The Future Is In Your Hands by Dustan Bell | Sunday Service

Well, I want to speak to you today from the thought, "The future is in your hands." The future is in your hands. 2 Kings chapter 13 and verse 14 says, "Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash, king of Israel, went down to him and wept before him, crying, 'My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.'" And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and arrows." So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, "Draw the bow." And he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands, and he said, "Open the window eastward." And he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot." And he shot. And he said, "The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria, for you shall fight the Syrians in Aphec until you have made an end of them."

Can we just hit pause and ask, what is going on here? I mean, generally, it's frowned upon to open the window of your lounge room and start shooting arrows at your neighbor. Okay? Please don't do that after church today. If you do, say that you go to another church, not Kingdom City Church. We got to ask, what on earth is going on here?

Well, culturally, it was a custom to fire an arrow in the direction of a nation that an army intended to invade. And so to fire an arrow towards Syria was to declare war. Uh, symbolically, Elisha tells us what's happening. He says that this arrow represents the Lord's arrow of victory. And so, what's happening, church, is Elisha is giving King Joash a great promise that they are going to make an end of their enemies. And so, in light of that promise, Elisha the prophet is looking for some type of response from Joash. Because how many people know that every promise from God demands a response from you and I?

It says, "And he said, 'Take the arrows.'" And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground with them." And he struck three times and then he stopped. Somebody say, "He stopped." He stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck five or six times, and then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it. But now you will strike down Syria only three times."

Uh, Calvary Church, which is the church my wife and I are a part of, is actually 102 years old. Some of you are looking at me going, "How does he look so good?" For the record, I'm not the founder. 102 years old. Let me tell you the origins of our church. Two young adult men called Charles and William Entiknap were in a connect group meeting, and they learned about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, not in a church meeting, but in somebody's lounge room in a connect group. They felt such a burden to go to a nearby city called Townsville and share the gospel that they took a train to Townsville. The first night there, they slept on the railway platform because they didn't know anyone. They didn't have any lodging or accommodation. And the next day, they started to preach to whoever would listen. I don't know how long it took, but eventually, they saw their first convert. Her name was Mrs. Howal. I don't know her first name. I just call her Mrs. Mrs. Howal. And she was so transformed by the gospel of Jesus that she gave the first ever miracle offering in our church. She gave the equivalent of $5,000 to purchase a tent. And that became the first church building in the history of Calvary Church. That was 102 years ago.

Now, fast forward 102 years, and our church is in four nations, and there's a school of 200 students and leadership training. And I don't say these things to boast on us. I say these things to encourage you today. You and I should never underestimate what the Lord can do long-term through our acts of obedience. I heard that Kingdom City is turning 20 years old in April. Look at all the Lord has done in 19 years. There is no telling what God could do in the next 80 years of this church. But listen, never underestimate what God can do long-term through your small act of obedience.

And so, as our church was coming into our hundredth year, I started to pray and open the word and say, "Lord, would you give me a word for our church for the next century?" I mean, that doesn't come around so often, every hundred years to be precise. And I felt the Lord lead me to John chapter 14 and verse 12, where Jesus says to his disciples, "Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father."

Now, I got to level with you this morning, church, that this is one of those promises that I think most Christians don't believe. Just got quiet in church this morning. Really, "greater things than Jesus"? So, so we kind of reconcile in our minds that maybe Jesus was telling the truth, but this is the kind of promise that just applies to super-spiritual Christians. Ever met a super-spiritual Christian? Those people who they never miss a day in their devotionals. They will wake up before the sun gets up. They have to wake up the Holy Spirit in the morning when they do their devotionals. They will read Leviticus and enjoy it and get revelation from it. I mean, have you ever met one of those super-spiritual Christians? Let me tell you, that's not me. So, so, so we read this and we think, "Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Jesus was referring to one of those Christians, but that ain't me." Or we think, uh, maybe Jesus was telling the truth. Or or maybe maybe Jesus was just being encouraging, like he was looking at Peter, James, John, Thomas, all the boys, and just really could see how messed up and jacked up and horrible they were, and just wanted to be encouraging. And so he said, "Hey guys, YOU'LL DO EVEN GREATER things than me." Imagine LeBron James is shooting hoops, and my 10-year-old boy comes over and says, "LeBron, I want to play in the NBA one day." And LeBron says, "Yeah, go get him. You'll do even greater things than me." He won't. We know he won't. I mean, my boy is the product of two 5-foot-something white people. He's not getting to the NBA. So maybe LeBron is just being encouraging. Maybe Jesus is just being encouraging, like, "Hey, Peter, James, John, you'll do even greater things than Jesus." Like, yeah, doubt it. Like, is he just being encouraging, or is Jesus actually telling us the truth?

You see, I think we fail to grasp this promise because we misunderstand the word "greater." We think it means more spectacular. But I don't know any one Christian who has done more spectacular things than Jesus. The word "greater" doesn't mean more spectacular in the original language. It actually means larger, stronger, and more. And isn't this exactly what took place after Jesus ascended back to the Father? Right when the Jesus movement should have fizzled out and become nothing, the church became stronger, not weaker. The church became larger and not smaller. The church became more and not less. Stronger, larger, and more.

Now, now some of us will be thinking, "Yeah, yeah, but but Dustin, this this doesn't really like apply to me. Surely it doesn't." But Jesus said that this promise is not just for them. It's for whoever believes. Do we have any believers in the house this morning? Any believers online? Still, I know there'll be a voice of doubt in someone's head that says, "No, no, no. God couldn't do that for for me." And yet Jesus said, "No, no, no. You can believe for greater things because I go to my Father." You see, Jesus said this right before he went to the cross. And when Jesus went to the cross, he carried on his shoulders all of the reasons why you and I believe God couldn't and shouldn't and wouldn't work through our lives. Jesus carried our condemnation, guilt, and shame, and he took it to Calvary's hill. Then they buried him in the grave. But three days later, he walked out of that grave, having conquered Satan, sin, and death. Come on. And then he showed himself alive with many infallible proofs for 40 days before he ascended back to the Father and poured out the precious Holy Spirit upon the church. Come on. The reason we can believe for greater things is on the foundation of the death, the burial, the resurrection, the ascension of the Son of God himself. Come on, let's give him praise this morning. That's the God that we serve.

And so, as I start to read and this strikes in my heart, I start to get so excited, and I was ready to just jump up and share this with our church. And then a question came to my mind, because the promise begs a question. You see, if Joash had a promise of victory, and if Jesus has given you and I a promise of greater things, whose responsibility is it to make sure that those promises come to pass? I wonder if anyone in church this morning has got a promise from God in your heart. There's a promise of God over Kingdom City Church this year, a year of overflow in Jesus' name. But who's going to see to it that these promises come to pass? Is that on God, or is that on us?

Um, have you ever heard some of the crazy things Christians say? Have you ever actually listened to what Christians say in some church foyers? Not this church foyer, but others. Have you ever read some of the things that Christians write on their socials? They'll write things like this, that they'll say, um, they'll say, "Well, brother, you've just got to let go and let God." And we all go, "Alliteration. It must be true." Or or people will say things like this, "If it's God's will, it's just going to happen no matter what you do." Or or people will say this, "Don't you know, pastor, the Christian life is all about rest, not work." And church, I got to be honest. When I hear those Christian clichés, the irresponsible sloth that lives within me drinks those clichés up. I love hearing those clichés. But the only problem is I can't square away those clichés with what I just read in this passage in 2 Kings 13 between Elisha and Joash. Let's read it again. And it says, "Then the man of God was angry with him and said, 'You should have...'" Not God, "You you should have struck five or six times, and then you would have struck down Syria until you made an end of it." But now, in other words, in proportion to your response, "I'll strike down Syria only three times." What did the prophet Elisha not say? Elisha did not say to Joash, "Joash, if it's God's will, it's just going to happen no matter what you do." No, he said the exact opposite. And it's not a sub-point. It seems to be the main point of the text. The reason Elisha is angry is because if Joash had struck the ground five or six times, then God would have done greater things for Israel. But Joash didn't. Wow. So God didn't. Joash stopped. And when Joash stopped, God stopped.

So, so let me ask the question this way, and you don't have to answer it out loud because you might be confused: Are the outcomes of your future in God's hands, or are they in your hands? Is the future of Kingdom City in God's hands, or is it in your hands? There's a tension here, isn't there? As I read the Bible, which I kind of do from time to time because I'm a pastor, uh, this is the best way I can explain the tension that we're talking about here. There seems to be in scripture some overlap between God's sovereignty and our human responsibility. That, that's what I'm getting at here. That's the tension in this text. I think the Apostle Paul understood this. Philippians 2:12. Paul says, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Who's doing the work? Is it God, or is it us? Paul says, "You got to work it out." And then in the very next breath, he says, "Hey, God is at work." Uh, what about this? Colossians 1:28. Paul says, "Him we proclaim." Meaning, we're proclaiming Jesus, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. So Paul is saying, we want everyone in our city to come to know Jesus. That's what he's saying. For this, I toil, struggling. Someone needs to tell Paul to let go and let God. I'm toiling. I'm struggling. I'm laboring with all of his energy that he powerfully works within me. Church, can you see that it's not all God, but nor is it all Paul? There's this link between our attitude and our faith and our willingness, and the extent to which God's power and God's strength and God's provision is displayed through our lives. I guess I'm saying this: you and I simply can't be passive, right? Idle, stagnant, sitting on our blessed assurances, and thinking that we're going to see the full measure of what God wants to do through our lives.

Now, maybe maybe Elisha expected Joash to understand this because we actually see the same principle a little earlier in 2 Kings chapter 4. There's a woman who is a wife of one of the prophets, and the creditors are coming to take her sons as slaves. And all she has is a small jar of oil. And Elisha the prophet, you might remember the story, tells her, "Go and get every jar, every container, every receptacle that you can, and gather them to your house." And he says, "And not too few. Don't be limiting God. Not too few. Get as much. Get more than you think is possible. Gather them into the house and start to pour out the oil." And so, as she starts to pour out the oil, somehow, it's a mystery, but somehow, as she does what she can, God infuses his supernatural supply, and the oil keeps flowing. And she says to her son, "Bring me another bowl." And that fills up. "Bring me another jug." And that fills up. And "Bring me another cup." And that fills up. And then she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said, "There's no more." And then the oil stopped flowing. You see, apparently her faith and her actions had some bearing upon the extent to which God could flow his provision into her house. Had there been more jars, there would have been more. Had Joash struck the ground more times, there would have been more victories. It's almost as if God is saying to Joash, "Joash, you get to decide. You get to decide whether there will be three victories or six victories." Joash hits the ground three times, and God says, "Let it be to you according to your faith." Woman, you get to decide. You get to decide how much oil and provision I'm going to flow through your house. So, she gathers the containers, and God says, "Let it be to you according to your faith." You see, we think that the future is all in God's hands. And yet, Joash would tell us, "The future was in my hands all along, and I never made the most of it." Amen.

Charles Spurgeon said this: "It is a very difficult task to show the meeting place. See, there's an overlap. The meeting place of the purpose of God and the free agency of man. One thing is quite clear: we ought not to deny either of them, for they are both facts. It is a fact that God has purposed all things, both great and little. Neither will anything happen but according to his eternal purpose and decree. But it is also a sure and certain fact that often times events hang upon the choice of men."

Some people talk about who they want to meet when they get to heaven. Have you ever played that game in your mind? Who do I want to meet when I get to heaven? Some people are like, "I want to meet Abraham." And I think there'll be a long line behind Abraham, and generally I'm impatient, so I'm not going to line up there. Some people say, "I want to see David." Uh, all the single girl, uh, single guys are like, "I want to meet Esther. I've just heard she's got a wonderful personality." And so people talk. I've decided that when when I get to heaven, I'm going to walk past all those long lines or around all those lines, and I'm just going to go straight to Joash. There's not going to be any line behind Joash. I'm going to walk straight up to Joash, and I've already played out this conversation in my mind. Have you ever played out a conversation in your mind? I've redone whole board meetings in my mind. And so, so I'm going to go straight up to Joash, and I'm going to grab him by both shoulders. I'm going to shake him violently, 'cause I'm already in heaven now, like, I'm in. And I'm going to start shaking him violently. And I'm GOING TO SAY, "JOASH, WHY DID YOU STOP?" I mean, just three pathetic little taps. It was It was more pathetic than a Manchester United performance. I mean, it was just just tap, tap, tap. I think I just hurt the church. Forgive me. People logging off all over the world. I'm playing. Just just just three little three little taps and then you quit. Like, is that all? Like, Joash, should not the promise that Elisha gave you have drawn out of you faith for more? And yet, you just, you just stopped.

And so, in my imagination, as I'm having this conversation with Joash, I feel the Holy Spirit speak to me and say, "Well, Dustin, why do you stop?" And I said, "Excuse me, Holy Spirit. I'm having a conversation with Joash. Leave me alone." But isn't it true that that Joash is not the only one with a promise? Come on. Don't we have a promise of greater things? Isn't there a promise of overflow? Isn't there a promise that the Lord has put in your heart? So, so why do we stop?

Here's some thoughts about why we stop. Number one, I think sometimes we stop because we grow weary. Have you ever tried beating arrows on the ground? Neither have I. But I imagine that beating arrows on the ground is quite tiring. Maybe his back started to hurt. Maybe his shoulders got hurt, uh, sore as he beat those arrows on the ground. And and and maybe he just felt tired and weary, and so he put the arrows down. Can I just, um, state the obvious, which is sometimes not verbalized? Sometimes living by faith can be tiring. Like, if you are part of a church that is introspective, insular, inward-focused, has no real vision to win the lost, leave a legacy, raise up the next generation. If you're part of a church where every Sunday we just get together, sing Kumbaya, my Lord, pat each other on the back, and then have morning tea, that kind of church would not be tiring. But if you're part of a church that's planting campuses in eight new nations on one vision Sunday, if you're part of a church that's believing to win the lost, disciple generations, leave a legacy, make a mark, overcome the kingdom of darkness, if you're part of a church like that, chances are you might get tired from time to time. If it were not possible to get tired doing good, why would Paul have written, "Let us not grow weary while doing good"? So many Christians misinterpret weariness. They think, "If I'm a little bit tired, then I must be out of the will of God." Let me help you to reinterpret it. If you're feeling a little bit weary, it could just be a sign that you're still fighting the fight of faith, and you've still got the arrows in your hand, and you're still believing to make a difference in the kingdom of God. Listen, if you're feeling a little weary as a connect group leader, or a carrier, or or or a kingdom business person, let me just say this: If you're feeling a little weary, don't put the arrows down. Just lift your soul up before the Lord and let him renew your strength. But stay in the fight and keep doing what God's called you to do.

Number two is this. I I think sometimes we stop because we don't see results. Like, think about it. Joash was exerting a lot of energy, but but as he was exerting that energy and effort, when he looked with his natural eyes, he couldn't see any victories being won. He couldn't see the Syrians being defeated. There was no evidence to suggest that his exertion of energy was making any real difference. And so maybe after three strikes, he thought, "This isn't accomplishing anything." And so he put the arrows down. And and sometimes we can be doing the thing that we feel God has called us to do and serving him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but surveying the landscape of our lives and thinking, "This isn't making any impact. This isn't making any difference. This volunteerism, this generosity, this connect group, this serving in the children, am I really making a difference here?" And and and we can start to think, well, I'm not seeing any results. So, we put the arrows down.

Let me tell you why I'm here today. Um, I am not from a long line of preachers or pastors. Some of you are like, "Obviously." My mom and dad did not grow up in Christian homes. Um, my dad grew up in a very remote regional town. The nearest town had a population of 100. And, uh, the my mom had just graduated teachers college and had to go and do her regional placement, and so ends up teaching in this little town of 100 people where my dad lived. Well, my dad was very excited that there was a young adult woman in the town that he was not related to. In fact, he liked it, so he put a ring on it. And and then my mom says, "Well, well, I want to go travel for a little before we get married." So, so Dad says, "Okay, you've got six months." So, Mom goes traveling with one of her friends around Europe. As she's in Europe, she's in Stockholm, and there's all this talk in the media and a lot of people buzzing about a big event that's happening and some American speakers. So, she goes along to check it out out of curiosity. Turns out that American speaker was the evangelist Billy Graham. And so, my mom, at a stadium crusade in Stockholm, walks to the front of the stadium as the band plays "Just As I Am," and she gives her heart to Jesus. Well, she then travels home, and you're excited, but my dad wasn't really, 'cause he never intended to marry a Christian. But again, there weren't many other options. So, he stayed with the plan. And then they're they're growing up, you know, they're raising a family, and there's five children in our family. I'm the youngest. And, uh, my dad, I think when I was, you know, a toddler, my dad had really bad back pain. And my mom, one holidays, says, "Why don't we go to Adelaide during the holidays 'cause there's a church conference there that I want to go to, and you can go and meet with one of your friends while I go to the church conference." So, Dad says, "Deal." So, so, um, they're driving the car, 5-hour car trip to Adelaide, five kids in the back. My dad's back is hurting anyway. Five kids in the back seat. Who knows? By the time he got to the end of that road trip, everything was hurting. I mean, his mind, his patience, everything was hurting. And and so that night, my mom says, "Honey, what if I look after the kids tonight and you go to the church meeting? Aren't women crafty?" So, my dad says, "Sure." So, my dad hops on the bus from the accommodation with 40 happy-clapper Pentecostals to go to the church meeting. This church meeting was being held at a church at that time called Paradise Assemblies of God, which was being led by Pastor Andrew Evans, the father of Pastor Russell Evans. And my dad sits in the back row, and he's really just escaping the children. As he's sitting in the back row, he feels a heat run down his spine, and, uh, the power of God touches his body. The God he doesn't believe in healed his back in the middle of the church meeting. You know, the preacher that night in the service was was Dr. Yongi Cho. Let me just make a side observation: I'm not saying that my mom and dad were complete pagans, but it took Billy Graham and Cho to get my mom and dad saved. Like, God brought out the heavy artillery to get them saved. And so, so now my my dad now believes in God and gives his heart to Jesus. And remember I said they were from a very regional remote area. So, our families start going to the local Assemblies of God church. An average Sunday in that church, there was 12 people in attendance. Remember, there was seven people in our family. If there was a child misbehaving in the kids ministry, there was a 100% chance it was one of the Bell children. We were the kids ministry. The pastors who led that church were bivocational pastors. They worked, volunteered midweek, and did other things to make ends meet. And and and their names are Andre and Wendy. They'll be on screen in a moment. They've in the last number of years gone to be with Jesus and been promoted to glory. But you would have never seen them preaching on a big platform. They were never on a podcast that went viral. No one ever called them up and said, "Would you come and preach at our church?" But let me tell you what they did. They discipled two new Christians, my mom and my dad. And every Sunday, they opened the Bible. They ran kids church with five kids in it every Sunday. And they faithfully took the arrows that God had put in their hand. And they struck the ground with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. There. There must have been days where they thought, "Are we making any difference? Is this really accomplishing anything?" But you know, out of that little Assemblies of God church with 12 people in it, my wife and I now have the joy of leading a church with 12 locations. We're about to start in Bangalore. Another sister, her and her husband have planted three churches. Another sister works for Nick and Christine Kaine and oversees all of the psychological rehabilitation of people saved out of sex slavery. And it's all come out of a little church of 12 people. Let me say this: You should never evaluate the effectiveness of what you're doing for the Lord in the moment. You just don't know who's going to come from that connect group. You don't know who's going to come out of that children's ministry. You don't know who's going to come from that new person that you met and followed up. Come on. Never evaluate. Never put the arrows down. You take care of the obedience, and let God take care of the outcomes. Come on. Can you give him praise this morning?

Number three is this. I think sometimes we stop because we just don't want to appear foolish. Think about the scene. The king, a grown man, whacking arrows on the ground. That's not even what you do with arrows. It's You meant to shoot them, not whack them. It's ridiculous. Maybe he felt self-conscious. Maybe he was looking at his subordinates thinking, "They all think I'm silly for doing this." And because he got self-conscious and he didn't want to look foolish, he he put the arrows down. And and it's amazing how for you and I sometimes we feel God calls us to something, but then we worry what the people around about us are going to think, and so we dial it down just to make sure that others don't think we're silly. Well, what if I start that connect group and nobody turns up? What if we apply for the finance and we get rejected? What if I pray for someone to get healed and they don't get healed? What if we start a new campus and it fails? I wonder how many people in the room and online you felt God call you to strike the ground six times, but you stopped at three because you didn't want to look foolish. I wonder how many potential victories for the kingdom have been lost because believers didn't want to look foolish and do the thing that God called them to do. Can I just break some news to you? If you are a follower of Jesus, worshiping a first-century rabbi who was crucified as creator and God, can I just let you in on a secret? Your friends already think you're crazy. You're worried about looking foolish now. Can I just break it to you? That train has already left the station, guys. All your friends think you're crazy anyway. And so I just think, in for a penny, in for a pound. Why not go all the way and believe God to the hilt? I mean, it was foolish for Abraham to set out to a land that God would show him. It was foolish for Noah to build an ark. It was foolish for Nehemiah to build a wall. It was foolish for Christ to go to the cross. The purpose of God goes forward when you and I are willing to be fools to the world so that we can advance the purposes of God. So, don't temper back your faith on account of what God has called you to do.

Number four is this. I think we stop because we're too easily content. Wow. I mean, this is Joash's story. Joash wasn't a complete failure. He got three victories, three out of six. That's 50%. What I learned at Bible College is C's are degrees. That's a pass mark. Like, he he wasn't an abject failure. He did okay. And I wonder if sometimes we settle too easily and we take our foot off the accelerator because, well, things are pretty good now. I mean, we've got a nice auditorium. It's pretty good church now, maybe. But here's the thing: when Joash's faith and vision cooled off, it affected everybody else under his leadership. The moment that we say, "That'll do," God effectively says, "Okay, let it be to you according to your faith." Come on, church. I want to stir you today. You decide. You decide what God will flow through your life. You decide what God could flow through this church. You and I are free to do what we want. God will never override your human agency. But never pause at three strikes and call the result the will of God. Because God has not given us that luxury. Come on, thank God for three battles won. But do you really think you've seen all that the Lord can do? There is more ideas in you. There is more creativity in you. There is more ministry in you. There is more influence in you. There are more business concepts in you. Come on. There are more disciples in you. There are more campuses in this church. There are more locations in Jesus' name. Don't settle down your faith. Keep on believing God. Come on, do you believe that today?

And so, so if there is in the word of God this overlap between God's sovereignty and our responsibility, and if there is a principle in the kingdom of God that says, "Let it be to you according to your faith," and if Elisha says, "You should have struck the ground six times," then what kind of people should we be?

Let me close with this. Number one, we ought be audacious. Everyone say, "Audacious." We ought be audacious. Uh, Joash, he should have kept whacking those arrows on the ground UNTIL ELISHA SAID, "WHOA, ENOUGH." You know, I think there's some well-meaning people in church who are afraid of asking Jesus for too much. But I think the greater danger is that we ask God for too little. I mean, Jesus often rebuked the disciples for having too little faith, but he never rebuked them for having too much faith. Listen, um, Kevin D. Young said this: "It's possible to ask the Lord for wrong things. It's possible that we ask the Lord for wrong reasons. But if we ask with the right heart and toward the right end, we cannot ask for too much." Can, can I stir you today, Kingdom City? While there is a window of opportunity open to us, let's be audacious in what we ask God for. Can I say Kingdom City, on behalf of all the other churches out there in Christendom, don't dial down your faith. Announce eight new nations in a day. Start new campuses all over the world because it lifts the faith of the entire body of Christ.

Number two is this. We ought be we ought be proactive. We ought be proactive. I think the lesson is we simply can't be idle, passive. That's right. Couch potatoes and expect to see all that the Lord wants to do. But you might say, "But but pastor, the Lord sees my heart." Yes, the Lord does see your heart, but he rewards your faith. And faith without works is dead. Our church has got a campus in Papua New Guinea, and to me, that still makes me shake my head. Let, let me tell you how it came about. I was at a church event we were running in North Queensland in a city called Cairns. I met a gentleman at this church event at Calvary that I'd never met before. I said, "Hi, what's your name?" He said, "Killer." I said, "That is a far more gangster name than Dustin." And so we get chatting, and he tells me how he grew up in Port Moresby and he's been in Australia, uh, studying, and then started his career there, but he's about to go back to Port Moresby for work. So, I said, as a throwaway comment, "Why don't you start a connect group?" I was just trying to be encouraging. A few Sundays later, I'm having lunch after church, and my WhatsApp bings. There's there's a photo, and it's Killer. He says, "Hi, Pastor Dustin. Here's my first connect group," and it's him, his wife, his daughter, and a stray cat. I was I was showing people like, "Look at that. That's cute. We've got a campus in Port Moresby." People are like, "Where's that?" I'm like, "I don't know." But look, we've, sorry, we've got a connect group there. And then every Sunday, bing. And every Sunday, there was more people in the photo. And then then he sends me on, uh, "Pastor Dustin, we've moved out of my apartment 'cause I can't fit everyone. We're now in the function room at a local hotel." I'm writing back like, "Who are you?" Then then he's like, "Hey, Pastor Dustin, I've decided to run a bus to my connect group." He's not a pastor, by the way. He's an engineer. He's just doing this in his spare time. Then the next week he says, "Pastor Dustin, we got the bus driver saved. Now it's free." I said, "You need to preach at staff meeting next week, Killer." And then with our elders, we prayed about it, and we said, "This this should be a campus. I mean, God's just breathing upon it." Can I show you a photo of the first day of church of Calvary in Port Moresby? It'll be up on screen in just a moment. I think we'll have it there. This is the first day of church in Port Moresby this morning. That was about 2 years ago, 18 months ago. This morning, he had 295 people at his connect group. Now, you might say, "Well, I guess God just really wanted a Calvary campus in Port Moresby." And to that, I would say, absolutely. I am not smart enough to orchestrate that. That's God. But who knows? Killer also took the arrows and he applied diligence and fervor, and he did everything that he could do. And as the sovereignty of God overlapped with the responsibility of an engineer, a church was birthed. Come on. We ought be audacious, and we've got to be proactive. We got to put our hands to what God has called us to do and work it with all of our might.

And finally, the last thought is this. We ought be persevering. We ought be persevering. I just think that if Joash were a preacher today, Joash would have a simple sermon, and Joash would say this: If it's within your power to strike the ground one more time, by all means, strike the ground one more time. If you can pray for those unsaved children one more time, pray for them one more time. If you can turn up one more time, turn up one more time. If you can give one more time, give one more time. Just keep on striking the ground. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. And you would be amazed at what the Lord does to bring victory after victory after victory after victory. Church, I want to encourage you. Don't ask, "How am I feeling?" Ask, "What did God promise?" Don't ask, "What am I seeing?" Just remind yourself, "What did God promise?" Don't ask, "What are others thinking?" No, just remind yourself, "What did God promise?" Keep your eyes on the promise of God and keep working with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and look what the Lord can do. Come on, why don't we stand to our feet? I want to pray for every person in this room, every person online. In fact, come on, why don't we lift hands to heaven right now from the front to the back, the left to the right, all over the world, people joining online with eyes closed. Some of us have come to church today. We've logged online. We feel discouraged. We feel like the part we play is not making a difference. Some of us are even wondering, "Did I miss the voice of God?" But today, I want to encourage you. Strike the ground with everything he's given you. Lord, we thank you. Let courage fill every soul. Come on, let's lift hands high to heaven. Let strength fill every heart. Let perseverance be the mindset of every believer. Lord, let your grace be sufficient for each and every one of us, from the parent to the business leader, to the carrier, to the connect group leader. Lord, we trade our weariness for your strength. Lord, we trade our limited vision for your vision. Father, we thank you that you're going to continue to work in and through our lives. Strengthen every heart. Strengthen every soul. Let faith be lifted in Jesus' name. Can we give the Lord praise? Come on. Can we clap our hands? Lift our voice. Come on. Can we declare his promise over our lives? Come on, let's sing this out today. Come on. There will be a testimony in Jesus' name. Come on. Would you lift your voice today? I'm rising up. I'm rising up with a new authority 'cause you're going to turn it around. Come on, lift your voice and put some faith on it. Come on, hit the faithful God. You take the things that were meant to harm. Use it all. Use it all to reveal your glory. Come on, declare. So I'm walking out with a shout rejoicing 'cause you're going to turn it. You're going to turn it around. I'm going to turn it. My God will turn it around. You're going to turn it. You're going to turn it around. My God will turn it around.