The Time is Now - Ps Mark Lassey

and what he said so I'm so glad to see you all it'll be up on our feet he's lifted us out of the fiery play and he is broken look how we Lifted Me [Music] look how we Lifted Me his grace and mercy is my testimony for every victory I've got a song to sing look how we live [Music] [Music] oh Hallelujah for every victory [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] when nothing else could help your love came down when nothing else to help your love came down [Music] when nothing else could help your love Came Down Your Love came down when nothing else could help your love Came Down Your Love came down when nothing else [Music] look how we Lifted Me his grace and mercy is by testimony for every victory his grace and mercy is [Music] whoa [Music] yes Father God we want to thank you that you have listened you have lifted us from that Maori clay that you have placed our feet upon a solid rock and Lord although that might sound like a a beautiful summer a beautiful picture it's it's not just something that is words on a page that it's it's a reality of of who you are and what you've done for us you've lifted us up you've you've picked us up you've taken us from that place of of dirt and filth and shame and condemnation and you've lifted us call us your own and father we just want to thank you for that we want to celebrate that who you are and what you've done for us in and through us in Jesus wonderful name we pray amen amen welcome to church this morning welcome so great to have you all here and uh why don't you take some time turn to the person next to you welcome them to church find out what they did yesterday [Music] [Music] okay well I was gonna say you've picked a good day to come to church but every day is kind of a good day to come to church come on is that is that true is that true yes we've got some people agreeing uh but yes we're very blessed today to have uh Pastor Mike Lassie uh sharing with us a bit later on so uh yeah all the way from uh Kingdom City Church in Perth and uh we had a great time last night at the men's steak night he's shared a phenomenal word and uh yeah so we're in for a treat uh this morning and then next week another plaster Mark another Pastor Mark you're gonna be doing it which is which is awesome so uh yeah thank you sir yeah so next week I'm speaking at um Palm Sunday and I heard a rumor that there is for everyone Yeah well yeah like so we've done this uh the last couple of years where we sort of have these uh we say it's free but you can give whatever you want ah so it could be the most expensive party you've ever bought yeah that's right so ordinarily you're you're just such a awesomely generous Church the other years when we've done this we've actually raised more money than if we said this is the amount so if you come along you don't have any cash and you just want to join us for lunch feel free take a free party but again as it is uh each and every week a hundred percent of the the profits that we make from our Liberty Cafe goes to running our school in Cambodia so if you decide you want a 50 Palmer you want a hundred dollar Palm you can have one I can have one it could be the most it could be the least expensive or the most expensive palmy in Murray bridge on the day that's awesome so meet us next week for that and of course today we also have our Fantastic liberte Cafe team and what are they doing today baked potatoes they're doing cheesecake I saw the cheesecakes they look amazing who doesn't like cheesecake on a beautiful chili kind of drizzly day like this a little bit of comfort food so get out there and once again the food that goes to raise money for our school in Cambodia that's right on Tuesday as we have each week of term we have our Greenhouse happening yeah so we've had an amazing lineup of of speakers I think we've got um some of the list of speakers there so we've had uh Pastor Ray came up and shared and last week we had Hans watman this week we've got uh Pastor Mike Lassie's going to be sharing at our at our greenhouse and then the week after Dr Barry chant and then David Hilliard from compassion so something amazing on each week at greenhouse and so feel free to come along for dinner you can come straight after work six o'clock whenever you're free and available and then the session is going to start at 6 30 and it's just an hour-long service and it's just been such a blessing each and every week so um yeah that's open to everybody that wants to come along um this week so I I said to to Pastor Mark depending on how well he preaches this this morning will depend on how many people come on Tuesday so we'll kind of that'll be out that'll be our measure for how how well he preaches uh this morning will be how many people are there in three now well if it's got anything like how he spoke to the men's steak night it's going to be fantastic so you guys are in for a treat now Easter's coming up so soon it's only yeah and our Easter services have been better and better every year this time we've got a Friday 10 a.m service and a Sunday 10 a.m service so make sure you get into that it's going to be Tash and Pastor Josh we're going to be sharing on our Easter special yeah and if you want to get baptized so our theme is no separation all celebration and Easter is a great time to celebrate it's a great time to invite family and friends I know that I've been talking to some of you and you've already been saying oh I like I've got these unsafe family members I really want them to come along and experience the life of of Easter so it's a great time to invite people along but it's also a great time to get baptized it's all about new life and that Resurrection Life and so if you haven't been through the waters of baptism please come and see us uh yeah where we tried it last time New Year's Day I don't know if you remember we were going to have this amazing baptismal service outside um and then it was like 44 degrees or something on the day so we shifted it up and did it inside here we had grass and everything on the inside here so we're going to trial it again so we're going to try and do the baptisms outside we're going to have a bit of a celebration out outside so we have this Main Service in here just a one hour long service in here and then we're gonna head outside for some worship and Easter egg hunt for the kids and some baptisms outside so yeah feel free to let one of the pastors know if your needs to get baptized spoke to someone last week that's Keen as a bean so any more up there hopefully talking about someone who's Keen as a bean Shannon is going to share on our giving this morning thank you Sharon let's give her a hands good morning everybody how are we it's good um this morning I want to talk to you about a little not so little trip I took to Queensland recently uh for those of you who don't know you all should know I have nine children two German Shepherds and a husband so I have 10 children and two German Shepherds um I love my husband anyway we decided to pack all of them into our bus and drive up to Queensland for my husband's parents 60th birthday um this was kind of a trip we'd planned but then we weren't going to go because of a lot of things anyway my mom and I had booked some tickets for something on the 28th of December and we were not leaving Queensland until the 26th of December so it was going to be quite a tight tight tight trip home um so Christmas night I got a very clear word from God go a different route home and I'm like nine o'clock at night I've got to pack this bus uh the person who would have to replan our whole route would be myself and I have two babies I have to feed I have all the kids to get ready there's a lot going on and I don't think I can do that God so I already know the route and I've got it really well planned out anyway uh disaster hit and we got stranded in this little Outback town called aramack um which meant of course I wasn't going to get back for my thing for my mom which was quite devastating um anyway through this process of trying not to die kill my children and surviving the treacherous states of the Outback I had a few encounters with God that I completely ignored which I don't usually do and the day we were ready to leave the roads reopened we were ready to head back to sa from aramac I got a word from God go back to Townsville and I'm like oh no no oh no and I looked at Timothy and I was like we have to go back to Townsville and he looks at me and he goes I'm not even going to let you ignore God this time we are getting in the car and we're going right now I'm like okay great it was it was really super emotional for me because my mom is quite unwell you know this was like a big deal that I was getting back to possibly what could be our last one of our last hurrays so it was quite a horrible horrible state but as we're driving back and I'm accepting my Disobedience has consequences which is funny because that's what I try to teach my children every day and I realized that God often tells me tells us to do stuff and it can be quite obscure and seem quite hard and pointless and useless and we already have our plan and our way in our map and everything going um and yeah I just I think that it's hard sometimes to do what God asks us to do especially when it requires sacrifice of our time or of our talent or of our Treasures um I'd like to read from the Bible now um from acts 4 verse 36. said thus Joseph who was also called by the apostles Barnabas which means son of encouragement a levite a native of Cyprus sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet do with what I just shared Stay With Me Barnabas or Joseph this one he was kind of an outsider he was a Jew but he was from a different region so he was kind of an outsider where he belonged God told him to sell his land which is a big deal in those times because your land is your family's inheritance and it's where your family members are probably buried or going to be buried your children are going to get this land and God said sell and he sold and then he went and brought all that money to the feet of the Apostles and used it for the work of God Barnabas was like Paul's right hand man he was such an important support to Paul through his ministry and through everything like imagine if Barnabas had gone now God I got to use this land for my kids I gotta my mom's buried here I can't sell this land he was so obedient and we just see time and time again in the Bible of people's obedience and just the huge impact it has we don't know and we'll never know who or what wouldn't have happened if Barnabas hadn't have been obedient to God and if he hadn't been obedient to the plan he had laid out for him and the map that God had laid out for him on that so I just want to encourage you today whatever you feel like God is telling you to do or to give or to change or to alter listen God doesn't tell us to do stuff because he likes to watch us suffer he tells us to do stuff because there is eternal gain and eternal blessing that comes so I just want to encourage you today if you call this place home if you have cash put your put your hand up in the Esters will come around and collect oh actually no they're going to pass it through the aisles now happening now okay great if not we've got our details up here on the screen and yeah I just want to encourage you if you if you feel like God's been calling you to give or do more push yourself past the point of convenience and into the place of sacrifice because the offering that he has for you when you do that is not just because of that but it's incredible what God can do when we're obedient and when we give all that we have to the kingdom of God do you want to close your eyes I'm going to pray yeah God I just want to thank you so much that you are a father of provision I thank you that you are a god who doesn't ask of us what you don't have blessing for I think you that you are not a God that tries to take but you are a giving father and I thank you God that you are not dependent on us in any way shape or form and I just pray over this offering that it would be used for your glory for your kingdom and to touch the lives and the hearts of the people here of Murray Bridge and for the other places that we've got our hands in God father I just pray for a blessing over everybody in this room today that you would be here and be with them in your precious name amen we're going to hand off to miss Julie Hooper now she's got a live good news for us Shannon good morning everyone well this morning I got a phone call it was a little bit of a surprise one of our pastors loves to throw us in the deep end occasionally which is really good for us to be strong and courageous so Tash has asked me to do a live my story this morning and to share with you something that God did in my life a couple of weeks ago here at church so being pregnant um I had increasingly intense sciatic nerve pain down my back and a few weeks ago I came to church I'd come straight from a night shift at work and had not been able to sleep I was in so much pain I couldn't even move and got up with a beautiful worship team to sing and touched it to me how are you going and I said oh so much pain I can't sleep um it's really bad but you know I'm pregnant so it's okay and she said can I pray for you I'd love that sure um and when she prayed for me she asked me um did I feel anything different and honestly I was like no but I'll let you know I said I'll text you if I do and anyway she preached that morning many of you would have been here um and after that message where she was challenging us to become complacent um singing here up on stage I really felt like God was doing something and the Holy Spirit was moving the tingles and I was like Hey Lord I know you're doing something I don't know what it is for the next two days that pain in my back reduced by half and then by the Wednesday night I had no pain at all praise the Lord and I haven't had pain since and that was two weeks ago so Tash asked me to share that and while I was thinking about sharing that with you and sharing what God can do and does you know um at the beginning of the year when we had our all-in night Shadow versus Proverbs 13 12 and I'm gonna pull my phone out and read it it says hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life and when that verse was shared at the beginning of the year God really spoke to me about the fact that my heart had become despondent um it was lacking in Courage it and it was lacking your hope and that he was going to change that this year he wanted to do something in me this year to change my sick heart and there are things I've I've been a Christian since I was my son's age who's in here this morning so for more than about 24 years and there are things that I have prayed for and hoped for and there are people that I've prayed for healing for and that hasn't happened yet and I think my heart had become in this place where it was despondent where it was lacking in that courage in that faith and that hope and by God healing me a couple of weeks ago he really spoke to me in the fact that he was gonna he was healing my heart as well and he wanted me to continue to not be a spawner but to be courageous and to share and encourage others that glorious the god of the miraculous God is The God Who heals and is I haven't seen it over those presents it doesn't mean that he's not going to do that and he healed me a couple weeks ago and you know what small thing sciatic nerve pregnant lady but he has more that he wants for us and so I want to encourage you Church take that opportunity to pray for someone believe in faith that God is the god of the miraculous don't let your heart become despondent don't let it become sick and and lacking in that hope because God can and he's going to do miracles in our church going to heal people he's going to heal us and he's going to heal our our community so that's my encouragement for you this morning in my story that's all the outstanding Church we're going to worship and don't be complacent about it speak Jesus over our situation I just wanna speak the name of Jesus over every heart and every mind cause I know there is peace within your presence I speak Jesus I just wanna speak the name of Jesus every dark addiction starts to break clearing there is hope and there is freedom I see Jesus your name is [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] your name is me your name [Music] cause your name is healing your name [Music] [Music] Chase will break heaven in the sea holy is the name holy is the name of Jesus [Music] holy is the name of Jesus [Music] the Earth will say and tremble before it says [Music] Jesus Jesus [Music] [Music] holy is the name of Jesus Jesus [Music] holy is the neighborhood your name is [Music] I just wanna speak in the name of Jesus over every so I know there is peace within your presence yes Father we thank you we get to speak cry out in desperation in the name of Jesus they're my words that Pastor Mark's words can't save anybody but at the name of Jesus at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord that by the name of Jesus we are saved only by the name of Jesus we are saved so father we just want to thank you honor and the privilege of this to be able to gather here as a community of believers to lift up your name to cry out your name to speak that name of Jesus over fear over anxiety over doubt Lord that you are going to come and that you are going to change things that your spirit is here that your spirit is at work just as it was healed Julie's back that your spirit is at work here again this morning touch hearts and change lives the father we thank you do this morning Lord we look forward in anticipation Jesus want to follow me pray amen amen you may be seated thank you worship team and uh as I said we are very privileged this morning and uh he kind of said how kind of responsive is the crowd because he's like I kind of want to do something maybe at the end that's going to need people to kind of come with me so are you ready to go with him this morning shakaya are you ready to go with him this morning yep all right well would you please put your hands together and welcome Pastor Mark Lassie as he comes to share around the world this morning thank you so much such a kind audience um for those that have never heard me before um yeah my name is Mark and I come from the beautiful city of Perth in Western Australia but I was I was a South Australian for 20 years down uh at influences church and uh just recently moved across to the west but I think I've been coming to Murray bridge for probably a good 15 years now um anybody heard me before anybody not heard me before you are blessed blessed um I this morning I want to take a bit of time to talk about this moment that we are in this this very moment this very Sunday because how many know God's got something for us this morning he's got a word for you and I really do believe that as you leave here you're going to feel something shift maybe even awaken in your spirit and I love the thinking the theme of the year is strong and courageous and I want to preach something in alignment with that but I must be I I do struggle with being present I was that kid at school that always got told by the by by the teacher Mark where are you like what are you doing like where is your mind I and my parents they would always try to get me to be in in the present moment I'd be thinking about what I was doing afterwards and I must say Pastor Josh I don't know if you I'm sure you don't have this experience sometimes you look out at the audience and you'll realize that you might be sitting there but you're not there at all when you're thinking about lunch you're thinking about Monday afternoon um but if you would if you would stay with me I believe that God wants to say something to you most of the time I was able to adapt you know is if you've had a conversation with your spouse and about halfway through that conversation they realize that you've realized that you're not there and they'll say that throated like what did I just say and you're like oh my uh you're trying to piece together the six words of the last half an hour that you were paying attention to and trying to desperately no no no no I I give me a minute give me a minute um most of the time I've been able to play it off but there was there was a time um that I wasn't able to play it off and it ended very badly for me and I feel like um to make you feel better I'll share the story uh I was I was past I was part of a team and we had a guest speaker in this particular guest speaker she was an incredible woman of God and she regularly come to our church services and and we were really excited to to have her she had quite a prophetic Edge and every time she would come um she would do something interesting which made me giggle but also made me quite um amazed is at the end of her preaching she would always start to sing in her older call time um but the the amazing thing was she wasn't a very good singer Pastor Josh but the presence of God would would show up which always showed me that God isn't so much interested in the tone of your voice it's in the heart behind it and so she would start to sing the presence of God would come and and crazy things would happen and so we're we're just about to announce the guest speaker as Pastor Josh did with myself and I was standing right next to her and uh the the past one of the pauses is up hey it's great to have in this in the house this particular speaker and everybody's getting excited and I'm getting excited and just as they're about to say and welcome to the stage um I thought you know what I'm gonna do I'm I'm gonna add to the atmosphere I'm going to engage and and I've got a incredibly loud whistle um like a whistle that uh it could it could call the call the cattle home in uh tail and bend like it's it's anybody want to hear my whistle now I'll face this way how's the Acoustics in this room I'll give it about a 75 percent um that's about a 75 and in a room sometimes you get the Reverb and it gets a bit crazy so I thought to myself I'm not going to give a 70 I'm going to give a hundred and ten percent I want to add to the atmosphere I want to make sure that she knows that we're excited uh this speaker's standing right next to me and I I let loose with maybe the loudest whistle I've ever done using all of my lungs capacity to blow and as I did I I it screamed in the whole room filled with this whistle and out of the corner of my eye all I saw was this lady just Timber and fall flat to the floor and for a moment I dared not look I'm like I I hope she went under the power of the Holy Spirit right now and eventually I've just kind of glanced in and there she is just lying prostrate on the floor like and but she wasn't she wasn't looking like she was enjoying herself at all and it was one of those moments where the entire audience looked at me then looked at her then looked at me as if to say what did you just do and I didn't want to acknowledge what was going on eventually we actually had to stop the service and pick her up and take her out into one of the side rooms where her her assistant told us oh sorry we didn't say anything She's suffering from a middle ear infection and when you whistled it complete she completely lost her equilibrium and just fell over and she couldn't get up for like 10 or 15 minutes we're Fanning her we're getting one of those aluminum blankets to keep the heat in and people are like Mark what did you do I was like I didn't do anything I just wish why would you whistle but like I thought I was having faith to an expectation to the room oh you are so insensitive I didn't know eventually we finally get her up get her composed enough to walk out onto the stage and she preaches her message now I must be honest I didn't listen to a word she said not a cracker the only thing I was thinking of is why did I Whistle why didn't somebody tell me she had a middle in Frick if somebody had told me she had a million ear infection I wouldn't have whistled that's not the type of and I don't know if you've done something dumb and then you just repeat that moment desperately trying to kind of conjure up like a time travel machine to undo what you did but then you realize then you realize what conversations you're going to have to have with people afterwards you don't you're not present in that moment at all all you can think about is why was I so stupid the entire message that's just what I'm thinking just thinking of things that could have happened to stop one conversation before with me would have stopped me doing it if I hadn't had this Incredible Gift of the Holy Spirit of the whistling gift that's the the tenth gift of of the spirit that the Bible doesn't talk much about the whole time and then eventually I'm like all right just got to let it go and that was like right at the time right at the end where where the the speaker is starting to ask for a response so I Zone into what she's saying and all I hear was this if you're desperate for God to move him you want the Holy Spirit to touch you and and you're here right now I just want you to stand to your feet and lift up both your hands towards heaven and we're going to pray and I thought to myself yeah I'm desperate for God to move I want the Holy Spirit to touch me yeah tick tick tick yep I want all that and she goes when I when I count to three I want you to stand to your feet and lift up both your hands so she does her Spiel and I'm listening now I'm in the zone I'm like yes that sounds great she goes on the count of three one two three stand to your free right now and lift your hands up towards heaven so I Stand On My Feet lift up both hands towards heaven and immediately I realize only about 50 of the audiences lifted up their hands towards heaven why don't you lukewarm half Christians that took me a couple of seconds to realize that there was something unusual about the 50 of the room that was standing and lifting up the wall hands towards heaven and that was the qualifications of the ones that were standing up and lifting their hands towards heaven and those qualifications were giving in the sentences just before I decided to be present in the room and that was this if you're a woman you're suffering with self-esteem issues and you're hungry for a move of God you want the Holy Spirit to touch you when I count to three stand up and lift your hands towards heaven one two three cook me bad that day fortunately I was part of a team Pastor Josh that was very forgiving and never brought it up again for about three months in the corridors at work ah Mighty woman of God great to see you see here uh churches are such a forgiven forget type of place aren't they um there's something about being present something about being fully present that enables God to do something in your world now I've been in church since I was three years old and there's so many times where I I've engaged and and and been part of a conversation where people are more nostalgic than they are present or they they're enraptured with what could happen that it robs them of what God is doing right now now I want to read a passage in Isaiah chapter 43 now it's such a great and well-known passage but I want to give a bit of context to it because I feel like what God wants to do in Lifehouse isn't about the future and it's not tied to it's right here God God has a plan for this moment here he he's got plans for the future but what he wants from us is to be present and I want to read something because there's his people the children of Israel that was struggling to be present can we wipe that screen it says this is what the Lord says your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel for your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down the fugitives all the Babylonians in the ships which they took pride I am the Lord your Holy One Israel's Creator your king just hold it there for a second oh yeah keep it there um for context these people the children of Israel were captive in Babylon so what that meant for them is they couldn't worship how they wanted to worship they couldn't build generational wealth their their lives were literally not their own and so God begins to write this message through the prophet and he says you know what I see you they would have felt forgotten they would have been nostalgic remember those times when we used to be able to worship remember those times Well we were free people but they're not there anymore they're in this moment where they're captive and he's the loving God coming and saying you know what I see you sometimes the hardest thing for a follower of Jesus is to be in the middle of a trying time and feel like God is distant feel like God is invested in their future or maybe he's good in the pot but right now we've just got to get through this season you ever said that to yourself just got to get through this it's a real season where we're just believing for better days ahead and and we believe that God was good or we've been through some Journeys in the past but this is just the time we've got to endure this is the heart of this group of people man we've just got to get through this season like God isn't President in this season he's got a plan to get us through but it's not a time where we can we can lean in it's not a time where we want to be present it's not a time where we just want to or we want to feel like we belong here they didn't feel like they belong there I feel like there's so many people that never feel like they belong in that moment it's like this isn't my best season my best season is about to come my best season is the time that's been had a good friend of mine he turned 40 and he's that type of guy that tells stories about when he was younger all the time so I bought him the shirt and it says the older I get the better I was does he tell stories and I was part of that story but every time he tells that story he gets better and better in that story I'm like I don't remember that story being like that but anyway it's your story so this is God and he's trying to go you know what I see you I see the people that are holding you bondage and I'm not disconnected from that in fact I'm about to change some circumstances the things that held you bound that they're proud of I'm about to take from them but then it says this is what the Lord says he who made a way through the Seas a path through the mighty Waters who drew out the Chariots and the horses and the armies and the reinforcements together and they lay there never to rise again extinguished snuffed out like a wick so God is talking about when he delivered that same group of people from Egypt so he's saying hey you know what I see where you are now you've been there before I see the battle that you're facing I see the tension and the struggle hey I want to remind you that you've been there before and let me tell you what happened I liberated you I was your Redeemer then I'll be your Redeemer again I was faithful then I can be faithful again but then he changes and he says forget the former things do not dwell on the past see I am doing a new thing everybody's a new thing so he says I want you to understand that I am with you and I've been faithful in the past but I don't want you to use that as a template of what I'm about to do I actually just want you to understand something that right here right now is exactly where I want you to be you're not here by mistake you might have accidentally came here through circumstances that you couldn't control but you're not here because God didn't want you here you are in Lifehouse on a Sunday morning at the end of March because God wanted you to be in this room he says forget the form of things I want you to stop reliving present moments through the filters of the past which is hard for us to do he says forget him I want you to I want you to just be here right now at the end of that service with this guest speaker I couldn't escape from the mistake that I did in the past so it robbed me of being here in this moment and it says forget the form of things now it Springs up do you not perceive it I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert I think the most important phrase in this entire passage is this passage here do you not perceive it why did God have to say that is because they weren't perceiving it in other words God was doing something new God was on the Move God was extending his hand he was present but they didn't feel it they're reliving the past they're retelling stories of great redemptions and reliving stories of what God has done and they're also reliving stories of being in captivity they're telling each other hey back home back when we were free maybe God could do it again like he did it in the past and God's like no no no stop using that past experience past encounters as the filter of what I could do and what I realized is there's a few things that Rob us from being present one of them is past pains when we step into the moment and we we struggle to experience the fullness of God because we've got a distrust from something that's happened to us in the past somebody disappointed us or we even disappointed ourselves we thought we could put our expectations at this but it only delivered here so what we do to help us cope is we just limit our expectations of what God could do or we prayed for it in the past and it didn't work so you know what I'm going to do I'm just gonna I'm gonna manage my expectations now and it sounds like wisdom but wisdom's greatest disguise is fear and we diminish what we believe in God could do well God hasn't done that before or when we did believe it robs us of being fully present fully accepting what God could do for Murray bridge in 2023 because of what's happened in the past or or the stories that have been told so we have this filter of past pain but just as strong is our filters of past triumphs that Nostalgia of what God has done or what we've done and we think that that's how God is going to show up again oh this is what this is how he works this is how he moves a close friend of mine when we first met we started telling stories about God's goodness and testimonies a bit like we did earlier today with Goods it was a good news or good stories and so we're around this group of guys and he begins to tell this story about when he graduated from University and end up in a uh in a town in Iraq he was an architect and part of his kind of Gap year before he got into work he decided he'll work for a non-for-profit organization that helped rebuild Villages and towns that had been impacted by the war in the Middle East so he starts telling us what he would do is they would go in a group of these people and they would rebuild houses and Villages and town squares so they could function again but it was a very dangerous place to be he said one night we were just finished building a house and we'd heard that there's some insurgents some terrorists that were looking for westerners to kidnap that would kidnap them so they could negotiate a ransom or they would just kidnap them to torture and kill them and so they heard that they were on their way to the place where he was and he said Mark we prayed I said I would pray as well so we're praying and as we're praying we hear that they're getting closer and closer said there was one point where they were right out front of the house that we were in it's like man what did you do he said Mark we just prayed some people didn't speak in tongues they started speaking in tongues some people didn't believe in the name of Jesus they were just saying Jesus Jesus Jesus they whatever people could do they could do and I said what happened and he said Mark you wouldn't believe it but as we were praying these terrorists began to walk around the house and we could hear their voices and as they were talking they were saying stuff like where's the door there's no windows in this house and I'm like what do you mean didn't you put doors or Windows as you guys Mark there were doors they were standing out the front of the door but as they would walk around the house there was no doors I'm like that is insane you know there are those stories where the back of your hair the back of the back of your hair back in the neck hair you know what I mean it was crazy and we're like that is the most insane story it's like I know it was an incredible one we kind of talked about it for a little while and as a story I I thought man I'm going to remember that for the rest of my life well a couple of years later we're sitting down with a with a different group of people and this same guy starts telling this story he says are you after I finished University you went to Iraq and you know when you've heard the story and you're more excited now for other people to hear the story than you are so you're like oh man this is going to be amazing you'll love this story I was so excited for other people to hear it so he tells a story and then we would begin to pray and they walked around the outside of the room and there was no doors ah [Music] it was like it was crazy it was so good well a couple of years later this is now five or six years after I first heard it we began to talk in this small group of the same type of people in this group and we talked about stories about what God has done people talked about you know a healing that happened or a financial breakthrough and German goes I've got a great story and we're like oh awesome and Jeremy starts uh when I was just graduated from University I went to Iraq and he starts telling this story and then I realize that he's telling this story to a group of people that has already heard this story and I was just about to say oh we've heard this story already and then it dawned on me Jeremy had no new stories that was his story that was his moment where God was good where God showed up and I went to Jeremy afterwards and I said bro um have you got any news stories and he goes oh yeah I'm sure I do I said well tell me and he goes oh nothing like that and I remember I challenged him I said Jeremy you know God is wanting to do something today God is wanting to do that for you he's doing new things all the time he wants to be your ever-present help in time of need but as I began to talk I realized that Jeremy didn't need God like he did now he didn't need God like he did then sorry he'd managed his world into this existence of predictability that he didn't need to pray like he did now and I thought to myself what a sad indictment that God is in the room saying hey behold I'm doing a new thing and he's so interested in the victories of the past that he doesn't even realize that God is wanting to do something right here right now I guess the question for us all is when was your last God story when was the time that it evoked something was it this week or was it last decade because God is Meandering through his people desperately trying to say hey forget the former things don't use them as a filter I want to do something above what you've asked thought or even imagined that means you've got to wipe the Slate clean and say God I give the steering wheel of my life over to you I'm going to put myself in situations that only you can sort out only you can do miracles I realized for this group of people God is saying do you not perceive it why because they couldn't perceive it those filters have passed was so strong in their life that they couldn't break themselves away from what God wanted to do there but if two of the filters ever are passed pain stuff that's happened to us or our past triumphed I feel like there's a stronger filter than all of those and that's ourselves see if what has happened to us can be a blockage what we do to ourselves is perhaps a stronger filter that robs us the fact that where in this present moment that our mistakes can shape our future King David was one of those guys in second Samuel we find that he's at the Tipping Point of his own life he's made some absolute crackers of mistakes I mean in terms of mess-ups David the king of Israel is world class I hope no one's done anything like David David David David was out one evening on the top of his castle of his Palace and he looks over him he's in a place he shouldn't be at a time he shouldn't have been there and he sees a lovely lady bathing which she should have been there he shouldn't have been there and he sees something in lusts after it he manipulates circumstances gathers this lady to himself sleeps with her gets her pregnant and of course she's already married so to cover his tracks if adultery isn't bad enough getting her pregnant is just another step he decides what I'll do to cover my tracks is I'm gonna kill a dude so he takes this man's life to cover his sins the prophet comes to him exposes everything that he does he says you know what there's going to be consequences it's going to be consequences for the actions consequences to doing what you did and that is this child that was born from this Union isn't going to survive so now David is living in a present moment shaped by his past but now somebody else's future is determined by it and he can't he can't get away from it so he he begs and pleads the Bible says that he goes into a seizing of prayer and fasting he's in a prayer and fasting where he removes his kingly robes and he puts on sackcloth and Ashes and really what it is is that an external reflection of how he felt inside God don't let somebody else pay for my mistakes there's a moment where he hears in the middle of his prayer and fasting God please forgive me don't let somebody else die because of me one of his servants walks in and says King that child it didn't make it now I imagine the weight of that the weight of that sin the weight of that shame reliving the those moments reliving the consequences of it and he has a choice what do I do in those moments do I do I dwell on it do I rehash do I keep on going back to God what what do you do when you've made such such a mess up of your life when other people are feeling the weight of it when when you know what you should have done but you didn't do it the servant comes in and says you know what you can't change it anymore it's one thing to try to escape the pain that somebody put on you from the past it's one thing to try to escape the triumphs and reliving that but how do you escape yourself when you know your nature you know who you are you know how predictable you can be drag yourself in to this very present moment unfiltered by your own behavioral patterns and David does something that I believe is a template for all of us this morning and it's found in second Samuel says then David got up from the ground he washed anointed himself with olive oil changed his clothes and went to the house of the Lord and worshiped then he came back to his own house and when he asked they set food before him and I just leave that passage up there David hears what's going on he says you know what I can't change the past and I certainly don't want to relive it every day I don't want to live in my past pain I don't want to live in my past triumphs I don't want to live in the past person so he does something goes you know what I'm going to get up I'm going to change my my position I'm going to change from where I am and for some of us it's simply starting a new Journey it's getting up from that same place that we've been then he washes himself he takes those things that represent the past and he changes his position then he changes his posture he changes his heart he says I'm not going to do the things that remind me continually again and again changes his position changes his posture then he anoints himself with olive oil he gets a new anointing he says God there's some things that I can chew on my own but there's some things that I need the anointing to break the Yoke there's some things that I can't do on my own so God I need you to intervene in my circumstances into my mindsets into my behavior I need an anointing that comes from something else that's not me changes his power says he goes down to the house of the Lord goes to church the reason why he goes to church he's he's got to get a new word he's got to get something fresh he's got to get something that awakens his Spirit again some of us are living in the word from 1987 and we've got to get a fresh word for today we've got to get something that causes our spirit to evolve into being present and that's why you came to church today it wasn't the hearing markets to get a fresh word from God to speak into your soul to cause your spirit to arise we can change our position we can change our posture we can change our power and we need to change our perspective by getting something else something outside of ourselves God I've got to have a word for me today as a father I've got to have a word as mother as a business owner there's a student give me a word that I can take that will launch me into 2023 unencumbered by everything that has happened in the past I don't want to be shaped by what has happened I want to be shaped by God doing a new thing by what God is doing right here right now I want you to turn to your neighbor and say get up get washed get anointed get a word can we stand to our feet this morning we're gonna we're gonna awaken our soul with our spirit this morning we're going to declare some things into the atmosphere to let our minds and our bodies know that God is about to do something new I used to think why God why is the problem can't you just finish what you've done in the past it's not about what God has done in the past it's just that God wants us to be here right here this morning at the 10 a.m service in Murray Bridge he's got everything you need for the rest of the week all he's asking for you right now is will you get up will you get washed will you get anointed and will you get a word come on can we say that to our soul believes that everybody one two three get up get washed get anointed get a word I feel like that it was about a 45 energy effort you promised me Pastor Josh that there's an enthusiastic audience in here now I'm not doing it to make me feel better I'm doing it and I'm asking you to use your voice because your voice carries weight it carries power and sometimes we just got to detach ourselves can we say it with a bit of enthusiasm get up dead washed get anointed get away get up get washed get anointed get a word here's what I believe the word of God is for you in Mark Jesus is about to send out his disciples he's got this group of people now the context of when he sends them out is just after Jesus's greatest Ministry failure it's when he goes back to Nazareth the place where he's born and it says Jesus could not do many miracles there he did Miracles everywhere but he goes to the place where he is born and they take the Divinity of God and all they could see is the humanity of man uh isn't this the Carpenter's son so to my understanding if it was me if I was about to launch the ministry career of the 12 people that I cared the most about it would be off the back of an incredible conference when there were signs and wonders and miracles and that's when okay hey see what I just did you can do that also but no he does it after the back after the the value of his own Ministry in his own Hometown where he couldn't do much and that's when Jesus says Hey gather around and let's read what it says it says he was amazed at their lack of faith so Jesus is about to do the biggest motivational talk of his entire Ministry career to this day and it starts with I couldn't do much because the people around me didn't believe in me gather around let's let's get you guys ready it doesn't make sense to me but then it says then Jesus went around teaching from Village to Village calling the twelve to him and he began to send them out two by two and he gave them authority over impure Spirits these were his instructions take nothing for your journey except the staff now when he says take nothing apart from his staff it's not like Pastor Josh has an Entourage of 16 stuff you don't need to take anything you've got 15 people around you to carry all your backs no he's just talking about I feel like that was unnecessary um take not take your stuff no bread no bag no money for your belt wear sandals but do not take an extra shirt wherever you whenever you enter a house stay there until you leave that town and if any place will not welcome you or listen to you leave that place Shake the Dust off your feet as a testimony against him this is what Jesus is saying I want you to go out and just like me it's not always going to work out but go out anyway I want you to go out understanding that it's not always going to work but I don't want you to be fearful of that in fact I guarantee you when you go out some people will reject you when you take that responsibility sometimes it won't work out like you thought when you witness to somebody sometimes they'll reject you but this is the word that I feel like God wants to impress on your heart you have the anointing to Shake It Off the same fears that held you back in the past you don't need to be fearful of them in the future the same filters that held you back Shake It Off God is giving you an anointing just turn to your neighbor and say Shake It Off Shake It Off and have the wisdom of the journey without its weight I don't want to replay the same mistakes because I've got amnesia but I don't want to be held backed by it I don't want to be held back by the pain of my past or my triumphs I still want the knot I just don't want to carry the weight anymore and this is what Jesus is saying when it works out you can just shake it off why because the residue of failure sometimes is the greatest filter to your future and he's saying I want you to get yourself and your soul ready that it's not always going to work it out but here's the word you can shake it off in other words step into your future and don't be fearful anymore step into your future and don't be afraid step into your future and don't be defined by what you think it could be just go out there and give everything every time and don't worry about anything because I've got you he says get up get washed get anointed Shake It Off what do you need to shake off your soul this morning what do you need to step into your future without the filters of what's happened in your past what do you need to stop being afraid of what do you need to stop living under the pressure of because God is saying I don't need you to prepare for it that's my job all I need you to do is go all I need you to do is live a Fearless life all I need you to be is strong and courageous all I need you to do is carry the anointing to speak over impure Spirits what are those impure Spirits it's a spirit of depression and anxiety and fear and intimidation it's the ability to live above and not beneath the head and not the tail it's the ability to step into what every anything that God has for you so can we say it together for this morning get up get washed get anointed this time it's not just going to be a shake it off with our words but we're going to shake it off with our flesh can you do that with me get up get washed get anointed Shake It Off come on Shimmy Shimmy shake shake it like a Polaroid picture in the words of the modern day philosopher Taylor Swift Shake It Off I hope she gave Pastor Jesus Christ some some kudos for that lime this is what I actually feel this morning is we're not going to just say it we're going to shake it and I'm not doing it just to make a spectacle of yourself it's amazing how often instructions were given in the physical in Scripture that had spiritual ramifications God said to Moses I want you to lift up your hands because as long as you lift up your hands you're going to get Victory you said to the to the general he said I want you to dip seven times in a river and every time you get up there's going to be your transference of a miracle he said to the children of Israel I want you to walk around silent seven times sit for six days and on the seventh day I want you to shout why because there's something about dragging our body and our mind kicking in streaming into a spiritual reality that actually sets us free from the bondages that try to imprison us so we're going to do something this morning in our flesh that's going to have spiritual ramifications and that is we're going to shake off fear we're going to shake off intimidation we're going to shake off some of the things that you've been managing maybe for the last week maybe for the last year maybe it's all your life and you're going to step into a Fearless future can you say Amen are we ready for this this is what's going to happen my my brother every time we say Shake It Off start to shake the atmosphere of this room I want you to hit some of those things strum some of those strings can we change it into something a little less sleepy you're doing a great job and what what's one of the songs that we sing There Is Power something about Jesus speak the name of Jesus all right so this is what we're going to do we're going to sing that the reason why we're singing that is we're changing the atmosphere the presence of our heart and we're dragging our minds into this moment there's an anointing and a Grace in this room God is always present but there's something that when we shift our attention the Manifest presence become the majority of our attention so can I get you to lift up our hands all across this room you're going to walk out of here with freedom you're going to shake some things off you're going to walk into feel like the holy spirit is speaking to me right now there's people you're you're afraid of what God is asking for you because you feel like you're responsible for the outcome Jesus is saying whether they reject you or not I want you to go anyway people with a burden for creating wealth and business and influence in this city you're like oh but what happens if it fails Shake It Off Shake It Off a righteous man fails but gets up it's time to get up it's time to Shake it Off Holy Spirit as your presence fills this room let every person from the youngest to the oldest be so aware of what you're ministering into their souls right now there's people that are so their world is so framed by the health of their body and their mind you've stopped believing for the fullness of what God has for you because you're just saying my mind can't go there anymore I'm not strong enough to do that my body can't carry it anymore past the Market's good for them but if you understood my circumstances I feel like the holy spirit is saying shake it off right now shake off those limitations shake off those expectations there's mums in the room there like I just don't have time to reach out anymore I don't have time and God saying who told you that I'm not asking you to come up with all the answers I'm just asking you to step out without fear will it work who knows that's not your business your business is obedience Shake It Off Holy Spirit Let Your Presence come there's a generation of strong and courageous strong and courageous people will come to you now you can't do that you shouldn't do that you try it in the path and it didn't work out shake it off right now Holy Spirit as your presence comes fill this room with expectancy and faith I speak to you spirit of fear and intimidation you will keep your mouth silent you have no Authority in this room you have no presence in this room [Music] can you feel his presence right now that's what I'm going to ask I'm going to pray your prayer and I want you to repeat this line after me say Jesus I repent of limiting your power and Authority in my life because my perspective you're doing a new thing let it sit out in your soul come on you're doing a new thing in the name of Jesus this is what we're going to do we're going to say it three times get up get washed get anointed Shake It Off every time we say it the band's gonna join us every time you get to the point where you shake it off this what I want you to do you might feel comfortable doing this that's okay that's the first time next time I want you to lift up your hands I want you to shout I want you to make a little bit more noise what you're doing is you're telling your soul and your mind you're not in control by the third time I hope you don't mind if you want to get up on your chair if you want to run around I don't care I just want you to get fear out of the way I want you to stop having that filter if you're I I promise dad your family needs you to get a little bit out of control this morning they need you to say I don't care anymore about what anybody else says I need his I need a new thing I need it to be implanted in my soul that I don't have to worry about opinions and circumstances and responsibilities yes it doesn't mean that we shirk them off and forget no what we're saying is there is a higher voice there's a higher perspective that I am desperately trying to get myself under are we ready are we ready Church come on please 45 of the church is ready we're gonna we're gonna get are we ready Church in the back three times each time we're going to get a little bit more demonstrative reason why I do it is because this is what I feel the Holy Spirit he's saying be compassionate enough to make people uncomfortable I've done this a couple of times and every time I'm like but maybe it's not their personality it's not my person I'm a middle-aged white dude it's not my personality I'm not I'm not African I'm not Hispanic I don't I don't like to make a spectacle of myself but I'd rather make a spectacle of myself to Kill My Flesh and let the spirit of the Living God the almighty powerful voice some self-perceived images of myself and this is my prayer that every middle-aged white guy would leave this place completely free come on if you're a middle-aged White Guy lift up your hands even if you're not well you're due to middle age all together if this isn't your personality lift up your hands and say God I I don't I don't feel comfortable with this but I'm desperate for you Holy Spirit we're hungry for you we're hungry for a move of God in Murray Bridge we don't want to be limited by the rules and regulations anymore we don't want to be limited by what has happened in the past where you're taking us we do not have a template for we do not have the provisions for we don't have the dreams or expectations for all you're asking us is to go out and if it doesn't work not let it filter our faith anymore so Holy Spirit we just ask for your presence to come let it come in the name of Jesus are we ready church are we ready church here we go one two three get up get washed get anointed Shake It Off come on just let it go a little bit let it go a little bit I don't mind you're just getting your soul used to it you're just letting it you're letting it know what's gonna happen that's cool all right that's number one who felt it felt a little bit this time it's going to go up another level it's an invitation to a future without limitations Holy Spirit Come Again some of you were like wow that made me feel really awkward that's good I'm here in Murray bridge to make people feel awkward I'm leaving and Pastor Josh can fix up the mess afterwards We Ready Church one two three get up get washed get anointed a little bit more Shake It Off Shake It Off shake off that shame shake off that fear shake off that intimidation shake off that lack of expectation Shake It Off Shake It Off Shake It Off all right I feel like we're almost there Pastor Josh actually like Pastor Josh can I ask you when Belinda could come up on stage with me now I I might be the I can promise you from my experience this is in your personality as a pastor Josh I've never seen Pastor Josh shaking in the street down at Murray Bridge but we're hungry for God to do something new are we we want there to be freedom in the house we want their live that's on Murray bridge to be lifted off I'm sick of coming to Murray bridge and hearing about the crime and the drugs and the all of the issues what I want to come to Murray Bridge into here is there's a Revival that's broken out that something shifted that there's there's Fearless Christians that are just going everywhere and anywhere they're in the highest positions of influence I feel like there's people that are getting called into places and space of influence Council government and you're like oh that's not I don't have the qualification shake that sucker off all your job is to take that next step and just see God begin to open doors so we're ready this is the third time possible Linda are we ready last time I was here you shook some stuff off didn't you come on honestly I don't do this just for her I I care I love Murray Bridge I've been coming here for 15 years and every time I see a Congregation of people that's hungry some of our congregations that have been around for 40 50 60 years this is the greatest season of your life the influence that you're going to have in this community is like nothing you've ever seen before if you're over if you're over 70 can I get you to lift up your hands towards heaven Holy Spirit a fresh anointing upon them a fresh anointing upon them a fresh anointing upon them shake off the expectations of the community oh you just go quietly and live your no no your voice needs to be heard you're going to lay hands on the sick and see them recover you're gonna speak to one another and you're gonna run I love the story of Caleb he came back 45 years and the Bible says that God kept his energy and his Vitality the same as it was 45 years ago why because he went you know what I'm shaking off any failure of the past and I want the Giants I want to take the biggest mountains so come on are we ready we're ready Pastor Josh me and you we're gonna make some good Instagram reels for this weekend they'll be like people that missed out of church are like what the heck was going on there this morning Can You Feel the faith in the room rise come on I know there's a few people in here that you're like nah the first time you might have done this as a shake that's cool I care enough to push you this morning I care enough to say don't settle don't settle don't restrict yourself anymore whatever makes you feel comfortable go after that go after it say God I don't want that to be my limitation anymore as school teachers in the room you're afraid of speaking out God's like I'm going to give you an anointing to Shake It Off you walk in the room that fear is not going to be there anymore Holy Spirit just come fill this for it I want the guys at the back you don't need to press any buttons ushers Holy Spirit you guess yeah here we go freedom in the house this morning this is a house of worship your life house here we go one two three get up get washed get anointed Shake It Off yeah yeah shake off that fear shake off that intimidation shake up that limitations shake off that expectation yeah yeah come on we believe you we believe your word Jesus we believe it in the name that's above every name we believe in your power we believe every word that you've told us and we will Shake It Off can we give him a shadow praise yeah [Music] forever [Music] just before I leave and leave some personal pastoral counseling sessions to pass to Josh can we just close our eyes for a moment I don't know how you walked in here but I know this that when Jesus walks into a room his intention is never to leave people how he found them whether you're sick in body sick in Soul or dead in your spirit when Jesus walks into the room his heart is to make everyone home and I don't know if you've encountered that Jesus I don't know if you've been coming to church for 15 years or 15 minutes but I know when Jesus walks in the room his heart towards you is to bring you back to life so this is what I'm going to do I want to pray with people with very specific group of people that is you've never known Jesus before maybe you did in your head it's an idea it's a story it's a religious experience but today you realize that Jesus isn't just that but in his own words he's he's the way here's the truth and his life and if you would come to him and say Jesus I'm Giving You Everything there's people in here you've done this process a few times and because of it it's so discouraged your soul you're like I'm not even going to try anymore I feel like God is saying shake that off this is your moment today to turn it around so I'm going to ask you if you're here you've never responded to an altar called Moment Like This you've never respond you've never prayed or maybe you did but you've walked away you would want to say Jesus I need you as my Lord and Savior would be my honor to pray with you today when I count to three if that is you men and women you would like to pray a prayer to receive Jesus Christ I'm going to counter three all I want you to do is lift up your hand now and ask everybody just to close the rides because I want to make it a personal moment this isn't about anybody else this is about you and God to be honest to say I'm tired mark I'm sick of carrying my sin and my shame I don't want that for me anymore I want a new thing I want a new life I know I want a new experience that's exactly what Jesus promises you forgiveness peace if you were trust him so if that is you every eyes closed no count to three I want you to lift up your hair nice and high so I can see it and then we're going to pray together one two three just lift it up yeah I see that hand I see that hand who else is there just keep it up for me yeah I see that hand God loves you yeah another hand there another one there another one there another one there yeah I see that hand God loves you man who else is there I think there's seven or eight hands already lifted up I'm just gonna wait just a moment more because you matter to God you you're fearful of what other people do not worry about what other people think this isn't their moment this is your moment it's not their life it's your life you can walk out of here changed as I look across the room one more time one two three just lift it up yeah I said hey man you're awesome right at the back all the way through I look across the room one more time if you lift it up your hand could you put your hand on your heart for me I'm going to pray but I'd love you to pray with me you might say Mark I don't know how to pray that's cool this is what I'm going to do I'm going to say a line and I'm just going to ask you to repeat that same line the reason why I do that is because God loves to hear your voice man when you speak to him he quietens all the angels and he says my son and my daughter are talking to me right now never forget that God is always listening to you but you're not going to say by yourself can we say it together as a church as a whole family this is what I'm going to ask you to say say Jesus I give to you my sin my shame my hurt and my pain it's yours my past and my present in exchange I receive your love your forgiveness your future and your hope I am yours and you are mine in the name of Jesus can we welcome every person that responded man it's it's beautiful we never take that for granted I'm sure Pastor Josh will give some instructions afterwards Murray Bridge so thankful that you invited me to be part of the family today once again it's an absolute honor to come up and see your beautiful faces just turn to your neighbor and say get up get washed get anointed shake it off thank you very much Pastor Josh UA thank you God if you made a decision to follow Jesus for the first time please go up the back to our connect point we want to pray with you we've got a Bible for you if you want prayer we want to stand with you as well and pray with you we're going to finish off with the fasting let's go guys you're gonna sing he turned my morning back into dance [Music] [Music] look how we lived in me his grace and mercy is my testimony for every victory oh nothing else when nothing else could help your love Came Down Your Love came down when nothing else could help your love Came Down [Music] Your Love came down when nothing else [Music] oh look how we Lifted Me his grace [Music] [Music] his grace and mercy is look how he lives [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music]