Transcription
Anybody grateful in the house this morning? Anybody grateful in the house this morning? All right, youth. Let's try something. Let's go.
[music] Now I'm dancing on the grave that I was living in. Now [music] I'm dancing on the grave that I was living in. The grave [music] that I was living in. Dancing on the grave that I was saved in. Dancing on [music] the grave that I was saved in. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.
[music] Here we go. Here we go. Now I'm dancing on the grave that I want. Dancing [music] on the dancing on the [music] praise. I be born again. Hallelujah. [music] Thank God for his salvation. All right, we're going to pray some more. Woo. Need to catch some breath.
[music] All right, here we go. We're going to sing this song. It says, "My redeem leave." And it's a declaration in this house that the one who came, [music] who walked this earth, who gave his life for our sins, he rose on the third day. And we say this as a declaration and a acknowledgement [music] to what he's done on the cross of Calvary. Are we ready to praise this morning? I know he rescued my soul. His blood has covered my sin. I believe.
[music] I believe my shame is taken away. [music] My pain is healed in his name. I believe. I believe. Let's sing that again. I know. I know. I know. I know.
[singing] His [music] word has covered my soul. I believe. [singing] I believe. [music] Come on, we can make it louder in this house. My pain, my pain. [music] My faith is here in his name. I believe I believe I [music] raise a banner. Come on. I raise a banner. Oh [music] my go [music] [music] [music] rescue my soul. His blood has covered my soul. I believe I believe my [music] shame. My shame my shame is taking away. My pain is healed [music] in his name. I believe. I believe. Come on, let's raise a banner. I raise a banner.
[music and singing] My bra. My [music] redeemer. My redeemer. [music] My redeemer. He [music] my redeemer lives. [music] He my redeemer.
>> [music] >> You [music] lift my burden and I rise with you. Come on. I'm dancing on this mountain [music] top to see your kingdom come. You lift my burden. You lift my burdens. Come on. I'm dancing on this mountain [singing and music] to see your kingdom. Come on, you lift my burdens one more time. You lift my burdens.
[music] I'm dancing on these mountains to [music] see your kingom come. My [music] redeemer. My redeemer. Come on, lift your voices. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] I know he rescued my soul. [music] He is I believe. [music] I believe I [music] believe. [music] I raise the battle. [music] My Lord is coming to my redeemer. [music] My redeemer is my redeemer. My redeemer. [music] Come on, let's sing our voices. Just the voices. No music. My redeemer lives. My redeemer lives. My redeemer lives. My redeemer.
>> Come on. One more time. One more time. And my redeemer [singing] lives. My redeemer. Yeah. My redeemer. My redeemer.
>> [music] >> Hallelujah. [music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on, give God some praise this morning. Give him a shout of praise. Give him a clap offering this morning cuz he's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. [music] He's worthy. He's worthy of every praise, of all adoration, of all glory. To him [music] who was the is to come. Be exalted. God, we worship you [music] in sickness and in health. God, we worship you [music] on the mountain top of in the valley. Lord God, we worship you. We exalt your name. We fix our eyes on you. [music] We acknowledge you as a sovereign God. [music] over our minds, over our bodies, over the earth. You are king. [singing] You are Lord. [music] [music] You are an unchanging God. [music] You're a God who never lies. You're a God who keep your promises.
>> [music] >> God, we just come before you this morning and we say, "Be glorified. [music] Be glorified. Nothing else, oh God, we ask nothing from you. Be glorified. Be exalted. Be lifted up. [music] Come on. We're just going to take a moment. We're going to take a moment to pour out our personal [music] offering, our personal worship to him even in this moment. Whatever that looks like to you, if it's a shout of praise, if it's a song in your heart, if it's a word of prayer, if it's a word of encouragement to somebody else, whatever the Lord lays on your heart [music] in this moment as an act of worship, we're going to make room for that this morning.
>> [music] [music] >> Christ. [music] Jesus, we give you all [music] the praise. Jesus, [music] holy anointing, we give you all the praise, Jesus. We give you all the [music] praise, Jesus. Holy [music] and anointed, we give you all [music] the glory. We give you all the praise. We give [music] you all the praise. All the [singing] anointing. We give you all the glory. [music] [music] Come on. Come on. [music] Come on. Come on. Your worship of your praise. Generations here. This is not a [music] time to hold back. Come on. Come on. [music] Yeah. Heat. [music] [music] [music]
>> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Yeah. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Holy, [music] you are holy, [music] holy, holy, holy, holy. You [music] are righteous. You are right. Right. Right. Right. [music] You are right. [music] Yeah. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] You are worthy. [music] [singing] You [music] are worthy. [music] Worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy. [music] Christ is my foundation. The rock on which I stand. When [music] everything around [singing] me is shaking, I've never been more glad that I put [music and singing] my faith in Jesus. He's never let me down. He's faithful [singing] through generation. [music]
>> [music] >> I still got [music] I've got [music and singing] that makes no sense. I will [music] be going [music] by [music and singing] Jesus. [music] [music] [singing] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] You are [music] you [music] are [music] you [music] And I still got [music] I got [music] [music] my [music] Heat. Heat. [music] So why he [music] [music] [music] won't he won't see that he won't [music] he Heat. [music] Heat. [music and singing] You open [music and singing] [music] through my house was built. [music] I'm safe with you. I'm going to make it through. [music] came we blew my house was built on you. [music] I'm safe with you. I'm going to make [music] it through with [music] you. My [singing] house was built on standing on a sunny front. [music] [singing] You I'm going to make [music] I'm standing on a sunny front. [music] [music] I am standing on the rock of aes. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music]
>> [music] [singing] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] My house was built for you. [music] [music] Heat everything. [music] [music] Yeah. [music] Heat. [music] [music and singing] He won't. [music] He won't. He [music] won't fail. He won't [singing] fail. [music] Come rain, come son. He won't. [music] He won't. He won't [music and singing] fail. [singing] You won't fail.
>> [music] >> You never feel [music] so worthy. Jesus So worthy [music] lost. It was my cross you bore so I could [singing] live in the freedom you died for. Now my life is yours [music] and I will sing of your goodness [singing] forever more. Let's sing that again. It was my cross. It [singing] was my cross. [music] you so I could live in the freedom you died [singing and music] for. Now my life and now my [singing and music] life is yours. And I will sing of your goodness forever more. [singing and music] Worthy is [singing] your name, Jesus. You deserve the praise. Worthy is your name. [singing and music] Worthy is your name, Jesus. [music] You deserve the praise. Worthy [music and singing] is your name. [music]
>> [music] >> And now my shame is gone. I stand [singing] amazed of your love undeniable. [music] Cuz your grace goes on. Your grace goes [singing] on and on. [music] And I will sing of your goodness [singing] [music] forever more. Worthy is your name, Jesus. [music] You deserve the praise. Worthy is [music] your name. Worthy is your name. Jesus. [music] You deserve the praise. Worthy is [music] your name. Worthy is your name. Jesus. [music] You deserve the praise. Worthy is [music] your name. Worthy is your name. Jesus. You [music and singing] deserve praise. Worthy is your name.
>> [music] >> I just can't shake the feeling that we just need to stand still. We'll let the instruments [music] play and play. But why don't we just stand still and wait for him? Why don't we stand still and just lift his name up in prayer and praise? Because he is so worthy. He's so worthy.
>> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat [music] [music] [music] up here. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Come on, lift your hands. [music] Lift your hands. Lift your hands to heaven. Come on, surrender. Lift your hands to the king. Lift your hands to the king. Welcome the king. Welcome [music] the king. Welcome his presence. Come on. One more moment. Come on. You're hungry for it. You're hungry for [music] him today. You're crying out. Call out to heaven. Call out. [music] [music] [music] Heat [music] [music] up [music] here. [music] >> [music] >> Heat up [music] here. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat up here. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Jesus. Jesus. [music] Jesus. Jesus. He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy of our praise, of our adoration, of our exaltation. [music] He is worthy. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Father, we thank you for meeting us in this room. Father, [music] we thank you for your presence in this place. Father, we thank you for what you've begun to do in our heart this morning. Lord, I pray that there would be an acceleration. That there would be an acceleration [music] in the days, the weeks, and the months that are ahead of us. [music] Father, I pray that there is nothing [music] that satisfies us other than you, your word, and your presence. We wouldn't be distracted. we wouldn't be taken [music] away from the most important thing that matters and that is to sit at your feet to be in the room [music] with you. So Lord, I just pray that you would continue to have your way in our hearts, in our minds. in our families, in [music] our homes, in our workplaces, in our streets, and in our communities. [music] Father, I ask that you would go before us [music] in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Glory to [music] God. Yeah. Praise God if you want. Praise God. God is good. God is good. Hey, young people, why don't you just head back to your seats in worship? I just really felt a couple of things, but just want to really encourage you all. I don't know about you, but have you ever been going through a season you just feel like I I just don't know if I can do this? Have you ever been in one of those moments or those seasons or those trials where [music] you just feel like everything's coming against you? Where you feel like it's almost like Paul said, I I feel crushed. I feel pressed. I I I feel like everything is against me. I just want to encourage [music] you. And I really felt the Lord say that in Christ, hear me in this, in Christ, I really believe [music] that 2026 is going to be your best year. I really felt in in prayer and in worship that 2026 will be your [music] best year in Christ. If you don't do it in Christ, it's going to be difficult. But if you do it in Christ, with Christ, align with Christ in his word, you will have a great year in [music] 2026. Amen. And I want to encourage you in that. I'm not just saying that. I believe that with all of my heart, but there's nothing harder than being separated from God and trying to do [music] life. Amen. Try trying to get through life without Christ at the center. And if I can encourage you, if you haven't already [music] prayed and got a scripture or a word to to just to really f have foundations for 2026, my prayer is it would be this. Matthew 6:33. [music] Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Not just God, [music] but his righteousness, his ways, his principles, his word, and he'll add [music] the rest. We don't chase it. We don't pursue it. But God will do it. Amen. Amen. That's what I'm believing. [music] That's what I'm praying for. That's what I'm seeing for you, generation city. And so, you are about to step into an exciting [music] season in Christ. Amen. Glory to God. And I also felt this [music] for us as a church. We feel this is significant for every one of you. 1 Peter 2:9. [music] But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. Turn to [music] the person next to you and say, "Chosen. Chosen people." You are royal priests. Royalty right there. Glory to God. A holy nation. God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God. Amen. You're going to show people in [music] 2026 how good God is. You You're going to let them see the unconditional love and the goodness [music] and the grace and the mercy of God. Amen. Glory to God. Hallelujah. [music] For he called you. Out of darkness. He called you out of darkness. He called you out of darkness. He called you out of darkness. He called you out of darkness. And he called you out of darkness and into the wonderful light. All glory to God. Hallelujah. Why don't you praise [music] Jesus this morning? Praise Jesus because you don't know you no longer live in the darkness of this world, but [music] you live in the light of Christ. Hallelujah. Glory to God. God, I tell you, you are going to have a great year in 2026 in [music] Christ Jesus. Amen. Well, it's great to be in the house of God, worshiping Jesus this morning with you all. And we're so blessed to have an incredible teacher bringing the word of God with us this morning. And it's so good to [music] have the youth with us this morning as they're about to go on camp. Who's pumped for camp? Sounds like they're tired, Robin. They're only on day one. Imagine what they're going to be like on day four. Young people, are you pumped for camp? [music] Sounds a little bit better. Awesome. Rob, why don't you come and bring us the word of God this morning? [music] Hallelujah. Thank you. Thank you. What an amazing worship session we had this morning. You know, I was thinking there's a scripture where I think when Solomon's praying and he says, "The highest heavens cannot contain God." Yet, who are we that he would inhabit the praises of his people? Who are we that God will inhabit our praises? He's uncontainable, yet he is here.
>> Thank you, Lord Jesus. We give you thanks and praise. Hallelujah. If I can have the first slide. Thanks. Um we're going to get straight into it. We're going to continue. We started the um we started the year with a series called Healthy Habits. And I'm not very good with messages or titles. So I've called this one a word a day helps keep sin at bay. But do you notice there's a little asterisk next to word?
>> You'll have to wait till the end for the fine print.
>> Okay. [laughter] It's not as easy as just reading the word and expecting sin to stay away. If I can have the next slide. Thanks. Hallelujah. We're going to go right back almost to the beginning of time here on earth. Cain and Abel, the first two people born to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were created and then Cain and Abel were then born. But we're going to have a look at um what happened here right at the start of time. Now, Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked on favor looked with favor on Abel and his offering. But on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast. He wasn't just angry, he was very angry. Both of them brought an offering to God from what they had. But God looked on Abel's more favorably and that made Cain mad. Do you know where that comes from? Envy. Why is God look on favor with him? Why is God like his and not mine? I'll tell you what I believe. Some people will say because Abel brought like a blood offering because he brought animals whereas Cain didn't. I believe that God doesn't expect you to bring things you don't have. They both brought from what they had. The difference was if you look at Abel's it says it was the first whereas with Cain it says it was just some. So Cain possibly after he'd sorted out his household and got enough for himself may have decided to bring a bit to God whereas Abel put God first. Cain was very angry and we know in James here says for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. When you're angry, you do things that you probably didn't want to do. You It's like your ability to restrain yourself disappears. You only have to look at what happens in road rages. Two people that could be nice enough people get behind the wheel, someone cuts someone off and all of a sudden they want to kill each other. It's like the anger rises and people do things that they wish they didn't.
>> So Cain was very angry. If I can have the next slide then let's have a look at what God says to him. [snorts] Then the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it. And I've put the amplified version here of the same verse, verse 7. It says, "And if you do not do well, but ignore my instruction, the sin crouches at your door. Its desire is for you to overpower you." What crouches? A tiger, a lion, something that's ready to jump on some prey. Usually in stealth, like usually it's crouching because it doesn't want you to see it. Sin crouches at your door. You know why God said it's a door? Because if you open it, you open up a world of pain and sin is going to come jump right in there. And sin is not love. Sin doesn't love you. What's sin's desire? God said to Cain, "Sin's desire is to overpower you." You see, if people give themselves over to sin enough, it'll get them to a place where they can no longer get themselves away from the sin. It takes a hold of you. God said to Cain, "Be careful, Cain, because while you're angry, sin is if you open that door, sin is going to come in. and it's going to take a hold of you. If I can have the next slide. Thanks. We're just going to talk a little bit about sin. And my time hasn't started. It's good. I still got half an hour. [laughter] Only joking, pastor, is um so look at Cain now. Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Look at this. Cain opened a door. This wouldn't have been a one-off thing where he was angry once and took Abel straight away. This is something that Cain would have sat on for a while and then started to deceive a plan and away. Let me get him away from the family. Let me get me somewhere and I'll make him disappear and then God will have to sin is a door that this world has opened and we have to be very careful because once we were all in the world, we have to be careful and guard our hearts and guard our doors that we don't open it. Now, we aren't perfect. Jesus was the only one that was able to walk without sin. So, yes, we're going to do it. But be careful. You know, the Bible also talks about Paul says, "Don't give the devil a foothold." You know what that means? You've opened the door a bit. He puts his foot in to try to stop you from shutting that door to sin. [snorts] And then not only this, in one John, John actually says, "Do not be like Cain who belong to the evil one. John is saying he opened up a door and I don't believe Cain ever closed that door. Because if you look at history after not long after this, God sent him away. And Cain said, "What you're doing to me is too harsh a punishment." And Cain wandered. And his family line, if you look in Genesis 6, it talks about the sons of man, the daughters of man. They were Kane's line. They weren't of the godly line. Cain's family became just a worldly, secular, we don't want God and we do as we please. [snorts] If I can have the next slide. Thanks. Let's have a look at where sin starts in James. When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil. That's why the devil had a hard time tempting Jesus. God cannot be tempted. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when by his own evil desire his are dragged away and enticed. It starts with a desire with a thought. You see the enemy will dangle something in front of you that you want. Like they dangle, you know, like a carrot in front of a donkey. It always tries to get there, but it can't get it. He pulls you away. Then look at what James says. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. See, starts off with a thought. A desire. The enemy keeps keeps it going in your mind and you keep playing around with this thought and eventually it's it talks about this desire, these thoughts in your head that become like like a baby in a womb that grows and grows and grows and then eventually that desire will cause you to act out and all of a sudden sin. You do something wrong. But then look what it says. Sin even sin keeps growing. It gives then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin. And sin when it is full grown gives birth to death. See then once the sin is there if you keep feeding it you keep nourishing it by you keep doing what it wants you to do eventually it's going to cause destruction. and death to those around you, to yourself, to your friends, to your family. You look at the damage, something like a real natural example is something like someone that's addicted to drugs. It starts to destroy not only their lives, but their family starts to cut ties with them. Their friends start to cut ties with them. They add sin upon sin, and they start to steal and and cheat and lie. This James is saying this is where it all starts with the desire with the thought and then I've just put there because James is saying you guys are always fighting because it's the desires that battle within you. There's a battleground inside of us. That's where it starts. And we fight and stuff because things happen in this world and there's injustices and all sorts of things even in our own life. Life isn't fair. We have to be careful. We have to be careful how we respond and behave to certain situations in our life because there's a way that our flesh likes to behave and there's a way that God likes us to behave. So now we've opened up the door. We've talked about sin. How do we know what sin is? Do I trust the Australian government? Is all the Australian laws in the in the Australian government must be right? You know, [laughter] I won't go there. I won't say anything. But where do we go for where do we go to understand what sin is? The word of God. If I can have the next slide. Thanks. Look at what Paul says in Romans. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight. in his sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin. Through the law, you want to know what's right, it's in here. I remember as a young Christian, I was going to a home group if a spaces, but back then we called it a home group. And I remember I was a new Christian. I was starting to read the word of God. And I I realized I had a problem because I said something. I remember saying to my home group leader, there's a problem because I'm starting to recognize that what is sin, but I'm not I'm still doing it. Like I can't I started to because before that I wasn't conscious of sin. See some sin is very deceptive. You know, we know as a society we don't kill, we shouldn't steal, all these little things, but there's some that are so deceptive that you don't even realize you're in sick. And I remember saying to my home brother, something's not right because I'm realizing that I'm sinning. Like I've never been conscious of it because I was going to the word. I was just reading and reading and all of a sudden I started to become conscious of what sin is. So you want to understand what sin is, keep going through the word. And then Paul gives an example. Um, he goes, "Certainly not. I indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had said, do not coveret." Who would have thought coveting was a sin? We live in the Western world. Most people coveret. Keep up with the Joneses and not our Joneses, but but keep up with the keep up. Do Do you know what I'm saying? Keep up with one another. That's what the world does, but it's sin. We got to be careful because some of that doesn't seem like a bad sin. We need to be careful because it starts in here in desire. If I can have the next slide. Thanks. So what can we do about it? If desire, if the enemy starts knocking on our head with thoughts, what can we do about it? Let's have a look at what Paul says in Corinthians. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power. Do you know what divine power means? It comes from God. If you've opened up your heart to Jesus, the same spirit that raised him from the dead lives in you. The same spirit that hovered over the formless earth and created at God's word lives in you. You have God's divine ability and power within you and within me. [snorts] They have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. You know what Paul says he does when the thoughts come in? Hang on. This thought isn't lining up with how God would want me to behave. It's time to take this thought captive. Get out. Bang. Move on. See, the apostles, Paul was saying, try to catch it right at the start. It's a lot easier. It's not easy. Dealing with sin is not easy, but it's a lot easier to deal with it while it's still in its infancy. Once you let it take hold in your life, it becomes a bit harder to fight. And then Paul says again in Ephesians, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. I think Val brought that up in this morning's prayer meeting. She mentioned part of that scripture. This is the world we live in. There is a thief that's coming to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Even us, even th God's children, even more so. The other people he knows are already ruined. Do you know the devil, how he brought sin into the world was through a simple desire. That fruit looks good. By the way, it'll give you like all this knowledge. you, you know, you're going to be knowing things like God. He didn't grab their arm and force her. All he did was plant the desire and then boom, fall of the mankind. That's how it works. If I can have the next slide. Thanks. So, we have divine power. But what happens if you allow sin to get a hold of you and you do act out and start to sin? You've gone past the desire stage and now you're acting out in sin. Look at what the writer of Hebrews says. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. You know what he's saying there? He's given an example like a couple of boxers. And he's saying, "You haven't fought to stop yourself from sinning like a boxer. You haven't got beaten up yet. You've given in. I'm trying to stop sinning. Oh, I can't. And just and you continue. He's saying, you haven't fought hard enough to stop yourself from sinning. And then he encourages them. Says, remember, and you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons. Here's the good part. Our God is our heavenly father. You want to know the good part? He will pick us up if we continue to sin. My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you. Because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Does God love you? >> Guess what? He's not going to let you go too far down the track. See, people in the world, if they don't have God as their father, they'll just continue and add sin upon sin upon sin. But our God will call us to account because we want to be his children. Right. It's the only way to heaven. Then we need to understand that he's going to discipline us now. While the next slide comes up, there's something I want to say. I wanted to share a little quick thing. Ignorance is no defense. Just because you don't know if something is a sin or not doesn't make you guiltfree. God will be more merciful to you because you're doing it in ignorance, but it doesn't make you innocent. One time about 20 years ago when the boys were young, I went for a we went to it was the last day of work. I was all happy. So, take the boys to look at the Christmas lights. It was the last day of work of the year. And I went through the booze bus and uh blew nothing in, you know, it was all good. But then um but then the guy as he was going to let me go, he goes, "Oh, you know, the officer over there wants to see you." And so the other guy's like this and I was like panicking because I back then I was a bit more of a hoon. And I I had a I had a Commodores lowered. I had a I I had everything to make it sound like a V8, but it wasn't a V8. And I'm thinking, "This guy's going to I'm going to be this going to cost me a fortune now." And I pull up there and I had also had fog lights and I had the fog lights turned on and he goes, "You're not allowed to have those on." Oh, sorry. I turned them off. Still gave me a fine. And I said, "But I I actually genuinely didn't know it was illegal to have fog lights on." He just still wrote it out and gave it to me. It doesn't matter. I I genuinely I said with all my heart, I'm telling you, I did not know that was illegal. still got the ticket. Lost three points for having fog lights on. So, what I'm saying is there, you might say, "But I don't It's only in God's word that you start to see what is right and what is wrong because this world clouds our minds." There's no excuse not to know your word. That's why we got to get the word in. A day a word. Just keep getting the word in. Keep getting the word in. Now, let's have a look at this. Look at what the Hebrews writer goes on to say. Endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined and everyone under goes discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. It also says in Proverbs not to despise correction because we live in a world and it's getting harder and harder. I see it because I see and my workplace a lot of the young engineers have this attitude like they know everything and it's very hard to correct them. It's very hard to show them what's right. So I see this attitude in the world but God will discipline us to put us on the right course. Now, if I can have the next slide. Thanks. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Hang on. If God is a God of love, can he bring on painful discipline? You want to be his son or daughter? He's going to treat you like a son or daughter because he loves you. Because he knows if you start living life according to his word, you're going to start to see a harvest of righteousness and peace. But it says only for those who have been trained by it. Do you know there's some people, some kids or whatever that will refuse to to be disciplined, keep wanting to live life their own way. Now, I'm going to share a little story just to show you about painful discipline. I may have shared it before. I'm pretty sure I've shared in some I just can't remember where I've shared it. But many years ago, I was a born again believer. I was working as an engineer, but I loved God's word. I just wanted to get his word in. His word, his word in. So my lunch breaks used to at work used to start getting longer and longer. Used to come into work a bit later, wanted to leave a bit earlier. But my lunch breaks, I would listen to the word and I would listen and I'd be like, man, I don't want to turn around and go back to the office. I would just walk and walk and I'm telling you, there's so many times where I just wanted to like walk from West Perth to East Perth and just not like not go back to work. It sounds bad. And I remember God was very gentle. Said to me, um, I want you to keep a record of your hours. That's all I'm asking you. Have a look at what's going on. It was gentle. So at work, cuz it I heard it in my heart when I was walking at work. I started to set up a spreadsheet and I noticed that I wasn't doing the allotted hours. I was getting paid for eight hours a day, but I wasn't giving eight hours a day. And I started to see, oh, okay. And I understood it was God's gentle, you know, come on, Rob, this is a better way to do it. And so, I corrected myself. And then I I went way up into the positive hours because I was I was working early because I knew who it was that was was telling me. But then fast forward many years and complacency. Guess what? I fell into the exact same thing. Lunch breaks became longer all of a sudden. And I knew and I could hear God sort of say gently, you know, it was like, you know, Rob, do we need to keep another spreadsheet? That's what I knew. I know what he's saying. I'm like, it's all right, God. I'm doing I love your word. We're all good here. The work's getting done. You know, it's okay. Sure enough. Sure enough, uh when there's a downturn, it was it was incredible the way it happened. I was working on these jobs that were so busy and we had other downturns over the years and my jobs kept going. There was there was a time when the jobs I was on was keeping the company afloat and paying for the people where their projects were dropping off. But there was this it was like I'm looking at it and I look back now I was like man that was really well orchestrated but every single project I was on came to like a grinding halt. I was like this isn't good because the year before we'd already taken a pay cut and I'm thinking I'm asking around is there any other work for me to do and then sure enough we had a round of redundancies and I was gone. All the finances disappeared. six months to get full-time work, no money left. I was in big debt. I'm applying to job after job after job. I can't find a job. The only job, there was one job that was finding me. And I've mentioned this before and it found me. The door opened. I didn't even look there. I didn't want to go there. They even rejected like they sent me a contract about two months into my unemployment and then they pulled it and then I'm sitting there thinking out of principle I don't want to work there cuz you gave me something and you took it away. But in my heart I knew I knew that's where I had to be. And then it was like another four months after they finally gave me a job. So, I go there and it's like they didn't know who I was and they put me in the manager's office. There's like cubicles. They put me with the manager and I sat right next to him. And after the first day, I'm like, "Oh gosh, these guys are watching me like a hawk." And then after the first day, they're like, "Make sure you fill out your time sheet." I'd never had for for 20 years, I never had to touch a time sheet. And and I I knew on day one. And I said, "God, you've stitched me up good here because but because I knew what he was doing." And you know, I it was I'm telling you now, it was the worst the next six months was the worst six months of my working career. I disliked every moment of it, but I understood that God was correcting me. You know what? I didn't like correction. I'm probably not as spiritual as most of you guys. you guys would all, you know, take on correction a lot faster. But I didn't like it. And I fought and kicked and screamed. I said, "God, you've trapped me here. You've trapped me because I've got I don't have the finances to be able to find another job. You've trapped me. And I know when I talked to him later on, he made me realize that if I had an ability to get out, I would have taken it and avoided correction." Let me tell you now, wherever I go now, there is no problems with me doing my hours. God doesn't have to ask me to keep a spreadsheet anymore because I felt the sting of discipline. And I know everyone here does them hours they're supposed to, don't they? There's no one here that does any less. [laughter] It's [snorts] gone a bit quiet. Um, if I could have the next slide. Thanks. We're almost done. Um, look at what the psalmist says. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good and what you do is good. Teach me your decrees. And then a bit later on in that psalm, it was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. See, the psalmist understood the loving correction of God. It can come as a sting sometimes. The first voice is gentle, but if you persist in going down a path that he's trying to correct you, it'll get like a parent getting louder and louder. If I can have the keys up if that's okay. Sorry, I probably should have. Um, but I want you to just look at Verse 72 in Psalm 119. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. The law from God's mouth, if you want to rewrite that in today's day and age, is [music] more precious than billions and billions and billions of dollars. How many of us have that same heart? How many of us like the world chases after the thousands of gold and silver, but how many of us put the same heart into pursuing God's word? It is so precious. He has left us. We live in such an amazing day and age when we've got the whole council [music] of God's word. How many of us pursue it like it's worth more than anything else in your life? So, if I can have the next slide there, I think this is it. So, I've put up there very quickly now the fine print. A word a day helps keep sin at bay in order for you to become more and more conscious of sin. the word of God. Take every thought captive. Catch sin at the source before it [music] has time to take hold. Obey God's word. And don't sin. Don't just hear the word. Do it. When you are out of alignment with God's word, wrestle, struggle, even if you've got to shed blood to do it, to get yourself back in alignment. But if your heavenly father has to step in, then [music] endure hardship as discipline. If you do all these things, you will keep sin at bay. Brothers and sisters, [music] I'm about I'm going to just close in prayer, but I'm going to ask Pastor [music] Tristan up in a moment. But I'm not going to do an altar call because I believe we all we all fall short of the glory [music] of God. And we all need help with sin. You know, the Bible says without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Holy living is living by God's word. Heavenly Father, thank you for your precious word, Lord God. How precious it is. We give you thanks and praise, Lord God. Your word, Father God, I pray that this is the the cry of our hearts, that it's worth [music] more to us than billions and billions of dollars, Lord God. Better than the finest house or the finest car. [music] Not that any of these things are bad, but that your word takes a greater precedence in our hearts. Lord God, help us, Lord God, [music] to become more conscious of sin. Help us to be able to use your strength [music] and your ability to cut it off at the source, Lord God. But I pray that you will just strengthen us, Father God, that we can live holy before you, Lord God.
>> [music] >> We thank you that salvation is not required is not not that it's not required but it doesn't require our goodness because we [music] can't do enough to be saved. We thank you that you paid for our salvation but help us to live a holy and righteous life before you all the days of our life. Father God, amen. Amen. Amen. [music] Praise God. What a challenging word. But if you haven't already taken a photo of that there, I want to encourage [music] you to grab your phone, take a photo. Hopefully, many of you were taking notes already. [music] Really ponder that. Really think about that. And I I wonder if there's people I know Rob said, "We're all [music] sinners, but I wonder if there's some people in here that you actually know that you're not walking with [music] God. You know that you've been living a life away from God. You've maybe you know God. Maybe you've known [music] about God, but just through life's experiences, through different things, you've just wandered. Or maybe you're in here for the very first time. Or maybe it's a couple [music] of times in now. But you know that God's been calling you home. You know that he has a plan [music] for you. The truth is, Rob's been talking about sin. Sin separates us from God's love. But there's a way to come [music] back to the father and that's through repentance and that's through the admission and recognition that we [music] are sinners but that we are separate from God. And I wonder if you're in this room today or maybe even you're online this morning but you say, "Hey Tristan, yeah, that's me. Actually, I'm I'm I'm [music] separate. I I know that I need to get my life right. I know that I need to get my my heart right with God." God, if you're in here this morning and that's you, would you just raise your hand and say, Tristan, [music] yeah, actually, I I know I need to get right. I know I need to come home.
to the father. I know I need to [music] acknowledge my sins. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. So good.
Is there anyone else in here? We're going to pray a prayer [music] together. So good. Yeah. Awesome. Is there anyone else? Anyone? I don't want to rush this. I don't want to speed this moment.
As Rob was sharing, I I couldn't help but be reminded of what Solomon [music] said in Song of Songs in chapter 2. Catch all the foxes, those little foxes before they ruin the vineyard. Solomon 2:15. [music] I wonder if there's a fox in your life that's keeping you separate from the vineyard of life, [music] the vineyard of God. Is there anyone else you're saying? Yeah, Tristan, that's me. That's me.
All right, Generation City, would you repeat this prayer and pray [music] this prayer with me this morning? Heavenly Father, today I acknowledge that I've been a sinner, lived a life separate to you, living my own choices, wandering from your truth. And today, I want to say sorry. I want to acknowledge my sins, my own will that's taken me from your word. And today I choose to follow Jesus. And I ask that you would forgive me of all my sins in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And amen. Praise God. Yeah. God is good.
We got a team that if you raise your hand, the team would love to give you a Bible. They'd love to talk to you about, you know, coming home to the father, just getting right with God. And the most important thing is that we are in the word of God. I want to [music] encourage you if you're not a part of our daily devotions. Well, what a great time to begin. Did you not just hear the word that was preached? Yeah. What a great time to begin. Join in our daily devotions. It's on WhatsApp. [music] Encourage you to speak to the team in the connect hub. They can get you in. And we've got the word of God that's shared every single morning, first thing in the morning. And there's no better way than to start your day by reading scriptures with the family in the church that God has called you to [music] be planted in. Amen. Amen. Praise God. So good.
If you're a guest here, we want to give you a very warm welcome uh to our church family. [music] It's so good seeing you here this morning worshiping God. If you're new, why don't you just raise your hand? We've got a little gift we'd love to give you. Awesome. Yeah. Fantastic. [music] Awesome. Praise God. Anyone else? Are you new? You're saying, "Yeah, this is my first time over here." Fantastic, Denica. Yeah. Great. Over there, Ryan. Fantastic. Yes. Awesome. Over here. Great. Fantastic. [singing]
While they're handing those out, we also want to say a very big happy birthday to Lawrence today. We love you, Lawrence. We love you so much. You're an amazing man. Don't you just [music] feel the love? Hey, now if you want to fill his love tank, he loves golf. All right. Who didn't hear that? Uh, praise God. Uh, you know, uh, Generation City, I've got a bunch of announcements that I want to share with you. We're going to pray for the youth in a moment that are going to camp as well. Uh, but also, there's [music] so many people that have been so generous to the youth. Uh, you know, one of the amazing things is as a church, you know, every week we [music] ask you to sew into the vision and the mission here at Generation City. And, you know, there's so many ways that you can give. You can give online. And you can give, you know, through foss at the back. [music] You can uh, you know, that you can give through text and all that kind of stuff. It's incredible. But the amazing thing is because of the generosity of you, you know, we're actually able to help send these young people [music] to have an encounter with God, to see their lives transformed, you know, and and generation city, you're making a difference in the next generation. [music] When you sew a seed, you're actually sewing a seed and an investment to see your [music] life transformed by the power of God. And so we want to say thank you so much for your generosity. Thank you so much for your gifts that you continue to sew into the heart of Generation City. And so we're just believing that as you sew [music] that God is going to bless you abundantly in 2026. Amen. Amen. [music] Glory to God.
Okay, we've got some announcements. Firstly, prayer Wednesday night. Yes. Who's coming to the first prayer meeting Wednesday night? There's a bunch of hands of people that are going to be here. We're [music] going to have such a great time. Starts at 7:00 p.m. It's an hour of power. You will be encouraged as [music] you join us in the room and uh it's going to be a great time. Then following that, as soon as the youth get back, the ladies are going on a ladies retreat. So cool. A Rise and Stand Women's Retreat. It's going to be a blast. I've been hearing lots of things about [music] it. The team's been praying. Everybody's been praying. And I want to encourage you, get ready for what God is going to do as you go [music] and just set sit at the feet of Jesus. He's going to move powerfully and mightily in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Then I've got a couple [music] more announcements. Not letting you go. Can we have the worship team up as well? I think it'd be great. Guys, you're looking sharp. [music] Where are you singers? You're still sitting down. Get ready to praise. Amen. Two more announcements. I would love [music] to invite you to join me in a 14-day fast. Turn to the person next to you [music] and say, "14 days." Turn to the other person [music] and say, "You can do it." [snorts] Next Sunday, we are going to start a [music] 14-day fast. And so, I'd love to invite you to join us from the 18th. Sunday the 18th is going to be a great [music] time. And uh be prayerful this week about what the Lord is asking you to lay down at the altar as you prepare [music] to step into everything for 2026. [music]
And on the 1st of February, the 1st, say the 1st, not the 3rd, the 1st, which is a Sunday evening, we are going to have an [music] encounter night where we're just going to come. We're [music] going to worship. We're going to put God first and we're just going to say, "God, here we are. We want to worship you." And we're going to invite you [music] to join us from around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday the 1st of February. It's going to be a [music] powerful night where we just encounter the presence of God and let him do whatever he needs to [music] as we prepare for 2026. Amen.
All right. Why don't we stand to [music] our feet? Yes. We are going to ask for the all the youth that are coming going on camp to come to the altar. [music] All the young people, if the leaders are here as well, we want the leaders to come forward. [music] Mickey, can you come because you are going to be praying. [music] Mickey is going to pray. The service is going to be closed. And young [music] people, you are going to be released to go into your powerful week of retreat, encounter, praise, [music] and worship. But before Mickey prays, I want to say this to every [music] single one of you. Go with an open heart, a mind ready to receive, and be expectant for what God is going to do. Make sure you've got a diary. Make sure you've got a pen. Make sure you journal the different things that God reveals [music] to you because I genuinely believe that God is setting you up for an encounter. [music] God is preparing you for the days ahead. And when I say this, I don't just say this. I [music] say this with all sincerity. You young people are going to shake this nation. [music] You young people are going to You guys are going to You guys are going to shift culture. You're going to [music] speak into spheres. You're going to walk into rooms where you guys are going to make decisions that are going to shift the nation for Jesus Christ. [music] Amen. Your voice matters. What God does in your heart and in your mind at this conference, [music] what camp is important, significant. So get ready with an open heart. Mickey, why don't you pray? Come on guys, why don't you raise your hands? is an act of [music] surrender. Um for those around, if you want to lay hands on our young people or even just reach out your hands, um I'd love for you to speak in your heavenly [music] language and join with me in prayer. Yeah.
Father, I thank you so much, Lord God, for every single young person [music] in this place. I thank you. They are called by you. They're anointed by you. They're [music] set apart for your special purposes, Lord God, and I thank you, Lord Jesus, for this next few days, Lord God, and the journey you're about to take them on. God, I pray for altar moments. I pray for moments of encounter. [music] I pray for moments of transformation and change. I pray for defining moments. [music] I pray the moments that they would look back in years to come and say, "Wow, God did something significant in my life on that camp. I remember what he did. I remember what he set me free of." So God, [music] I thank you for every single young person, Lord God. Father, would they leave these next few days changed? Would they surrender it all? Would there be [music] young people of purpose? Would they be young people, Lord God, who would preach the gospel? Would they be young people who would not look to the [music] left or the right, but would know who they are in you? Would they be young people who would not be held back by fear, Lord Jesus? Would there be no more shame over their life? Father, I pray that you would that we would see a generation rise, Lord God, in the call and the anointing upon their life, Lord God, that would run without restraint, that would run without fear and anxiety, that would run without comparison, Lord God, but would run to you in everything that they have, Lord God. Father, I thank you for the upcoming teachers and preachers, [music] Lord God. I thank you for the prayer warriors that you're birthing. I thank you Lord God for the people of in business and places of high significance. I [music] pray for the politicians in the room Lord God. Father I thank you that you have called them Lord God and set them apart for such a time as this. So God I pray would you leave no rock or stone unturned in their [music] lives this camp that Father I pray would they come back with a deep reverence of surrender and awe about who [music] their God is for them. I thank you that there is no life too far gone. There is no [music] person that is not important or significant in your eyes. And there is nothing [music] that you cannot do, Lord God, in them. So God, I thank you for every single young person. Would they leave [music] changed, transformed, Lord God, called, [music] set apart in your mighty name? Lord God, do something [music] significant in your generation. God, I cannot wait for their high [music] schools to see what you've done in them. Lord God, I cannot wait for their friends to see what you've done in them. Lord God, I [music] cannot wait, Lord God, for their families and their homes and their streets and their suburbs and the city of Perth to see what you've done in them, Lord God, in your mighty name.
Come on, young person. Why don't you give God a mighty shout [music] of praise? Are you excited? Are we excited, guys? Come on. Why don't we praise our our way out of here? [music] [music] Close your hands together. >> [music] [music] >> I'm living in the light of a new I won't [music] in my own life. Praise the Lord. I've been born again. Goodbye yesterday. I'm living in the light of the day. I won't praise the Lord. [music] [music] again and again and [music] again and again. You ask me out of the me. [music] [music] [music] The spirit of [singing] the Lord is [music] upon me. I got resurrection in my praise. [music] I'll be born again and again and again [singing] and again. You asking me out of my sorrow [music] again and again and again and again. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> I have desire [singing] to follow Jesus. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Yeah. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Yeah. [music] Heat. [music] Hey [music] dancing [music] dancing on the grave that I was [music] dancing on the grave. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] I want to see the only [music] praise to my s. [music] Hallelujah. Here I come and you took [music] away my s and you to the cross. [music] You got me running on the grave. Hallelujah. [music] And he took away my s took away my sle. [music] Here I [music] [music] here I here. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. [music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [music] Praise God. God is good. [music]
Hey young people, I believe that your bus is here. [music] Have an amazing 10. Moms and dads, if you want to give your kids a embarrassing hug goodbye, go and do it now. Otherwise, they are going, going, gone. Praise God. May I encourage you? Go back online, watch the word that Rob preached this morning. Allow it to bring [music] transformation to your heart. God bless you all and have an amazing week. Oh Jesus. [music] Oh Jesus. All we want is your presence. Jesus. Come on. Can you lift up worship [music] all across the room? All we want is your glory, Jesus. [music] I didn't [music] know this was for me. I tried to give it away, but now I know you're what I need more than anything. [music] God, I live for your fame. You made your sanctuary in my heart. bright in the darkest of days because your blood has [music] made a way. And now we say to heaven in vain. When the [music] ark comes back to the city. When the ark comes back to the street. When the [music] ark comes back to the city, we're going back to the city. When the comes back to the streets. When the ark comes back to the city, we're going to dance like David. [music] Dance like David. Come on, lift your voices now. If you love them, yeah, if you need them, yeah, lift your voices. [music] I hear the sound of the hungry. distractions out of the way until your kingdom is our [music] only priority.