Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the World Changers Church Gold Coast Podcast. Join us as we listen to today's message.
[00:00:10] Praise God.
[00:00:15] Good morning.
[00:00:17] How are you guys doing this morning?
[00:00:20] Amen.
[00:00:23] Funny feeling in the house of God this morning, eh?
[00:00:27] Something's a little off, like there's a wrong spirit in here.
[00:00:30] Y' all pay attention to the wrong spirit.
[00:00:33] When something's off, we don't give it attention because what you focus on, you give power to.
[00:00:38] And one of the things I know about scripture before I start this sermon is God said, where unity is, God commands a blessing.
[00:00:46] The body is a unified body submitted one to another. And it has a hierarchy of authority.
[00:00:51] Jesus under shepherds, shepherds, gifts, and the body.
[00:00:55] And if the order of leadership is right, it's servant leaderhood.
[00:01:00] Amen.
[00:01:02] Hallelujah.
[00:01:05] But I thank God for the called men and women of God that lead this church.
[00:01:10] Are you thankful for all of our leaders here?
[00:01:12] Amen. Are you thankful for the worship team this morning?
[00:01:16] They powered through very many moments this morning where interruptions were trying to take place. And God has done a miracle, and we are settled into his spirit. Amen.
[00:01:25] Look at your neighbor and say, jesus is good and the Holy Spirit lives in me.
[00:01:32] Amen.
[00:01:35] So this morning, I want to take you back to Peter, who was on that shore at the same charcoal fire that he experienced when he denied Christ three times.
[00:01:50] The second time that he saw Jesus after the cross, he was at that same shore being fed.
[00:01:57] But the other time he was on that shore was when Jesus, as a carpenter, told him to lower his nets on the other side of the boat. And he said, all right, as you say, Rabbi. And after the miracle happened, Peter said one thing. He said, I'm not worthy of your presence, for I'm just a sinner and a lowly fisherman. And you know what Jesus said to him? Follow me, follow me. Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ.
[00:02:27] Amen.
[00:02:29] So we have such a beauty this morning with the call of God on our lives, that we can look at that same charcoal fire this morning and say, lord, I'm back at church again.
[00:02:43] I'm here again.
[00:02:44] I was here last week. I was here the week before, and I'm back at that same charcoal fire. For Peter, it was the Sea of Galilee. For you, it may be a pulpit, it may be a chair in a sanctuary, it may be a podcast, it may be your car tomorrow morning. But there are places and times where Jesus meets us and he settles the commission on our lives.
[00:03:05] Amen.
[00:03:07] Hallelujah.
[00:03:09] When the sun was barely up on The Sea of Galilee. There was a man standing in the shallow, soaking wet, because a moment ago he threw himself out of a boat and swam to the shore. His name was Peter.
[00:03:23] What unbridled expectation.
[00:03:27] It didn't matter about walking on the water anymore. It didn't matter about who's in authority. It just said, my Jesus is there and I gotta get there.
[00:03:36] Now, you must understand where Peter has been.
[00:03:40] This is the man who said, I will never deny you. I will die with you.
[00:03:46] A lot of people will say that they will do things for the lord.
[00:03:51] I've been one of seven pastors of a 5,000 member church and been over 30 locations.
[00:03:57] And this Thursday, when I stepped into a room, the Lord said, you have stepped into a regional authority and you will see the representation of it on Sunday. I did not know he had sent devils into this place for me to have to deal with.
[00:04:11] Praise God.
[00:04:13] Hallelujah.
[00:04:15] But Peter knew that God was God.
[00:04:20] But he put an authority on himself that wasn't his.
[00:04:26] Because that same man, a few hours later, in a courtyard, warming his hands over fire, he said three times, I do not know him.
[00:04:35] I never knew him.
[00:04:37] And then a rooster crowed for the third time and Peter wept like half his heart had been broken.
[00:04:45] You say you have authority, but have you really spent time with the Lord with your call? Amen.
[00:04:55] So here's the thing I want to look at.
[00:04:59] Cross to the Resurrection. Jesus is alive, but Peter has gone back to fishing. Have you ever just went back to what you were doing before because it just wasn't working out?
[00:05:09] Anybody know what I'm talking about?
[00:05:12] You went back to swinging incense, Rama shaman, dancing in the moonlight, getting emotional at a worship concert, singing about yourself.
[00:05:24] But you got to make it about Jesus.
[00:05:27] If you want to live in authority and you want to walk with him, you got to keep the main thing the main thing. So do me a favor, close your eyes and begin to settle into the name of Jesus.
[00:05:43] Peter went back to the boats, back to the only thing he knew before Jesus ever called him.
[00:05:51] And then he sees Jesus on the shore. He didn't wait. He didn't call out, lord, if it be you, bid me to come. He jumps. He took off his clothes, got down to his ephod and jumped in the water and started to swim. Didn't even wait for Jesus to call because he saw a charcoal fire.
[00:06:09] Let's look at John 21:9.
[00:06:12] We got that scripture then as soon as they had come, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it. And bread.
[00:06:22] There's a significance that Jesus wasn't just standing there to condemn Peter.
[00:06:27] There's a significance that Peter. That Jesus wasn't just standing there to say, you've wronged me, you've denied me. No. Jesus was standing there with food prepared and a warm fire to dry off by, even though Jesus said, even though Peter had denied him.
[00:06:45] It doesn't matter what you do and how far you stumble. You have an advocate with the Father. Repent and swim towards him. Amen.
[00:06:54] So why do you run from church when there's a problem?
[00:06:58] Why do you run from prayer warriors when there's a problem? Do you not think that Peter was ashamed?
[00:07:05] Peter was ashamed.
[00:07:07] Amen.
[00:07:09] But he knew there was a charcoal fire prepared for him. Here's the thing.
[00:07:14] That word charcoal fire appears twice in the entire New Testament. Once here and once before in John 18:18. Let's look at that. The fire Peter was warming himself by when he denied him, that he ever knew him. Now, the servants and officers who had made a fire of coal stood there for it was cold, and they warmed themselves and Peter stood with them and warmed himself.
[00:07:41] There are fires in your life that are going to test your loyalty to Jesus.
[00:07:47] Amen.
[00:07:48] But that's when the commission and the call has got to be solid. Because what did Peter not have in this moment that you now have?
[00:07:58] Huh? The Holy Spirit.
[00:08:01] You have the Holy Spirit.
[00:08:04] You have power on the inside of you to get past your moment of test and trial, to overcome your fear.
[00:08:12] Amen.
[00:08:13] Doesn't feel like it that sometimes, though, does it?
[00:08:16] All right, let's look at this.
[00:08:20] Jesus didn't recreate the smell by accident.
[00:08:27] See, in Jewish tradition, the telling is a part of a century. So there's the hearing and the tasting.
[00:08:38] So at the Jewish feast, they're tasting something that gives them remembrance while they're hearing a story. So the next time they taste or see that thing, they remember that moment.
[00:08:49] Jesus knew what Peter would think the moment he smelled that smoke.
[00:08:55] And that's what made him run to him.
[00:08:58] He built the same fire so he could meet Peter at the exact place of his failure and rebuild him there.
[00:09:06] Three times Peter denied.
[00:09:09] So three times Jesus asked, Simon, do you love me?
[00:09:15] Yes, Lord, I do. Simon, do you love me? Yes, Lord, I do.
[00:09:21] Simon, do you love me? Yes, Lord, I do. And in that moment, he recommissioned him. Then feed my sheep.
[00:09:33] Undoing every denial.
[00:09:36] And then he gives back his life's work.
[00:09:39] John 21 and 19.
[00:09:41] He says this. He spoke, signifying by what Death, he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me.
[00:09:55] He started Peter's journey with two words, and he end. And he commissioned Peter's journey with two words.
[00:10:02] Follow me.
[00:10:04] If you're not following, you can never lead.
[00:10:10] Do you think I'm up here leading alone?
[00:10:13] Do you not think I answer to someone?
[00:10:16] I answer to someone and I answer to a physical being just as much as Jesus. There is accountability over my life to hold my human accountable while there's a Holy Spirit to convict me of what I'm doing.
[00:10:30] Wouldn't you be afraid of me if there wasn't?
[00:10:34] If I only answered to Jesus, wouldn't you be afraid of me?
[00:10:39] I never want to follow a man that doesn't know how to follow.
[00:10:44] I never want to follow a woman that doesn't know how to follow because they never know how to lead.
[00:10:50] Amen.
[00:10:53] So Jesus isn't recreating things by accident.
[00:10:57] Here's why I'm starting here. A lot of us believe we've disqualified ourselves from our calling. I don't want you to raise your hand, but maybe in your spirit, raise your hand. We failed. We denied. We went back to the boats and we quietly decided to call.
[00:11:13] The call is off. But the call is not as fragile as your failure.
[00:11:19] Amen.
[00:11:20] I'm going to say it again. The call is not as fragile as your failure.
[00:11:26] It's not.
[00:11:29] If your call was as fragile as your failure, guess what would happen?
[00:11:34] Every mistake would disqualify everyone.
[00:11:38] Every poor attitude would disqualify everyone.
[00:11:42] But your calling is not fragile. That's why. Because grace is not fragile.
[00:11:49] Our faith is not fragile.
[00:11:52] So I want to answer the question I think every one of us has asked.
[00:11:56] Have anybody ever asked this? What does calling look like?
[00:12:00] Anybody ever asked what does calling look like? Only a couple of us. Rest of you super saints, tell us how it's done. What ministries you got. What are you leading this week? I want to speak to your committee. Anybody ever asks, what does calling look like?
[00:12:13] Pretty much all of us.
[00:12:15] Amen.
[00:12:17] Not the social media version either.
[00:12:20] The biblical version.
[00:12:23] Because most of us treat calling like a lightning bolt and a secret map. God is hiding and it is neither.
[00:12:30] Can I tell you something?
[00:12:34] By all the authority in me, you are all called to the nations.
[00:12:40] But you need to learn how to submit to a vision before God will ever fulfill that vision in you.
[00:12:49] Believe it or not.
[00:12:53] Because most of us, we don't know how scripture begins to shape. We live in moments of emotionalism and we let somebody with a great name come and lay their hands on us and.
[00:13:06] And now you're anointed and commissioned.
[00:13:09] Your anointing and commission means nothing if you do not know the word.
[00:13:15] Amen. Thanks, son.
[00:13:23] Scripture begins to show a pattern again and again. In Peter, in a man named Saul who became Paul, and all the way back through the Old Testament. Six movements happened with the calling. Are you ready? You want to write them down? I'll give you a moment to get your phone out.
[00:13:42] That's how important. I mean, I've been fighting devils since 3:30 this morning.
[00:13:47] They woke me up, rebuked them, went down the road, got a coffee, rebuked some down at the cafe shop.
[00:13:55] I stayed away from everybody because this message is so important. The enemy has sent assignments to distract it.
[00:14:03] Amen.
[00:14:04] So heed my words.
[00:14:07] Six movements of calling. Identity is the first one.
[00:14:13] Submission is the second one.
[00:14:16] Formation is the third one.
[00:14:19] Confirmation is the fourth one.
[00:14:22] Commitment is the fifth one. Then clarity. I'll go again.
[00:14:28] Identity in Christ.
[00:14:31] Submission to authority.
[00:14:34] Formation as you're walking that out.
[00:14:38] Confirmation from those that are spiritually mature.
[00:14:43] Commitment and then clarity.
[00:14:47] Six movements happen inside of a call.
[00:14:53] It's taken me 20 years to arrive at my assignment.
[00:14:58] I've had different formations, different confirmations, different commitments. But the clarity that God has given on the inside of me has led me to this moment when I was leading as a part of the pastor, as leading a 5,000 member church.
[00:15:14] That looked like I arrived when I was over 30 locations.
[00:15:20] That looked like I arrived when I had my own security and own driver. That looked like I had arrived. When everybody answered to me, that looked like I had arrived.
[00:15:30] But it was when I came and had to restart in Australia with none of that that I began to understand what it really takes in the past 10 years to walk out of calling.
[00:15:41] You've been lied to and people have made it TED talk worthy. And now you're in rebellion and you're not walking in order.
[00:15:51] So let's start with identity. I'm not here to condemn you, even though that sounded a little strong.
[00:15:57] Identity.
[00:15:59] Who before what?
[00:16:03] Who before what?
[00:16:06] Before God ever gives an assignment, he settles an identity.
[00:16:10] Watch. It's with Jesus first. Isn't that funny? He always, you know, just leads it right back to the gospel.
[00:16:15] Before one miracle, before one sermon, the Father tears open heaven at his baptism in Matthew 3 and 17 and gives identity. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
[00:16:33] The well pleased becomes before the work because of it.
[00:16:39] Do you notice that God's not saying well pleased to Jesus because of the work he's done. He's saying well pleased to Jesus because he submitted to authority to be baptized.
[00:16:51] You want to follow Jesus? Learn how to submit to authority because even Jesus did it. The church is out of order. We got so many fractured ministries and we got over 42,000 different denominations.
[00:17:08] Over 3,000 in just one sect of Baptist. Let's not even talk about non denominational or non because we can't even define ourselves.
[00:17:16] And the enemy has divided us so much with our individualism and our self worship and our own authority that we can't even get together and be humble and serve together.
[00:17:28] Get back to sonship.
[00:17:33] Start with being a daughter and a son of God. Get the well pleased before you do.
[00:17:40] Amen.
[00:17:41] Now watch with Peter. There's the very first time they meet. Jesus looks at the rough fisherman named Simon and says, you are Simon.
[00:17:49] You will be called Cephas the Rock.
[00:17:53] Jesus named who Peter would become before Peter was anything of the sort of that's amazing.
[00:18:03] That's like saying President Tina before she's ever president.
[00:18:08] But she does rule her own country. It's called my house.
[00:18:15] Amen.
[00:18:19] So pray for me. She's happy there.
[00:18:23] Jesus named Peter before Peter did a thing. You're thinking about the do before the who. You're thinking about what you got to do for Jesus before you actually become a son and daughter of Jesus.
[00:18:38] Amen.
[00:18:40] Years later, he says in Matthew 16, 17, 18, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. Well, let's talk about Paul, the man who wrote half the New Testament says, God set me apart from my mother's womb. Galatians 1:15.
[00:18:56] The identity was there before the assignment was revealed.
[00:19:01] But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, he renames Jacob the Deceiver to Israel in Genesis 32 and 28.
[00:19:16] Jacob the Deceiver, the one who stole the birthright.
[00:19:22] A bowl of beans. Anyway, the one who stole the birthright, he changes his name to Israel.
[00:19:29] You think that because of who you are and where you're from and how much Bible and who's prophesied over you matters. Does Jesus know your name?
[00:19:41] Some of you be like, yeah, that's me. Prideful.
[00:19:45] I get up every morning, Lord, you hear me, Lord, I need you, Lord, I love you.
[00:19:55] Thank you, Lord.
[00:19:56] We get to business.
[00:20:00] An angel finds Gideon hiding in a winepress, terrified, and calls him mighty warrior. Judges 6 and 12 and Jeremiah 1 and 5. Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you and I appointed you.
[00:20:19] Here's why this identity must come first. If you chase the calling before you settle the identity, you'll make the calling the thing that proves your worth.
[00:20:32] I'm going to say that again.
[00:20:34] If you chase the calling before you settle the identity, you'll make the calling the thing that proves your worth.
[00:20:42] You want to know what settlers? A sonship and a daughtership.
[00:20:46] We're all family in the body of Christ, but we don't act like it.
[00:20:50] But we want to be true family. It's about how well we move with each other, how we respect one another, how we love one another. That's the first act of family, not the establishment of who's in charge.
[00:21:05] Man, half of y' all wouldn't even know I'm the pastor until I get in the pulpit, because I'm not sitting there flexing my authority all the time.
[00:21:14] I mean, praise God.
[00:21:19] Y' all think it's fun to stand in rooms of powerful men and women.
[00:21:23] Thursday, when I stood in that room, I thought, lord, all of hell now knows my name in this region.
[00:21:31] You think it was exciting?
[00:21:33] No. It comes with a responsibility.
[00:21:38] And a responsibility for you to pray for me.
[00:21:41] Amen.
[00:21:43] So I can't carry my anointing or my call without my identity.
[00:21:50] It'll crush you when it's hard, and it will inflate you when it goes well. You ever notice somebody when they preach well, they. They start acting different.
[00:22:00] I mean, my chest pokes out anyway, trying to hide the lower frame, you know?
[00:22:05] But you ever notice when somebody goes, well, they just. Yeah, that was good, wasn't it? And then it goes bad. Oh, man, I don't know what happened. The Lord just wasn't here. The outcome is not your responsibility. The words that flow to your mouth, that came from your submission to God is your responsibility, your identity. To be a son and be a part of a family is your responsibility.
[00:22:26] Stop wearing the weight of the world. It will crush you when it's hard and inflate you when it goes well.
[00:22:32] Identity grounds you.
[00:22:34] You are a son and a daughter of God.
[00:22:41] Get loved first.
[00:22:44] Get grounded as a son and daughter first before you start stepping into a call.
[00:22:50] And here's the beautiful part. Peter learned so deeply, it turned around and handed the whole church the same gift. First Peter 2 and 9. You are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
[00:23:02] You can read the rest of it behind me. The man who had to be told who he was. Now tells you who you are.
[00:23:11] Because you are a chosen generation. A royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into the marvelous light.
[00:23:25] Now, the people hearing that had to get to part two.
[00:23:29] They now know who they are. But submission.
[00:23:33] Surrender before sight.
[00:23:35] There was a church in Greenville, South Carolina, Jamie's church, by the way, the one that was just here.
[00:23:41] Don't tell him, but they offered me that job first. I'm just kidding.
[00:23:46] I'm really kidding.
[00:23:48] And I used to drive by when the former pastor was there. And I'd tell my wife, I'm gonna preach on that stage. One day I went and visited that church. I'm gonna be up there and preach one day. I had no idea what I was professing.
[00:24:02] And I did end up ministering on that platform.
[00:24:06] But that platform broke me because I didn't know who I was.
[00:24:14] I didn't know I was a son. So you gotta surrender before sight.
[00:24:18] The clearest pattern in Scripture in finding God's will is found in Romans 12, 1:2. Let's look at that. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
[00:24:34] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
[00:24:46] That's the order of everything.
[00:24:48] Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. That means you are surrendered to serve others, to lead and to be led.
[00:25:00] Then you will see and test and approve God's will. Then.
[00:25:06] Then.
[00:25:07] Come on, say it again.
[00:25:09] Then surrender first.
[00:25:12] Then you discern.
[00:25:15] Identity submission.
[00:25:19] Identity submission.
[00:25:23] Most of you want it backwards. We want clarity before commitment.
[00:25:28] You know that last one that I told you?
[00:25:31] You know, identity submission formation, confirmation, commitment, clarity. Most of us want clarity right in the beginning.
[00:25:38] That don't sound nothing like faith.
[00:25:41] We don't walk by sight.
[00:25:44] We walk by faith.
[00:25:48] So God, show me the plan, then I'll decide if I'm in.
[00:25:54] But God offers commitment that produces. When you offer commitment, God produces clarity. He asks for the yes before he shows the map. Peter learned this on the water in Luke 5.
[00:26:06] He fished all night and caught nothing. And a carpenter said, throw the net on the other side. A carpenter and a rabbi.
[00:26:16] That alone is enough.
[00:26:18] You know, is there a horse involved too?
[00:26:23] Because you say so, I will let down the nets. That sentence is hinged on his whole life.
[00:26:31] And right at the end on that shore, Jesus tells him plainly that submission will one day cost him everything.
[00:26:38] John 21:18.
[00:26:42] Did I give you that one, Timmy?
[00:26:45] Someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. And steal. Most assuredly I say unto you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.
[00:27:05] He was teaching Peter, the boisterous, bold, confident man.
[00:27:12] There will be times that you will meet a Paul and you will submit.
[00:27:19] And still.
[00:27:21] What did Paul say?
[00:27:23] This prophecy of Paul coming. What did Paul say? Follow me as I follow Christ.
[00:27:31] If we're all the chief, we ain't got no Indians.
[00:27:34] Amen.
[00:27:37] Everybody just telling everybody else what to do. And nobody's doing anything.
[00:27:41] Well, somebody will do it and everybody expected it. And nothing happened.
[00:27:45] Paul's first words as a believer are a surrender.
[00:27:49] Flat on Damascus Road.
[00:27:52] Blind. He asks in Acts 9, 6, Acts 22:10.
[00:27:56] What shall I do, Lord?
[00:27:59] What shall I do, Lord? What do you want me to do, Lord? Explain yourself. He didn't say, explain yourself. He said, what do you want me to do?
[00:28:09] Blind flat on his face, what do you want me to do?
[00:28:14] It is the heartbeat of every call in Scripture. Isaiah hears God ask, whom shall I send?
[00:28:21] And answers before he was told the mission.
[00:28:24] Isaiah 6:8. Here I am, Lord, send me young Samuel in first Samuel 3:10 spoke for your servant is listening.
[00:28:34] A teenage girl named Mary. Luke 1:38. I am the Lord's servant. May it be as you have said.
[00:28:45] Western culture has puffed you up.
[00:28:50] Humble yourself again before the Lord and repent.
[00:28:54] That dirty word that we don't talk about.
[00:28:57] Repent. It's a bad word. I remember that joke you told me. I felt like I hadn't been in Church for 20 years.
[00:29:03] Remember that?
[00:29:05] I never went to a Catholic church, but I'm sure there was some pretty good exercises there. Amen.
[00:29:10] I'm sorry to pick on you brother. I just like you.
[00:29:14] So let me say this to you. It is the heartbeat of every scripture.
[00:29:20] I am the Lord's servant. Surrender is not a one time event.
[00:29:26] It's a daily climb back to the altar.
[00:29:29] But it's right there.
[00:29:31] Well, it's already given. Your eyes are clear enough to see what he's saying. So, identity submission. What's the third one?
[00:29:40] Formation?
[00:29:42] The hidden years.
[00:29:44] You know, somebody told me how great my anointing was before I ever got On a platform.
[00:29:49] I wish they'd been spiritually mature to keep their mouths quiet because they spoke way too early. But I thank God for a prophet that looked at me one day and said, you have a great anointing. I was like, yeah. And he followed it with this sentence. But your character doesn't match it at all.
[00:30:08] Your character will stifle your anointing a hundred times over.
[00:30:15] Is that good, Tom?
[00:30:18] Here's the part nobody puts in the highlight reel. The Instagram moments. Between the call and the platform, there is almost always a wilderness. God forms the person before he trusts them with the assignment. And he will not skip the formative years.
[00:30:35] Peter was formed through three years walking with Jesus and painfully through his own failure.
[00:30:41] Amen. I might go a little bit over this today, guys. We had a long service. We had a lot going on. Can I finish this sermon today? Would that be all right with y'? All? All right.
[00:30:50] Listen to what he said to him tonight before he fell. Luke 22, 31 and 2 through 32. I'll paraphrase Timmy Simon. Satan has asked to sift you, but I have prayed for you. And when you have turned back, strengthen your Jesus told him. You're going to be sifted, you're going to be wrecked.
[00:31:14] And when you're rebuilt, build your brothers.
[00:31:19] Jesus built Peter's future ministry out of the wreckage of his first and worst night.
[00:31:26] Amen.
[00:31:27] Paul. The moment he covered you, the moment he converted, you'd expect him to be launched. Instead, he disappears. Did you know that Paul disappeared? Did you read your Bible?
[00:31:39] Did you read. It wasn't like Paul got called in, like Damascus Road, I can see. And he went to preaching.
[00:31:44] He disappeared for a while.
[00:31:48] Paul, for a moment. He was converted. He tells us himself. He went to Arabia, then back to Damascus. Galatians 1, 17, 18, about three years before the event, before he met, even met the apostles.
[00:32:03] Then years more quiet back home to Tarsus until Barnabas comes and gets him. Acts 11, 25 and 26 years of formation before the missionary we read about.
[00:32:25] What was Paul doing?
[00:32:28] He was relearning.
[00:32:31] He was sitting under people and learning.
[00:32:36] He was submitting.
[00:32:39] Your submission may launch you out to be one of the greatest men and women of God that we've ever seen.
[00:32:45] But your formative years, I mean, we don't put children on motorbikes. We put them on bicycles.
[00:32:54] Amen.
[00:32:57] It's the Old Testament rhythm. Exactly. Joseph gets a dream at 17 and spent 13 years in a pit, a household and in prison. And then a psalmist tells us why Psalms 105. 19.
[00:33:12] Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.
[00:33:17] Moses spends 40 years in a palace and 40 more in the backside of the desert before the bush ever burns. David is anointed in the king as a boy, first Samuel 16, and then goes right back to the sheep and into the caves, running for his life for years.
[00:33:33] If the New Testament apostles and the Old Testament prophets had to walk this process out, do you not still believe it's the same pattern that we have to walk out?
[00:33:45] You ever seen a rebellious.
[00:33:50] Did you ever see them come back to the Lord?
[00:33:53] Was it awesome?
[00:33:55] Yes.
[00:33:57] Was it fun watching them go through all that? Did they make everybody's life a living?
[00:34:02] Yes.
[00:34:04] But did they come back to the Lord? Yes.
[00:34:08] Was it fun while they were going through it? No.
[00:34:11] Did they have the best attitude in the world? No.
[00:34:15] Did you stay up late at night? Yes.
[00:34:20] Most people miss their calling because they despise the small assignments that are training them for the large ones.
[00:34:28] Your rebellion against this is too small for me, honey.
[00:34:33] I left big to come here to eight people in a church.
[00:34:41] I uprooted my whole life, sold everything, left an executive seat, making plenty of money to come here for eight people.
[00:34:54] And that was more challenging than 5,000.
[00:34:58] Amen.
[00:34:59] Why? Because you're right there.
[00:35:02] You're right there with them. You know every pain, you know every heartbeat, you know every breath, and you know every moment.
[00:35:09] And God showed me that real ministry is chest to chest, not pulpit to the back of the room.
[00:35:16] Amen.
[00:35:18] Jesus said plainly in Luke 16:10, Whosoever can be trusted. I'm gonna read this.
[00:35:25] He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in what is much. He who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
[00:35:38] You reap what you sow.
[00:35:41] Moses spends 40 years in the palace.
[00:35:44] Amen.
[00:35:45] Let's look at this.
[00:35:47] Let's really look at what God is saying. I'm going to not skip over some of this stuff.
[00:35:53] Most people miss their calling because they despise the small.
[00:35:57] The thing in your hand right now is the interview for the thing you're praying for.
[00:36:02] Don't despise the small. Pour into it.
[00:36:07] Fourth thing in the call is confirmation. Word, spirit, truth, Word, spirit. And people, when God calls. So you have what so far? Identity, submission, formation. Now we're on confirmation, Right?
[00:36:23] Word, spirit, people, when God calls, he rarely shouts it once and leaves you alone with it. He confirms it through witnesses that line up.
[00:36:35] Watch. Watch for it. What's in you, what's around you and what's written. These are your three witnesses to your calling for confirmation.
[00:36:44] What's in you, what's around you and what's written?
[00:36:49] I've had a prophet come up to me.
[00:36:52] He was a false prophet. I'm not going to mention his name.
[00:36:55] But he just said, and I call into you and out of you, and I impart in you. And I said. I looked at him, I said, I don't receive any of that because that is not what God placed on my life. And I feel like I'm taking an assignment from the enemy.
[00:37:09] And a little old woman came to me right afterwards and said, you know what?
[00:37:14] You could have whispered that, but you had to shout it.
[00:37:19] But I remember, I learned from that, that people would try and speak things over your life that are not in you. Look what's in you, what's around you and what's written. These are your three witnesses to confirmation.
[00:37:34] Peter's confirmation came in public and in community at Pentecost. The spirit falls on 3,000 that are saved through a sermon. Acts 2. Heaven underlining the call. And when God does the unthinkable and sends him to the Gentiles, look how carefully it is confirmed. Acts 10:11. A vision from the Spirit, a knock at the door. And then the whole Jerusalem church weighing it and agreeing. Not a solo hunch, but confirmed. A word. Let's read Acts 10:11. And they saw heaven open and the object like a great sheet, bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.
[00:38:17] Paul is the same.
[00:38:20] The risen Jesus stops him, but then sends him a trembling believer named Ananias to lay hands on him and pray.
[00:38:30] Acts 19:17. Barnabas vouches for him when no one Trusts him. Acts 9:27. And his missionary calling. Finally released, not in private, but in a prayer meeting in Acts 13:1 3.
[00:38:45] Y' all think Paul just had a miraculous moment on Damascus Road and then didn't have no trouble.
[00:38:52] He had to be affirmed just like anybody else. But he had to be. You gotta imagine what God had to break off of him before he could step into the confirmation. And the call is this good.
[00:39:07] Are you learning anything?
[00:39:09] All right, so in Acts 13:1 3. Let's read that.
[00:39:17] You got that one, Pete?
[00:39:19] Timmy? Yes. No.
[00:39:24] Now, in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers. Barnabas, Simeon, who was called that, Lucius and Syrian and Mannan, and who had been brought. Don't laugh. Up to Herod, and don't laugh.
[00:39:40] And Saul and next. And they ministered to the Lord and fasted. The Holy Spirit said, now separate to me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work in which I have called them.
[00:39:51] Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
[00:39:56] There were plenty of anointed people in the room that had to submit to authority to be looked over and see Paul and Barnabas be chosen and have to follow them.
[00:40:14] Did it make Paul and Barnabas better?
[00:40:18] No, it just made them anointed and appointed.
[00:40:24] You can do this better than me, but you're not anointed and appointed to be the pastor of this church.
[00:40:34] So every time you speak against me, you're speaking against God's anointing over this house. Now, thank God for Jesus, that he gives us grace and just causes us to repent of those things. It would have cost us our lives back in the day.
[00:40:46] Amen.
[00:40:49] Okay, I'm not going to go off on that rabbit hole.
[00:40:54] Spirit and people together.
[00:40:57] So let's get to commitment. The costly yes.
[00:41:01] Anybody about at that commitment stage yet where you got to give your yes and amen? Go ahead, put your hand up. Ha. Don't be afraid. See, I can tell you haven't committed yet because you're doing this, but three of you raised your hand. Now comes the turn. There's a moment where formation and confirmation harden into decision. You cannot walk back.
[00:41:25] That's what makes commitment hard, is, you know, the moment you say yes to Jesus, there's no turning back.
[00:41:33] And that's what you're afraid of.
[00:41:35] Am I really ready for that?
[00:41:38] Whether it be for your salvation, whether it be for the start of your ministry, whether it be for the establishment of where you are and where you're going and what you're gonna do. Your yes is the hinge to step through the threshold of blessing. And you're holding back and letting the enemy start throwing everything that you're speaking out into the air. Do you know that when you're in the commitment stage, listen, everything that comes out of your mouth, you made it that far in call.
[00:42:08] You better believe the enemy is watching your mouth for what you want as an easy exit from commitment.
[00:42:25] Just gonna let that settle in.
[00:42:29] And every opportunity in God's green earth is gonna come and present itself for your exit.
[00:42:42] Make your yes be yes and your no be no commitment. The all in yes even when it costs.
[00:42:52] Trust me, I know what the all in yes feels like.
[00:42:59] Look at what happened to Peter. The man who caved to a servant girl by a fire.
[00:43:05] Now stands in front of the same council that killed Jesus and says in Acts 4:20, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
[00:43:20] The same man that was shaking at the mouth of a servant girl is now standing up to the council that killed his Lord and saying, we cannot help but to speak of the things of which we've seen and heard.
[00:43:35] Same man, different fire.
[00:43:39] Tradition tells us he eventually died for the name he once denied, the name of Jesus.
[00:43:48] Paul. Paul's commitment is almost frightening. Acts 20:24.
[00:43:53] I consider my life, but for none of these things move me, nor do I count myself my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry in which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the Gospel and the grace of God.
[00:44:09] I consider myself, my life, worthless. When friends beg him not to go to Jerusalem because the chains that are waiting for him, he says, I'm ready not only to be bound, but to die.
[00:44:21] And to the Philippians, Philippians 3, 13, 14. One thing I do, I press towards the goal. Honey, I know what it's like to be sitting at the table saying, God, what's next?
[00:44:38] Well, we have not been beat by reeds 39 times, three separate times. We have not been shipwrecked three times. And people go, oh, but it was so much harder for the disciples.
[00:44:50] Let me give you a news flash and take you back in time.
[00:44:54] They were over taxed, they were persecuted, they were being killed daily. You know what Jesus gave them? A reason to die and a reason to live.
[00:45:05] This world doesn't offer you that. That's why Christianity is so lukewarm, because we're all living for ourselves.
[00:45:14] The call is a laying down in this world of your life, not physically, but saying, lord, what? What shall I do?
[00:45:25] What shall you have me do?
[00:45:28] It's the line every called person eventually crosses in Joshua 24:15. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
[00:45:37] Daniel resolved. Daniel 1:8 and Esther facing death. Esther 4:16. If I perish, I perish.
[00:45:46] My goodness, My goodness.
[00:45:50] Oh, you know, I didn't like the worship.
[00:45:56] It's a little small in here.
[00:45:59] I think if they were in a bigger building, they could prosper. You know, if the Lord was anointing them, they'd have a bigger building.
[00:46:06] Honey, sometimes a bigger building is what takes away the anointing.
[00:46:11] Let the bigger building come when we need space for all those that are getting saved, not people playing Christianity.
[00:46:20] Amen.
[00:46:22] Here's What I need you to hear. Commitment comes before clarity, not after.
[00:46:27] You will not get the whole plan. And then commitment. You commit and the plan unfolds as you walk. I got young adults all the time. Ask me the call, the call, the call. Pastor, what you want me to do? Get in, fit in, fall, follow formate, confirm, you know, get in there, get amongst it.
[00:46:48] Well, I just want to know where you want me to lead. Nowhere.
[00:46:53] I don't want you to lead nowhere until you learn how to follow.
[00:47:00] Follow Jesus, follow me as we follow Christ.
[00:47:05] Amen.
[00:47:06] Last is clarity, the fruit, not the front door.
[00:47:10] And then finally we get to this point. But notice where it lands in Romans 12:2. Then you will be able to test and approve what good will is God.
[00:47:20] What God's will. Let's read that. Romans 12:2.
[00:47:26] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
[00:47:36] Clarity is a downstream. It is the fruit of the surrender, formed and committed life. I'm gonna say that again. Clarity is a downstream. It is the fruit of the surrendered, formed and committed life. You see all those people out there right now preparing food?
[00:47:51] Some of them started cooking on Wednesday just so we could have a meal.
[00:47:56] They don't have to do that.
[00:47:58] They want to do that.
[00:48:02] There was people here on Thursday night for two or three hours to provide worship that you said wasn't good enough sometimes. Some days. I thought it was good. By the way, I know spiritually, I know what we were fighting, but I thought it was great. Hey, was it great? Praise the Lord.
[00:48:22] Peter never saw the gentle mission, the gentile mission coming.
[00:48:26] The clarity arrived mid obedience on the rooftop in a centurion's living room. In Acts 10, Paul, already on the road and committed, gets his clearest direction as he goes the vision of the man in Macedonia, Acts 16, 9, 10, directing him to what he hadn't even planned on.
[00:48:47] The clarity came to the feet that were already moving. And the vision appeared to Paul. And. And a night a man in Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, come over to Macedonia and help us now. After he had seen the vision, immediately he sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
[00:49:08] I knew this message was important to finish today by the vision I had last night at my table finalizing it. And the enemy that woke me up at 3:30am and 4:30 and 4:50, trying to dismantled my thinking, so much to the point The Lord told me to stay away from the church this morning so that I wouldn't get wrapped up in the operations.
[00:49:30] Gave me peace when there was two men that were operating in a devilish spirit of oppression and when the whole church was unsettled. Because we're all spiritual beings, we've arrived at this point of clarity and calmness because the Word is more powerful.
[00:49:48] It's not upon me. It's not upon you. It's on His Holy Spirit. So stop waiting for the whole map before you take the next step.
[00:49:56] God rarely gives the whole map. He gives the next step and Himself. Proverbs 4:18 says this. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, but the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
[00:50:17] It gets clearer as you walk.
[00:50:19] It does not get clearer while you stall.
[00:50:22] Did you hear me? It gets clearer as you walk.
[00:50:25] It does not get clearer as you stall.
[00:50:30] Two words.
[00:50:32] Do you remember the very first thing Jesus said to Peter when he called him off the same waters? Matthew 4:19.
[00:50:40] Follow me.
[00:50:42] And do you remember the very last thing Jesus said to him at the shore after his failure in John 21:19?
[00:50:52] Then as soon as he had come to the land, he saw the fire of coals and there his fish laid on the bread there. And fish and bread.
[00:51:02] The same two words.
[00:51:05] Follow me. Peter's entire calling sits between two identical commands. Follow me.
[00:51:11] Follow me. The same call that started it, restarted it. Failure didn't cancel it. It just sent Jesus back to rebuild another fire.
[00:51:21] And look where obedience went from the beach in Galilee to the sermon at Pentecost to the Gentiles house to the room where the church was born.
[00:51:31] And then it was handed to a man who was the very moment breathing out murder against Christians. Saul. Now Paul, who carried the same call all the way to Rome. One Follow me.
[00:51:44] And the Gospel reaches the ends of the earth.
[00:51:48] Here's a question for you today.
[00:51:57] Where are you in this pattern?
[00:52:01] Are you still at identity seeking out clarity?
[00:52:06] Are you at identity, struggling with submission?
[00:52:11] Are you at those next few stages of formation, confirmation and struggling with your. Yes, at your commitment to now? Finally seeing clarity.
[00:52:24] Tony, if we knew that all we needed was some bracelets and step out on the street to see 20 to 50 people get saved a week, we'd have done it years ago.
[00:52:34] But God puts you in a motel beside a hospital bed raising kids and grandchildren to get to this clear moment of how we would fulfill our lives for the Gospel.
[00:52:45] It's not simple. It's complex, but it's as simple as it is complex.
[00:52:51] What a beautiful call.
[00:52:59] Maybe you're at Peter's boat.
[00:53:03] Sure, you've disqualified yourself.
[00:53:05] Hear me. The call is not as fragile as your failure.
[00:53:09] Maybe your Saul running hard in the wrong direction.
[00:53:13] The same Jesus can turn you on a road, set you in a different path.
[00:53:19] Maybe you're in your hidden years despising the small things.
[00:53:23] Don't.
[00:53:24] It's your training.
[00:53:26] Maybe you've been waiting for clarity before you will commit.
[00:53:30] And God has been waiting for your commitment before he gives you clarity.
[00:53:35] Today, would you do these six things?
[00:53:40] Settle your identity.
[00:53:43] You're loved before you're useful.
[00:53:46] Surrender before you can see. Don't despise the formation.
[00:53:52] Seek the confirmation word. Spirit people.
[00:53:56] Commit before it's clear. And trust that clarity will come. As you walk, there's a fire at a beach with your name on it.
[00:54:08] Jesus is not standing there to shame you.
[00:54:13] He's standing there to recommission you.
[00:54:16] And he's saying two words. He's always said, follow me.
[00:54:21] Let's respond, let's pray.
[00:54:28] Father, I stood as the man with notes in my hand saying the preacher should let me preach.
[00:54:38] But I didn't know you was teaching me things before I could ever say them out of my mouth.
[00:54:46] Lord, I never knew what it was to be a son in the natural. And therefore I struggled to receive you as a father.
[00:54:52] But when you place sonship on my shoulders, submission became so much easier.
[00:54:59] Teach us how to be sons and daughters.
[00:55:03] Show us that submission is not a weak thing. It's the greatest strength.
[00:55:08] Lord, give us the confidence in those formative years to trust you in the small things, in the setting up of chairs, in the cooking of food, in the worship services, in the I don't know why I'm here, but I'm here moments.
[00:55:24] Let confirmation ring out. When we decide to keep leaning into you.
[00:55:29] May our commitment always be. Send me, Lord. I'll go. Before we ever even know what we're doing.
[00:55:37] Let it be clear, let it be sure.
[00:55:42] It's in Jesus name I pray.
[00:55:45] Amen.
[00:55:47] Now, I'm not sure if they recorded this today, so I don't know if we'll ever hear this again.
[00:55:53] So if you are the only people that get to hear this message, praise God.
[00:56:03] What if you are?
[00:56:06] What if you are the only people that get to hear this message? It doesn't get to go out in a podcast in some pretty little package thing.
[00:56:14] See, today, I know it's 11:25 and we're going longer than usual. And, you know, I know most church services on the Gold coast are about an hour and a snap, but what if this sermon is actually for you?
[00:56:31] What if it's your calling forward into something greater?
[00:56:36] What if God's just saying to you, start with me, not Kyle, with Jesus?
[00:56:41] So with every head bowed and every eye closed, maybe ask yourself this question.
[00:56:47] I want to start with Jesus. I don't really know him.
[00:56:51] If you don't know the Lord today, can you accept him as your Lord and savior? I'll lead you through a prayer. Just lift your hand right where you are. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Thank you. Thank you for the hand.
[00:57:07] Let's pray this prayer together. Are you ready?
[00:57:10] Lord Jesus, I receive you as my Lord and savior.
[00:57:18] Well, I welcome you into my heart.
[00:57:21] You've forgiven me of my past and started my present.
[00:57:27] I commit my life to you. Lord.
[00:57:29] I give you my yes.
[00:57:31] As I receive my sonship.
[00:57:34] Help me to submit.
[00:57:37] Help me to form.
[00:57:39] Confirm me, Lord.
[00:57:41] Commission me, Lord.
[00:57:44] Send me. I'll go, but let's start with salvation.
[00:57:48] I receive you as my Lord and savior. And we all said amen. Can you give a hand clap of praise for the one person that received Jesus in the room?
[00:57:58] Come on, you can do better than that.
[00:58:01] All of heaven is rejoicing.
[00:58:04] Amen.
[00:58:06] I got one last prayer, and we're going to pray over the food in a moment.
[00:58:16] Every head bowed, every eye closed as the kids are rumbling.
[00:58:22] They love that part of service.
[00:58:24] They look forward to it.
[00:58:28] Every head bowed and every eye closed.
[00:58:35] Have you said yes?
[00:58:38] Have you said yes to the call?
[00:58:42] I've been here nine years fighting immigration to stay as they've tried to kick me out of here three times. And three times I've wanted to run. Three times I didn't want to stay, and I stayed. And on the fourth time, God has commissioned me into things I never even dreamed of. Rooms I'm standing in.
[00:59:00] Have you said yes?
[00:59:04] If you haven't said yes to your call, can you just lift your hand right where you are? And I want to pray for you.
[00:59:11] Thank you.
[00:59:13] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Father. We thank you for the commitment.
[00:59:21] Now we request the clarity.
[00:59:25] If your call is attached to someone, grab them by the hand.
[00:59:32] Lord, we will walk out our days for me and my house will serve the Lord.
[00:59:39] We will surrender to every breath and be unashamed of who you are. We will not mask your name.
[00:59:49] But I say yes before I even know what it is that you're sending me to.
[00:59:54] What you're making me a part of for me and my house will serve the Lord for the rest of our days.
[01:00:01] It's in Jesus name we pray and we all said amen.
[01:00:06] Give the Lord a hand clap of praise. Amen.
[01:00:14] Oh, Patty, can you come?
[01:00:16] Who's doing announcements? You're doing it. All right. Praise the Lord. Before I go. I love you.
[01:00:23] I thank you.
[01:00:28] I honor you.
[01:00:31] Some days I don't understand, but on those days, you bless me because we keep moving together as a team and as a body. Submitted one to another in Jesus name.
[01:00:44] Amen. Thank you for tuning in to today's message. To connect or find out more, you can reach us online at worldchangers Life. Remember to subscribe for more uplifting messages from our pastoral team. And may you continue to walk in faith and transformation until we meet again.
