at 6:30 because we're going to be sharing a meal. I know that that can be a bit of a tricky time for the mas with little ones. Um, but don't think you have to miss the whole night if you can't come at 6:30. It'll be a pretty casual, relaxed night, so you can just come along later. But, we will be starting with the meal. So, we may have eaten all the food by the time you get there if you're coming later. So, just keep that in mind. Um, if you're new to church or even if you've been here your whole life, these events are always a great way to meet women who you might not cross paths with on a Sunday. We are very blessed here to have such a wide variety of women all different ages and different stages of life. there is you know such collective wisdom and life experience in amongst here and these events are a great opportunity to come along and really take advantage of that and get to know the community that you're in. Um there will be chances throughout the evening to in like small groups to share testimony of what God has done or is doing in your life. Um testimonies are so powerful and you know it's great to be reminded of how God is working not just in the big things but in the smaller details of our life and if you don't feel comfortable sharing like don't panic there's no pressure on you to share anything you can just listen we also need people to listen so you can be one of them >> it's meant to be I think very wet rainy cold kind of day but don't let that discourage you from coming out we will try and keep it cozy and warm and dry for you. Um, there's also going to be bit more sort of fun, light-hearted things throughout the evening as well, so it's not too heavy. But yeah, we would love to see you come out and join us for a night of food and fun and fellowship and we'll see you then.

[01:10:00]>> Awesome.

[01:10:03]So that's this Tuesday, isn't it? This Tuesday night. Yes, that's the evening women group. There is a daytime women's group as well. Um, so grab the details there for the ladies. Lots of opportunities for fellowship and getting involved. Uh before we launch into the preaching, I'd love to give you a super quick update, which probably should have done last Sunday, but we had a lot of other things going on with Mother's Day and the First Steps update. Um but I had the privilege, not last week, but the week before of heading over to Singapore. We are very blessed as a church to have some wonderful God connections and partnerships. And it's always interesting how the Lord kind of brings these connections together together. But um there is a a guy by the name of Pastor Kim, Kyros Kim, and he moved to CRA a couple of years ago and his heart is to reach the Burmese um national people for Jesus. Obviously, uh Myanmar is in the midst of civil war and there's been this exodus of the Burmese people all throughout the world. um particularly Singapore he's been based in for the last uh decade plus and built a church there. There's 500,000 500,000 Burmese people who currently live in Singapore. So the population of CRA who live there that he reaches out to and um the reason that the way the connection happened was he came to CRA with a heart to really plant some churches in Australia and we connected both through here and the school that we're involved in. It's like is there any chance we could use the building? I said absolutely you can use the building. Um but from the very beginning felt it was more than just us lending the building.

[01:11:40]We have um a number of different organizations that use the building for different purposes but Lord the Lord really highlighted this. So we've connected over the last few years. We get together regularly to pray. He's now planted a church that meets here Sunday afternoons. It's kind of our extended vision church Burmese Christian community. Um I regularly pop along and preach there. He's preached before here on a Sunday morning. He's now also planted a church up in Brisbane and Melbourne. Just looking at his calendar makes me exhausted. Like he's one of those guys, AAA personalities. And within this family of churches, so Singapore is a main base, but they've got churches back in Myanmar. They've got churches now in uh Thailand, in Vietnam, in the Middle East. They've got one in Malaysia. There's a bunch of uh Burmese people who were living there.

[01:12:27]And so it was just a privilege to be able to go there to meet these people.

[01:12:31]And I said to him because his congregation's probably um thousand 1500 people over multiple services but largely a younger audience like youth young adults. I said there's not a lot of older folk here. And he's like yes because the majority of the Burmese people they're all young. Like the older ones tragically stay behind and these kids just have I'll call them kids are younger than me. that the hearing their stories, being with them, uh I tell you what, it gives you some perspective of how good we have it here. Um and really feeling like it was a great trip, but the Lord is kind of stirring, building some connections between us and them.

[01:13:07]Not only do they meet here on a a Sunday afternoon, we've done fundraising earthquake for the earthquake relief, which happened last year. Sent them a bunch of money, which they were so appreciative about. Um, and they're very keen for us to be involved partnering with them in prayer, maybe look at taking a trip to Burma if and when the borders open up there. Um, so excited to see what the Lord does. But we've just got just a minute of some slides, some photos just so you can have an idea of faithful. [music] He is glorious and he [music] is Jesus.

[01:13:47]My world is in me is freom [music] is healing right now is hope and peace and >> [music] >> He has paid the highest price.

[01:14:29]He has proven his great love.

[01:14:33]for us.

[01:14:35][music] We will praise him with our lives and proclaim [music] our love for him.

[01:14:51]That was them saying hello Vision Church at the end there. You couldn't hear that very well. We'll have to do something similar. And yeah, can we just give the Lord thanks for It was a precious time and it was an exhausting time. I think I said last week, um, Ky Ross, who was there, who's my friend, he's like, "Look, we'll get you over. We'll just do some Bible teaching. We'll do some night meetings."

[01:15:14]And I turned up. I said, "Well, you know, what sort of Bible teaching are you thinking?" He's like, "It's a whole day. It's a full day of Bible teaching."

[01:15:22]And literally, they came along hungry.

[01:15:24]And they just stayed all day just hungry to hear from uh hear from the Lord. and it just really was evident his presence moving over there. So stay tuned. Love for us as a church to do what we can to sew and to encourage and be a part of what God's doing there in both Myanmar and in Singapore. Let's pray.

[01:15:44]Father, we thank you. Thank you for your kingdom. Thank you that your kingdom is advancing in small ways, in big ways, in ways that we can see and in ways that we may never know this side of eternity.

[01:15:55]But we thank you for your plans and purposes that are are being accomplished. We thank you for the privilege that we have to be a part of what you're doing here in Singapore, in Myanmar, in Mosmbique, which we'll talk more about next week, in different parts around the world, but also in our day-to-day life as we um love our kids, love our husbands and wives, as we go to school, as we work. Lord, we thank you that uh your kingdom comes in big and small ways. And that's our desire is to see much made of the king and his kingdom. As we prayed already, Jesus, would you come open our eyes to see you, our hearts to know you, that we would love you more deeply, see you more clearly, and proclaim the greatness of your name. To anybody who will listen, just help us now as we turn to your scriptures. Lead us, guide us through the power of your spirit, we pray. In your wonderful name, we say amen.

[01:16:48]Amen. All right, let's launch right in.

[01:16:51]We're back in the sermon on the mount.

[01:16:53]We're in this portion of scripture, Matthew 5:7. Kind of a little minieries focusing in and around this phrase that's found in the center of the greatest and most detailed sermon that Jesus ever preaches. He sits there on the mountain side. People are gathered, thousands of them, to hear exactly what who is he all about? What is the heart of this message that he is proclaiming?

[01:17:19]In the midst of that is this phrase, seek first the kingdom. Sometimes we become so overfamiliar with the phrase that we don't really think and wrestle through and allow this to shape the way we live. What what does that mean to seek first the kingdom? And we're unpacking that and looking that at that from sort of a high level view. What are the major themes that Jesus mentions that he focuses on that he talks about?

[01:17:43]The first slide was the first week talked about this notion of the kingdom.

[01:17:47]seek first the kingdom. And it's mentioned the kingdom more than any other phrase in this particular sermon some 25 to 30 times. What what does that actually mean? What does it look like?

[01:17:59]And we talked about this notion of it's the the reality of the the rule and the reign, the authority, the dominion of God breaking in to our lives. God is on the scene and he's turning the world the right way up. His rule and his reign.

[01:18:16]Tim Keller has this uh this great example and he talks about modern society and we we we offer I think singing this in light of a particular court case that we saw over the last few days that you know to to be free is to do whatever we desire to do and his example is like that that doesn't work.

[01:18:34]You know you take a fish out of the water you place it on the sand it's not more free. How's that fish going to respond? It's not going to go well. It's good for maybe lunch, but that's about it. It's not more free. It's dying. It's struggling. Freedom is not doing whatever you want. Just ask any addict.

[01:18:53]Freedom is living within the environment that you were created to live in. And really, that's the the big picture.

[01:19:00]That's the notion of this kingdom. This isn't rules and regulations. This is God himself saying this is what you were created for. Not for self-ruule. Not to try and live this life entrapped in this burden of creating and curing your own life. But to live in the glorious reality of the king and his kingdom to live under his authority to live with his purpose and his passion being the center of all we do. So, we've seen this picture of the kingdom and it unfolds first of all at the level of identity and that's the the next phase in this series. We looked at the the word that's often used this phrase that Jesus continually brings us back to talking about father our father. If we want to seek first the kingdom then it happens first in this place in this posture of identity.

[01:19:54]We then looked at the fact that seeking first the kingdom, we move from this place of this this bigger picture, this place of identity into the everyday. We talked about the notion if we go to the next slide that there is all of these imperatives and commands that continually Jesus, he's directing us to the fact that we are builders. And that's the analogy he uses at the end of the sermon. It's like the wise builder.

[01:20:17]We are building every day in our thoughts, in our actions, in our interactions, in the way that we respond and react. We are building. And either you're building a house that will stand or you're building a house that's built on the sand and the storms inevitably when they come, they will fail. He's saying it's not if you're building, it's what are you building? The kingdom is not just out there. It's in the midst of our everyday life. So this morning and next week, we've got two more movements.

[01:20:46]And we want to go two places. We want to first of all delve down a little bit deeper. We want to continue to press into this notion of the kingdom. And it's lived out. This is our focus for this morning on the level of our hearts.

[01:21:01]And then next week we'll we'll go big picture again because it's also lived out in this reality with this foundation, this assurance and certainty of the sovereignty of God.

[01:21:12]This this this is the picture Jesus is continually pointing us towards of how we live well. How we seek first this kind of kingdom that he is talking about proclaiming and preaching. So I think I have a slide here. There we go. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Three times Jesus explicitly mentions the heart and we'll look at those passages in a moment. But more than 30 times during this sermon he addresses the inner life. It's again is not peripheral to his emphasis and his focus as he unfolds this sermon. He talks about desires. He talks about motives. He talks about worship, fears, loyalties. He talks about the hidden life. Because here is the reality. Jesus is not merely after outward behavior.

[01:22:00]That's religion. Religion just says, "Come and you've got to change the way you behave."

[01:22:05]Jesus is after something deeper than just changing the outward.

[01:22:12]He is looking for us and pointing us towards the heart beneath the outward behavior that drives everything all the way along. And we could expand this.

[01:22:23]this I mean over a thousand times thousand references in in the New Testament talk about heart that hearts are important and the Old Testament the greatest commandment of course is to love the Lord your God not with all your behavior is it not with all your outward actions although that is important it's important where we get to but Jesus is going to point us towards the outward flows from the inward love the Lord with all of your heart it's what Jesus says what's the greatest commandment Look at your heart. Look inward. The kingdom always comes from the inside out, not the outside in. Now, here's the big thought. Let me give this to you up front because this is what I want to land this morning. This is the encouragement for us. There is this great temptation throughout human history. We are human and this is often so often the place we go. this temptation to imagine that if only we could gain enough power, enough influence, enough cultural control, if only we could try hard enough, if only we could work on the behavior enough, then perhaps the kingdom of God would finally come.

[01:23:36]Sometimes we quietly imagine the kingdom arriving through politics, nationalism, coercion, or our own personal effort and working things up. But Jesus's sermon from the very beginning is very different. When the kingdom arrives here on the sermon of the mount, it does not march in with banners, armies, and domination. It begins in the hidden places. Begins in hearts, in desires, in love.

[01:24:06]What's going on in the heart? The kingdom comes not from the outside in, but from the inside out.

[01:24:14]You see, the people in that era, they were expecting, as so often we do, we look for the kingdom. Well, where is it?

[01:24:19]Show us where it is. We're looking for something coming in opposing its authority and force. It's going to overthrow the Romans.

[01:24:29]If we're honest, sometimes that's where we're looking to. And Jesus says that's that's the kingdom of God. You're looking in the wrong place. You want to see where it's being outworked first of all, the kingdom of heaven. It's inside you.

[01:24:44]So Jesus climbs a mountain and instead he speaks of meekness, mercy, purity of heart, loving your enemies, forgiveness, secret, what goes on in secret, prayer, trust, transformed and desires. Why?

[01:24:56]This is the point we need to grab because Jesus understood something that we often forget that changed systems without changed hearts simply reproduce the same brokenness. Slogan after slogan. We we repra we repackage it.

[01:25:12]We put a nice spin on it, but ultimately it is the same manifestation of the brokenness that we find not just out there in the world, but in the midst of the fallenness of the human condition.

[01:25:26]The gospel is not fundamentally about imposing goodness on people. It's about God through the power of his spirit remaking people from within, from the inside out. The kingdom comes. Remember, that's what we that's what we're after here to seek first the kingdom. See your kingdom coming. The kingdom comes. It's a point for us today when the king is finally allowed to rule in our hearts. [snorts] And when hearts are healed and reordered and made new, then commun communities begin to change, families change, cities change, and eventually the world itself begins to reflect the glory of the king of heaven. This is how the kingdom comes, not from the outside in, but from the inside out. There's the sermon in a nutshell. Can we say amen, or do we just go somewhere else? Tell some jokes.

[01:26:21]That's what I want to unpack a little bit in a few moments. we've got this morning. So, let's look at these three specific references in this sermon where Jesus points us towards the inside, to the heart. Number one, we have a slide. Here we go. Matthew 5, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Here is the first reference right up front as he begins this message with the so-called biatitudes. He lays the foundation for the kingdom that he's proclaiming. And he points us in the midst of that to our hearts. He says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Now, what do we think when we hear that word pure? Because often, I think we we think maybe perfect, sinless, morally flawless. But the picture, if you look at the original language, is actually much richer and deeper. It means something that is unmixed and undivided, like pure gold without contamination, like water without pollution. It is a a heart the the innocence of our beings. A life that is not fractured with competing loves. A heart that's not being pulled in 10 different directions at once. In other words, Jesus is not saying blessed are those who are morally impressive. Those who are doing all the right things on on the outside. In fact, that was the one thing above everything else that he rebuked as he saw the Pharisees. He's like, "Your whitewashed tombs looks perfect on the outside, but it's a grave on the inside." What's the point of that? It's dead. It's dead.

[01:27:56]There's death and there's decay.

[01:28:00]He's not saying blessed are those who are morally impressive. He's saying blessed are those whose hearts are fully his, whose deepest loyalties, deep, deepest affection is anchored only in him. And I think Jesus knew well that there is this tension in the human condition that we live with divided hearts. Part trusting God, part terrified, part surrendered, part wanting control for ourself, part faithful, part chasing approval, part kingdom at times, part survival. It's a little bit like we had uh a little while ago someone very generously donated us a uh a hunting bow to our family. They said, "I think your kids would love this. We just don't have room around our house." This particular individual was into these bows. It's like, "It's a really good one. You know, you can pull it back. You can take out a live animal.

[01:28:51]It's comes with very sharp hunting arrows. You know, be a little bit careful. What could possibly go wrong?

[01:28:56]My kids would love it." So, we did. We said, [clears throat] "Look, we'll set up a target in the backyard." And we did. And the kids did love it. They enjoyed it. And they had friends over.

[01:29:06]And most of the time it was a wonderful, fun, engaging activity. But there was those moments where the kids would start off at the target, but then all of a sudden something else would happen.

[01:29:17]There'd be a distraction. A bird would fly by. A kangaroo, a live target would move through the paddic. There'd be some kind of noise. And all of a sudden, everybody's ducking for cover because you don't know where this arrow is going to go.

[01:29:33]Anything could happen.

[01:29:36]And I think sometimes that's a little bit like what Jesus is pointing us towards here.

[01:29:43]It's a picture of the human heart. We start with intention. We know the target. We know what matters and what we're aiming for. But then all of a sudden something happens. Distractions come. Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's money, approval, success. Maybe there's hurt and woundedness. Whatever it is, there's something. And all of a sudden, we're aiming at a completely different target.

[01:30:04]Before we know it, if we're not careful, our heart is torn in a thousand different directions.

[01:30:13]That's what this is talking about. A purity of heart. It's not a moral purity. It's coming back. It's a healed heart. It's a single vision. It's an undistracted and undistorted love. Purity is not so much perfection as it is proper direction.

[01:30:32]Another example is we have a particular member in our family. I don't know anyone else who is like this. I can't imagine anything anything worse. But whenever you jump on their phone, they always have at any time at least four to 5,000 tabs open. Anyone else like that? And the problem is they're like, "Well, just just just give me a second. I can just check back. I think I've I've seen that one probably six months ago hidden away in some tab." But then before you know it, you're you're scrolling endlessly through all the open tabs. You've accidentally turned on some music.

[01:31:04]There's it's happening. The poor phone is under stress because there's no clarity. There's no purity. There's no focus. Our heart is torn in a hundred different ways. It's exhausting. Blessed is the pure in heart, the integrated heart, the ordered heart, the heart that becomes centered.

[01:31:25]Again, this is the person who sees clearly. Often we struggle to see God not because he's absent but because there's so much in the way. We're scrolling through exhausted, distracted, fragmented and pulled apart. That's the purity of heart. That's the piece there. He's saying have a look how healed and centered is your heart. Let's go to the next level. Second reference in the sermon, verse 27 of Matthew chapter 5. A nice easy passage for this morning. Jesus says this. You've heard it said that you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Ouch. Little uncomfortable. First of all, we can certainly dispel the notion that Jesus is a little bit soft on sin. Who has ever heard that sort of phrase? They're like, "Well, it's the Old Testament that's all about the sin and the judgment." But Jesus, he went a bit easy on sin. He was just all about love.

[01:32:32]Well, he was all about love, but he was also about the problem of sin. And if anything, he upped the ante as he does here. He's like, "Well, yep, the problem actually is you you're a bit too soft on sin. You're just talking about behaviors." But I'm saying what's going on your in your heart is equally as sinful as the way that it finally manifests at the end of the day.

[01:32:57]See, Jesus is is confronting something deeply here because after inviting us into this purity of heart. He's exposing what happens inside our hearts. And honestly, this would have shocked the audience that he was speaking to probably even more than I uncomfortable for us. Let's be honest, because the whole religious framework largely worked about what's going on on the outside.

[01:33:21]Well, don't murder, don't commit adultery, external righteousness. manage behavior control outcomes. And Jesus addresses that and continually asks this question. He said, "Well, you've heard it said that it's all about behavior, but actually I'm looking for something to you've heard it said. Not merely just don't kill someone or don't get angry, don't commit adultery, but actually I'm pointing you deeper. What I want to know and get you to understand is what is going on inside your heart. what's happening in your imagination, your desires, and your affections. Let's move away from the behavior and look at where the behavior is coming from.

[01:34:04]Because Jesus understands something.

[01:34:06]It's very common phrase, but we need to remember it that the behavior is the fruit of what's going on inside. And the heart is the root. That is the cause of what ends up eventually manifesting itself.

[01:34:25]So the fruit is pointing us towards something different. It is it is a a warning sign. He says, "I want you to look deeper beyond just behavior, managing the behavior. Look down and see what is actually happening under the hood."

[01:34:39]I've discovered something in this season of my life. And we have um a number of vehicles at the moment. It's been a bit of a moving car feast both with multiple kids now driving and my beloved ute. Um I'm between utes. the the youth is coming. I'm believing it in faith. It is on its way at some stage in the near future. But for the time being, we're sharing the vehicles and the cars. And I cannot tell you how many times I hop in the kids' car and it's just like this miraculous gift. I don't know what it is, but I hop in there and the car is on empty.

[01:35:11]It is on empty, like gone off empty. And the warning sign is flashing. And inevitably I say to my precious daughters, I say, "Does anybody know how long this car has been on empty?" Oh, I didn't even see that. I had no idea. Is that what that's for? That flashing light, you know? And I I have had this conversation a number of times. I'm like, "The warning signs in the car are your friends. They are not enemies.

[01:35:40]They're not ops, as they would say, to be ignored. If there is a flashing light, if the gauge has gone down the bottom, this is the indication that something else needs to be addressed because no petrol means no drive the car. Like there is a correlation. It's directly leading us towards something else. We haven't yet correlated into any action, but we're getting there. We are in progress.

[01:36:10]But the light is revealing. It's revealing a problem. Something underneath needs attention. That's what Jesus is saying. He's saying there is the there's the behavior. There's the manifestation. If there's anger, it's a warning light. If there's lust, it's a warning light. Anxiety, it's a warning light. Something's going on in your heart. Constantly people pleasing.

[01:36:31]Constantly controlling.

[01:36:33]There's the behavior, but it is warning us and it's pointing us towards something else, something deeper. Again, Jesus is trying. This is not him condemning us. But he's moving us beyond religion, which just says control your behavior. He's not saying behave better.

[01:36:54]He's saying you need to become whole.

[01:36:55]There is a problem deep within here that needs healing. And the good news is that is the business that he is in. Let's look at one more and then we'll bring this together. The third point, the third reference of heart that's up there. Another well-known. We're moving to Matthew 6 says this. For where your treasure is, here we go. There your heart will be also. And he goes on, he talks about the eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, the whole body will be full of light. If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? And then finishes it off with verse 24. No one can serve two masters. You can't.

[01:37:39]Either you hate one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to one and despise the other. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be. Also see Jesus here is confronting one of the deepest realities of our humanity. And that's this that we are all ruled by something. We're all shaped by something. We just are. That's the way that he has made us and created us to be. It's not whether something is shaping us, but what is shaping us. So Jesus says, look to your treasure. What is it you treasure? Because the things that you really cling to, you hold dearly, that will reveal your heart.

[01:38:21]Your heart will lead to your perspective, your eyes, and ultimately that which consumes your attention and your affection will be the very thing that rules over you, it will be your master.

[01:38:36]Whatever constantly occupies your emotional world, what you fear losing most, what keeps you awake, what you protect, what you obsess over, these are the things that will sit on the throne of your heart. Even good things. Again, Tim Keller has this this wonderful message, this whole series talking about false messiahs, the things that we worship, the things that we allow to take the place of Jesus, good things quietly becoming ultimate things. And Jesus lovingly confronts this because he knows that whatever rules the heart eventually will rule your life. What is it that you cling to?

[01:39:23]What is it that you hold on to? Often smile cuz we have uh one of our precious little girls and she's in a season.

[01:39:31]She's uh one of the younger ones and every time we leave the house, we might just be heading down the road for a little quick trip, but she loves to bring her backpack. And the problem is there's never enough room in the backpack for all of her essential items.

[01:39:45]Like she's like, I I've just got to pack it in. And literally, you will see every time she's uh she's heading out the door, she looks like she's heading for a uh an overseas expedition.

[01:39:55]She's got toys, she's got books, she's got games, clothes, food, and it gets to the point where it's it's so heavy she can hardly carry it. And I say to her, "Sweetheart, are you sure we need all these things? Like, we're just going down the road. We're just going to church. We're not going far. Do you really need your backpack all full of stuff?" and just say, "Yeah, well, yes, I'm just being prepared. These are all my useful things. They all help me in different ways."

[01:40:23]And I think that's a picture of how we often are in life. We head out the door, but if we're honest and we really think through, and I pray that we will this morning as we think about that, we pack ourselves a backpack.

[01:40:38]We put in a little bit of anxiety because maybe if I'm worried enough, I can stay in control. Maybe we put a little bit of bitterness because it's just easier than trying to face forgiveness and really letting it go and it's too painful, it's too hard, it's too scary. So, I'll just put it in. I'll take it with me. We carry striving because if we perform, then we can save ourselves from vulnerability. We just put it in the backpack. Off we go. This This is helpful. I can just try harder.

[01:41:07]back and strive and then never really face what's underneath.

[01:41:13]Maybe we we put in a bit of approval addiction. Just just a little bit of approval, just needing it from just somewhere just to feel all right about ourselves because deep down inside there's some insecurities that we've carried through through life.

[01:41:28]And what started as something we feel is helpful becomes the weight that eventually if we let it will weigh us down and will bury us. What felt like preparation became and becomes baggage.

[01:41:45]Things that we hold on to that we think are helping us actually become the very things that hurt us. You know, I had a I had a very good friend. This is a decade or so, probably more. True story, [snorts] good friend of mine, and he was uh he just recently got married, I think at this stage, probably mid to late 20s, but he was struck down with this mystery illness. Sort of came out of the blue and it was um manifesting in very different ways. Uh but one of the main ones was that his immune system was just attacking his whole body. He was in horrendous pain, particularly his skin.

[01:42:21]Like he was just covered in this horrific condition where his his wife would have to wrap him in cold blankets every night just to try and bring down the pain levels so that he could grab a few hours sleep. It was that kind of level of of a horrendous reaction. And he'd gone through this journey. He'd sought medical help. They had tried him tried to put him on various medications.

[01:42:45]Some had maybe eased it slightly. But there there was just this is this has gone on for for months, possibly even a couple of years, a a longerterm illness.

[01:42:53]There was just no restbite. He was at the end of his rope, not knowing where to turn. And then there was this moment, this God moment. Praise the Lord for God moments. And in a moment of ministry, he was before the Lord literally God, I can't go on. Like this this is this is I cannot deal with this. I don't know where to go. I don't know where to turn.

[01:43:14]And the Lord spoke to him in that particular moment of ministry as he was with the Lord and said something along the lines of the stuff you're carrying is not serving you well.

[01:43:28]You know that stuff that you're carrying, it is not serving you well. And he knew in that moment exactly what the Lord was trying to tell him. And he'd carried stuff since his childhood. There was issues there. There was brokenness.

[01:43:41]There was baggage. there was bondage and he'd realized every day just filling myself a backpack. I'm carrying it literally to the point where his physical body was shutting down. It was attacking himself and that was a breakthrough moment as I remember it. It was dramatic. It was almost overnight that he had dealt with that stuff. He said, "Right, I'm gonna I'm going to deal with it. I'm opening up the backpack. I'm getting it. Lord, help me work through this stuff because this is not serving me well. I've carried this for years, but I've had enough. And I want you to come down and bring the healing in my heart that I need. And I forget if it was instant or it was a process of days or weeks, but within a very short time, he went from a debilitating illness to completely 100% healed. And to the best of my knowledge, decades later, he's never had any recurrence of those particular illness.

[01:44:34]Not to say there's not other issues he's had to face in his life. Yeah. Praise the Lord for that.

[01:44:46]And so really where I'm pointing us towards in terms of as we bring this to a close and we might get the worship team back up now as we land this particular aspect of seeking first the kingdom.

[01:45:01]I feel like this morning is a morning of grace that there is an opportunity and invitation from the Lord to pray a very dangerous prayer but a very needed one.

[01:45:14]If we're truly to seek first the kingdom and I pray that that is our desire then at some point we need to pray Lord would you search my heart?

[01:45:25]Would you search my heart and would you show me any and every way that is not pleasing in your sight?

[01:45:37]That the Lord in his mercy that he would reveal to us where there is stuff that we're carrying that is not serving us well.

[01:45:47]And I want you to remember this. See, the beauty of the gospel is that Jesus comes. He exposes the heart, not to shame us, but he wants us to get to the bottom of where we are at so that he can heal us.

[01:46:03]He's not standing over us saying, "Right, look at the mess you've made it.

[01:46:07]Now fix yourself."

[01:46:10]He is the loving savior who has come aware of our brokenness so that he might heal us. Isaiah 61. I love this passage. This is what Jesus chose as he began his ministry. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me. I've anointed to preach good news to the poor the proclamation of the gospel. And he's front and center.

[01:46:36]what Isaiah prophesied, what Jesus said.

[01:46:38]He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.

[01:46:45]It's not peripheral to the gospel breaking in. It's not peripheral to the kingdom. It's right there. Jesus continually is pointing us to the heart.

[01:46:54]Whether you like it or not, we are a brokenhearted people because we live in a broken planet.

[01:47:04]And there's brokenness not just out there, but that is the natural state of our human condition. And I know we love to hide it. I do too.

[01:47:13]We love to deny. We love to put on the backpack, pretend it's okay. I'll be all right.

[01:47:20]But I want to encourage us. There is another way to live. And it is the kingdom way.

[01:47:26]Seeking first the kingdom is where the king is allowed to rule first in the heart. where hearts are healed, reordered, and through the power of his spirit made new.

[01:47:42]See, Jesus did not merely come to forgive sin in some abstract sense and make bad people behave better.

[01:47:52]He came for wounded hearts, bruised hearts, exhausted hearts, hearts trapped in fear and shame, in striving, in grief, in rejection, in bitterness, in anxiety and disappointment.

[01:48:07]And if we want to seek the kingdom, we've got to move past just trying to behave better and what's going on the outside and really allowed him in to what's happening on the inside.

[01:48:23]me. I get you to stand, but I want you just to close your eyes.

[01:48:27]I want you just to have a moment with the Lord.

[01:48:38]Because if we want to live well, if we truly want to live this life, life abundant, to live free, we've got to let him deal with the issues of our heart.

[01:48:49]Issues will rise, hurt will come, fear will come, disappointment will come, anxiety will knock, rejection will happen, we will get wounded.

[01:48:59]Question is not will these things happen, will they rise. The question is will we let them rule?

[01:49:09]Will fear rule? Will offense rule, approval, anxiety, bitterness?

[01:49:16]Or will we hear this morning the knock of Jesus in his mercy on the door of our hearts? The king who came to bind up broken hearts. He's okay. You don't have to live. It's not serving you well.

[01:49:29]Put your backpack down. Let's work through it.

[01:49:36]Let's walk into a new freedom together, seeking first the kingdom. Not Lord, help me behave better, but Lord, search my heart. Search me, know me. Show me the misplaced loves, the false saviors, the fears that I've normalized, the wounds that I've hidden. Show me every anxious way, every striving way, and then in your grace, would you come heal what is wounded, restore what is broken, reorder what's divided, revive what's grown weary.

[01:50:10]Let the kingdom come as the king himself comes to rule, reign to bind our broken hearts. So Lord, I just thank you for your mercy.

[01:50:26]Thank you for the greatness of your love. Thank you that that is desire, your desire, the desire of your heart to see your people walk in the freedom that you've paid for.

[01:50:39]And Lord, this should be the most healed place on the planet, your body.

[01:50:46]But so often, Lord, in my experience, it be can become the most broken. We just add religion onto all the rest of our striving and approving, and it's a heavy stone in the backpack.

[01:50:59]Lord, I I just bring us back.

[01:51:07]Thank you, Lord, that you know. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy, the sweetness of your invitation.

[01:51:12]It's your goodness that leads us to repentance.

[01:51:17]And Lord, I pray that you'd show us, Lord, what is going on in our hearts?

[01:51:25]What is there this morning that we need to bring to you?

[01:51:30]What is there that we cling to? Because in some some place in our heart, it gives us security. It gives us protects us.

[01:51:44]Lord, show us where the very things that we hold on to because we think they help us are the the very things that are harming us.

[01:51:56]Lord, I pray this would be a morning, a morning this today, this morning where we leave lighter, we leave freer.

[01:52:06]Expose our hearts. Show us what's going on in order that we might let you in.

[01:52:16]Lord, forgive us where we're we're so good at just busying our lives of running past.

[01:52:26]Thank you, Lord, that we find you so often in the stillness.

[01:52:34]Thank you for the gift of your presence.

[01:52:38]Give your grace that is at work today.

[01:52:42]Thank you that you love us so much. You didn't just save us, leave us to walk our own path, but you're [music] there, faithful father, good shepherd, leading us through, saying, "Come on, we want to seek first your kingdom."

[01:53:01]So come rule, reign, come and heal our hearts.

[01:53:08]Your wonderful name Jesus. Jesus, Jesus.

[01:53:15]Why don't we just respond in worship and we just move into some ministry time?

[01:53:48]Your spirit's like water to my soul.

[01:53:55]Your [singing] word is a lamp to my feet.

[01:54:03]Jesus, I love you.

[01:54:07]Love you Jesus.

[01:54:19]Jesus, [singing] holy and [singing] anointed [music] one.

[01:54:33]Jesus, your name is like honey on [singing] my lips. [music] >> Your spirit's like water. [singing] to [music] my soul.

[01:54:52]>> Your word is [singing] a lamp to my feet. [music] Jesus, [singing] I love you.

[01:55:03]I love you, [music] Jesus.

[01:55:15]Jesus, [music] [singing] you're [music] the risen and a sold [singing] one.

[01:55:29]Jesus, [music] your name is like on [music and singing] my lips.

[01:55:41]Your spirit's like water [music] to my soul.

[01:55:48]>> Your [singing] word is a lamp to [music] my feet.

[01:55:56]>> Jesus, [singing] I love you.

[01:56:00]>> I love you. [music and singing] Your name is like on my lips [music and singing] and your spirit like water to [music and singing] my soul.

[01:56:16]Your word is a lamp to [singing and music] my feet.

[01:56:24]>> Jesus, I love you.

[01:56:28]>> I love you. Oh Jesus, I love you.

[01:56:35]>> I love you. Lord Jesus, [music and singing] I love you.

[01:56:42]I love you.

[01:56:49]>> Thank you, Lord. We'll just continue to worship for a little bit, but if you'd like prayer this morning, got the prayer teams to come out, particularly in that area. If there's things that you know that you just need to bring before the Lord, that that is his desire. He is the savior who's come to bind up broken hearts. If you know there's been things you you're carrying around, let let today be the day we let him in. We let him rule. We lay down and we leave here the fullness of the freedom that he desires for us to live in. Amen.

[01:57:29]If you want prayer, just come forward.

[01:57:31]Prayer teams there. Feel free. We'll linger a little just to worship the Lord. Cafe will be open if you want to hang around. Enjoy a cuper before you head off. But [music] bless you this week. Seek first the kingdom.

[01:57:44]We'll see you again next Sunday.