Loading summary
Transcript20 lines
- [00:02]
A
Red Rocks Church, how we feel. Hey, can you. Can you help me? And say hi to every location, all the Denver locations, we love you. Austin, Texas. Brussels, Belgium. Men and women at our correctional facilities, we love you. And everybody watching online, we love you. I got a special announcement. I just found out over here. The song you just sang.
- [00:30]
B
Sang?
- [00:32]
A
What's it called? The Highest.
- [00:35]
B
What's it called?
- [00:36]
A
The Highest. No other name. When did it drop? Friday.
- [00:39]
B
Let's go.
- [00:41]
A
Where can I get this song? Tyler? You can get it anywhere you listen to music.
- [00:45]
B
Just go find it.
- [00:46]
A
Everywhere you can find it, it's there. Hey, can we give it up for the band? I love you. If you're joining us for the first time, whether online in one of our buildings, I like to say this all the time because you're going to figure it out anyways. We are just a bunch of messed, imperfect people. But Church, we love to get together like this and pursue a perfect God. And so what that means for you, if you're just joining us, it means no matter what, no matter what you've been through, no matter what you're going through, no matter what you believe, whether you life's never been better or life's never been worse or anywhere in between, we want you to know in this place, you're gonna be loved and welcomed and valued. You've already been prayed for. Welcome home. Welcome to Recogn Rocks Church. High five, somebody. Have a seat. Church, I am so excited for this weekend. One of my closest friends in the world, someone that is literally like a brother to me, is going to be sharing with us this weekend. I met this. I'm gonna tell you a little bit about him. And then when he comes up here at every location, I want you to give him the craziest Red Rocks welcome we got. All right. About 15 years ago, we. I was in. I was in Europe and Jill and I were talking to church planters in Europe because it wasn't all that, you know, long ago that we had started Red Rocks. And so we meet this team of people in Liverpool, England, and they were just starting this church called Liverpool One. And it was one of those times when, you know, like, sometimes you meet with somebody and you're just like, are we twins? You know what I mean? Like, everything he would say, I go, me too. And everything I would say, he'd go, I know, right? And it was. It's just the beginning of this amazing friendship. And over the years, like, our boys are super close friends. There's been times when we've Literally, we'll be with our family in Liverpool. We'll be leaving to come back to the States, and our boys will be like, in the doorway or on the stairs crying.
- [02:58]
B
And I love and I miss you.
- [03:00]
A
And like, two of our. Two of our boys used to FaceTime every night before, before we would do family prayer.
- [03:08]
B
Like, we're just. This, this.
- [03:09]
A
This is not. What I'm saying is this isn't some random visitor with us. This is family this week church. So can you give it up for my friend, the one and only Pastor Luke Bryant.
- [03:29]
B
Oh, wow. Hey, Red Roc, can you just stay standing for me real quick? Just everyone just up onto your feet. We're gonna do something. Firstly, I just want to go on record and I want to say thank you to Red Rocks Church for your amazingly kind, warm welcome. I actually want to tell you a story, actually, because it's not actually normal that I get that welcome. In fact, when I was recently flying through Atlanta, there was a driver there that was waiting to pick me up. And on his iPad, there was my name, which is Luke Bryant. And around him there was about 40 women that when I approached the driver, they were so disappointed because they were waiting for this guy. Apparently, Luke Bryan is a real big deal over here. And somebody walked up to me and said, ooh, what did you do to your hair? So thank you for your welcome. It means a lot. But now I want us to do something that's really important to me. You know, we get to meet a lot of people in the church world. And what Pastor Sean has said is absolutely right. We have been friends for a long time now, and, man, I have just loved seeing all that God has done in you and through you as a church here at Red Rocks. And there are so many things that I could say that actually I want to say about how brilliant Sean and Jill are. In fact, the entire Johnson family. And there are many things that I could say that would relate to their brilliance in the church world because they are. They are looked up to, they are respected globally for just what you guys are now all a part of here at Red Rocks. But the biggest accolade I could give to Sean and Jill is I think that they are some of the kindest, most beautifully generous people on the planet. And you should just see the way that they love each other and they love on their boys. Ethan, Austin, Ashton, they are incredible young men of God. And I feel honored and privileged that I get to call them my friends. But these guys are your leaders and your pastors. So can we give the rowdiest of applause to the entire Johnson family. We love you guys. You're the real deal. We love you. Appreciate you. Okay, so now you can go ahead and take your seats. And I'm really excited to jump into the word of God with you all today. And I think the thing that I'm most excited about is I want to just share a story and let you know that I've had Sean speak at Liverpool One Church now on a number of occasions. But I want you to know that on the first four occasions that he came over and preached for me the following week, we would lose a venue that we were in. Okay? Like, he would preach and then it would be like we'd get kicked out of our venue or we wouldn't all of a sudden be able to lease it anymore. And I'm just saying, like, I'm so glad to be with you this weekend, but I honestly have no clue where you're going to be next Sunday. Okay, guys, because anything could happen right now. I want to introduce to you my family. This is my tribe. And I am married to Emma, who is with me as well. Can you say hey to her? Because she is definitely the best part of. And we've got three boys, Joash, Isaac and Solomon. And our eldest, Joash, he got married to the beautiful Jessie. She's from Northern Ireland. And they went on rapid fire and had two beautiful little babies called Ezra and Eliyah. Eliyah is the first girl in the Bryant world. So, like, she knows that she has me wrapped around her little finger. And truthfully, I don't even care. That girl can have whatever she wants growing up for. For real, I just love them so much. And whilst I'm here in Denver building church with you, they're all at home in Liverpool building church there. In a moment, we are going to get to opening up the scriptures together. But one of the things that I love about Red Rocks Church is this slogan that you guys have which is always talking about how we're building a church, but it's not for perfect people. And that makes me really happy to be with you because I feel like I'm going to fit in really well. In fact, when Emma was pregnant with our youngest boy, Solomon, I'm gonna talk a little about him today. Something funny happened. She was on about, I don't know, 38 weeks or something, and she kind of had a couple of funny feelings. And we went to the hospital and we were trying to figure out, like, what's going on. Like, is he gonna be born anytime soon. And the hospital. Larry then said, you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna bring Solomon out tonight. Like by midnight, you guys are gonna have a little baby. So Emma was freaking out because she was saying, you know, well, I haven't brought my bag. I haven't got my things. And so I went out of the room, and they were starting to bring in all the doctors and the nurses and the medical team as they were just getting her ready to give birth. So I went to make a call to our parents to say, hey, listen, any chance somebody could fly by our house and just pick up the bag? Because we've come to the hospital and we don't even have the bag. And they were like, we got you. We'll be there in half an hour. You just get back in there and be with Emma. So I went back onto the delivery ward and went into the room, and I could see now there was more medical professionals in the space. There was a couple of doctors, there were a number of nurses around, and there was just a lot of hustle and bustle. So I didn't really know where I should seat myself. So I kind of sat on what looked like a footstool that was at the very bottom of the bed. And I was just watching all of the activities as they were going ahead in front of me. And I remember right there was this guy, and he was sat on the chair right next to Emma's head. And I just thought to myself, like, you know, if you're part of the medical team, I don't fully understand everything that's happening right now, but you're just getting a little close to my wife for my liking. And at that point, as I'm thinking this, he, like, turned and was staring at me, we would say in England, like, he was giving me the daggers. He was giving me this evil kind of look. And I'm thinking, like, who are you? And then I started to have all these crazy thoughts, like, are we gonna fight in here? Like, is this gonna be a full on thing? And as I'm watching him just like, leaning closer and closer towards Emma's head, I realize, like, I'm in totally the wrong birthing room, and I'm about to watch the wrong baby being born. So the fact that you guys don't like perfect people makes me feel like I'm at home with you today. That was a real low point of our marriage. And it took a long time for Emma to forgive me. She was saying, like, didn't you recognize Me. And I'm like, I didn't know where to put my eyes in that moment. Like, it's awkward for every guy, you know, this feels horrible. So it was a real low point, and I was not expecting that. You know, A couple of years ago, as a family, we went on holiday to Egypt, and we'd never been there before. We took a cheap deal, and we arrived on this resort, and we were met by a guy that introduced himself to me as Egyptian John. He turns around and he says, Mr. Luke, anything that you need on this holiday, I'm your guy. Like, seriously, you need anything? I can look after you. I'll hook you up. I'm like, egyptian John, that's brilliant. First couple of days went by, and Emma says to me, you know, it's getting really hot in the hotel room. I think there's a problem with the air conditioning. Like, maybe it's broken or something's up with it. You need to go find Egyptian John. So I went and traveled around the resort, and I found Egyptian John. And I was like, hey, Egyptian John, can you help me? The air conditioner is broken, or it's empty. It's ran out. I don't really understand it, but the reality of it is it's getting way too hot in here. Egyptian John says, hey, no problem. I fix. I fix. But he's looking at me really confused. So we went about the rest of our day and returned to our hotel room that night. And the air conditioner was still not rectified. The problem with it was still present, and it was boiling hot in there. So I went and found Egyptian John again. And I said, hey, Egyptian John, it's way too hot in our room. Like, there's a problem with the air conditioner. Maybe it's broken, it's empty, it's run out. And he's looking at me from the top of my head, and he's kind of looking at me all confused. He says, Mr. Luke. Mr. Luke.
- [12:01]
A
No.
- [12:01]
B
He says, I fixed it. I fixed it. I said, john, for real, this thing is still broken. Or it's ran out, but it's boiling hot in our room. He takes me by the hand, which, I'm not gonna lie, felt a little weird. And we walked across the entire resort where he's protesting to me all the time. Mr. Luke. Mr. Luke. I fix. I fix. And now, holding his hand, we walk into our hotel room where he very proudly presents to me something that he had done in our bathroom. And he points this out to me that I just had to Take an image of. And this is what he's showing me. There are 13 tubs of hair conditioner in my bathroom. I said, john, it's the air conditioner, not the hair conditioner. If there is one thing that I don't need in my life, John, it's the hair conditioner. And the truth is, I was not expecting that. You know, Emma and I were church planters. And planting church in England is quite different to maybe what it could look like here in America. Less than 2% of the population attend church. And in fact, it took us nearly four and a half years just to grow to 100 people. At times it felt incredibly difficult and challenging. But I remember after about five years or so, six years in, we'd hired this great big theater in town, and we were so excited and expectant for hundreds of people to come to church that night. And they did. And people responded and decided to follow Jesus. It was this landmark moment in our life and in building this church, it felt like we were on the highest point ever that Sunday evening. But the very next day, on the Monday, completely blindsided. Emma and I were sat down with the senior consultant of hematology at our local hospital where he broke the news to us. And he said, emma, I'm sorry to tell you, but you have stage four blood cancer. And in that moment, it felt like somebody had picked up our entire life and poured the entire contents of it upside down. Because that was a moment that I can honestly say I was not expecting. In fact, we embarked upon the worst two year period of our life. It felt like we just lived in and out of hospital all the time. Emma had to go through a really aggressive form of chemotherapy. And for us, it felt like our life became violently turbulent. It just felt like everything that was previously certain was now all of a sudden not certain anymore. I mean, it just felt like this is the worst season ever. And truthfully, we were struggling to keep it together. In fact, if you're a part of Red Rocks Church today, maybe this is the first time that you've come in, or maybe you came at Easter and now this is the Sunday that you're here checking things out. If you've ever wondered, like, what's it really like? If we were to peel back the curtain and look in at what it's really like behind scenes, or if we were to lift up the bonnet or the hood, as you guys would call it, to try and find out, like, what's it really like and what are the leaders really like. You know, I remember Ringing up Shaun on a Tuesday, and I was in a mess. Emma had gone through chemotherapy. It felt like this is just the worst season ever. And by Thursday, him and Jill were in our house. He got a flight the next day. He said, let me carry the weight. Let me preach for you in the church. Like, let me just help. So if you really want to know what it's like being a part of Red Rocks Church, it's exactly that right there. People who just want to love broken people. And I find it an absolute honor and privilege that I get to be with you today. You know, the thing about when your life can feel aggressively turbulent, like something's taken place that maybe you're blindsided and just surprised by, like something just took place that you didn't see coming, is that that can really affect how we all follow Jesus. And if we're going to be honest, it can be difficult to remain faithful to Jesus when life feels aggressively turbulent. What's even more surprising is it's incredibly complex to think that you could ever be used by God, let alone remain a follower of Jesus, when your life feels aggressively turbulent. And some of you might know exactly what that's like, because some of you, maybe even in this season, you've had the diagnosis, or maybe someone that you've loved has been given some bad news on a health front, and it feels to you like someone has picked up your life and turned the whole thing upside down. For others, it's not a family thing with a diagnosis, but it's a financial matter. Like, something's gone wrong in the business, and everything that felt certain five years ago all of a sudden is now thrown up into the air. And you've no idea what this is going to look like for you in your future. Financially, it just feels aggressively turbulent. Maybe for some of you, as a parent sometimes or a grandparent, you can feel like, man, why are the kids making such dumb decisions? And they're just facing a train wreck. And you can see that they're walking towards the edge of the cliff, but of course they don't want to listen to you. And you're just like, this feels aggressively turbulent in our family unit and dynamic right now. You know what it feels like when life gets aggressively turbulent, but you know what the reality of it is, is in those seasons, whilst it can be difficult to remain faithful to Jesus in them, I am so glad for God's Word, the sacred scriptures, that when we get to open them up and turn the pages together, it gives us so much insight into the lives of those that followed Christ before us, that when we lean into their lives, it can help us navigate our own. So I think that that's really my goal today. I want us to navigate through some scriptures and almost try and find out what is it that we can learn from them. When it feels to us like life gets violently turbulent. In a moment, we're going to jump into the book of Acts, chapter two. And just to kind of give you some context of exactly what's going on here, Jesus has been arrested and crucified on the cross. He's been resurrected, and then he came down and he does breakfast on the beach with all of his followers. And then at some point, like, he gets ascended to be with the right side of the Father. And now what happens is Jesus is now in heaven and there's one guy that is being charged with the responsibility of leading the way for the launch of the early church, which is a pretty big deal, as we're going to find out. So let's jump in to Acts, chapter 2, verse 14. The text reads, Then Peter stood up with the 11. He raised his voice and addressed the crowd. Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. Now, in the interest of time, we're not going to be able to navigate our way through the entire passage of text. But in essence, what happens is Peter goes on to give this clear and concise Gospel presentation of all that God has been up to in the earth. He talks about how Jesus has put on flesh and walked amongst us and about how he was arrested and crucified and brought back to life so that people who are not perfect can today have a real and authentic relationship with him. And it was just this amazing speech that Peter goes on to give. But what the result of his speech. Speech is is highly interesting to me because by verse 41, it tells us this. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. 3,000 people became part of what we're now a part of here at Red Rocks, the local church. 3,000 of them were added to the church that day. Off the back of Peter's brilliant, concise and clear gospel explanation, you could describe it like this. This was a landmark moment for Peter, you know, in the way that you know what it's like to have a landmark moment in your life, like on the day that you give birth to your first baby. It's a landmark moment on the day that you pass your driving test or you get the grades in college or university. It's a landmark moment. Well, this was a landmark moment for Peter on this day. But it wasn't just a landmark moment for him. This was a landmark moment for the entire early church. Like, this is a big day. This was a speech that changed everything for even all of us that are gathered in church today. Because people who thought that they would never be given a chance or accepted by God believed. And there were 3,000 of them that believed that there was a loving God in heaven that had given his one and only Son, so that we who put our faith in him shall not die, but have everlasting life. It's a landmark moment for the life of the church. And yet it is highly surprising to me that this landmark moment award is given to Peter. Because the reality of it is there were 12 disciples, and there are only really two of them that made epic failures. And it certainly didn't end well for one of them in Judas. And the other one that really made a mess of things was Peter. And yet it was Peter that was called by God in Acts 2 to boldly and courageously lead the launch of the early church. And I just wonder, how did that happen when you consider Peter's life? Because when you consider the context of Peter's life, what you may know is that there was a season where everything became violently turbulent for Peter also. So I want us to jump into that passage of text that's recorded in Matthew's Gospel, Matthew 26:33. It says this, Peter replied, and he's speaking to Jesus. They're having a dinner where Jesus has just let them know about everything that is going to come their way. And Jesus is letting them know, hey, guys, some of you are all going to fall away from me. And Peter replied, even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. Truly, I tell you, Jesus answered, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. But Peter declared, even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. And all the other disciples said the same. Now, those of you that might be unfamiliar with the life story of Peter, he did in fact go on to deny Jesus three times. He did the very thing that Jesus said he was going to, that he swore he would not. And the Scriptures recount it, because in verse 69, it says, Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. You were also with Jesus of Galilee, she said. But he denied it before them all. I don't know what you're talking about, he said. Then he went out to the gateway where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, this fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth. Verse 72 goes on. He denied it again with an oath, I don't know the man. After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, surely you are one of them. Your accent gives you away. Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, I don't know the man. Immediately, a rooster croaked. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. And those two words are words that I've highlighted and underlined and underscored in my Bible. Because this is a moment that Peter recognized that he's really screwed things up. This is a moment where Peter had just been claiming to Jesus, I will follow you anywhere. And now he's the one that's done the exact opposite. Peter is crying. He knows that he's dropped the ball. He knows that he's let the team down, he's let Jesus down, and he's let himself down. And as far as Peter is concerned, in this Gospel account, Peter is now done. Peter is finished. As far as Peter's concerned, this is not recoverable from. Peter is completely broken. So my question is, what was it that happened? Because in Acts Chapter two, he boldly, courageously leads the way, and he's the mouthpiece of God as he's used by God to launch the early church. Yet in Matthew 26, just a few books earlier, we find him weeping bitterly. He's broken. He's ruined everything. In England, we play a game called football. Now, this is what I would describe as real football, because we play it with our feet, okay? Now, I know you guys think you play real football, but it originated in England. Now, a few years ago, I got a call from the school nurse. She rings me up and she goes, hey, Solomon has hurt himself playing football. We think that he's maybe broken his arm or he's broken a wrist. We really need to get him to hospital. Are we going to call a paramedic or do you want to come quickly and take him? I said, I'll be there in two minutes. I'm just round the corner. So I get Solomon in my car and he's like, crying and he's in pain. He's in anguish and agony. And we get him into the ER and they X ray him and they try to figure out what it is that's gone wrong with him. And you might wonder, what is it that an English pastor would be doing in those moments when their son is in A and E with a suspected broken bone? Did you lay hands on him? Did you pray for him? Did you pray for everybody else on the ward? Well, truthfully, that's what Pastor Sean would do, okay? But for me, I took photographs. And here's the image because I thought I might use this in a preach one day. So here is Solomon, and he's being treated. And they turn around and say to him, soldiers, you've broken this really particular bone in your wrist and we can't cast it. So what we're going to have to do is put you in this, like, plinth device and you're going to have to wear this for the next six to 12 weeks before we can X ray you again. But in the meantime, you can't do anything with your wrists. Now Solomon turns around and what you might not know about Sol is that Solomon has played drums since he was like, before he could walk. He drums for hours every single day, and he drives us crazy. So he's been a drummer his entire life. So his question to the doctor, when the doctor was saying, hey, Sol, you can't do anything. He says to the doctor, yeah, but I can still play my drums, right? And the doctor's like, no, absolutely not. So I drive him home, and whilst we're in the car, I decided to have one of those parental chats with him. And I'm laying it on thick. I'm saying, hey, soldiers, for real, like, you are banned from playing the drums, okay? Like, you can't go up there. I don't want you playing the drums. And he's got like a music room of the third floor of our house. And, you know, it's kind of. It's out of the way. I said, look, I don't want you going on those drums. Like, if I find that you've been on the drums, like, I am going to be so cross with you. I'm going to be so mad. We get into, like, three days gone by, and I'm downstairs in my kitchen having a cup of tea, and then all of a sudden I can hear this low frequency drone of the kick drum going and then the rest of the drum kit. And it is like, sounding like he's getting ready for a concert up there. And I can hear him playing the drums. And I am so angry. So I did what any dad would do. I go running up the three flights of stairs And I'm about to go barging in. But I had to get my breath first because I didn't want him to realize that I can't hack the three flights of stairs anymore. And I'm about to go barging in. And rather than me tell you what happened, he was like 16 at the time, which means he knows everything. He had decided to record in anticipation of me coming in. So this is what happened. This is for Dad's purpose, so he doesn't think I'm not drumming with two hands. So I'm just going to record my drum session. Right. I don't understand why you're drumming. I've recorded the whole thing to prove I have used one hand the whole time. So it is just here. You just. You. Well, just look how many minutes. Look how many minutes are on the video. Three and a half minutes, one handed. Haven't touched the stick with my left hand the whole time. I'm not acting. I'm a good drummer with one hand to prove what I was doing yesterday.
- [29:29]
A
You resting that lad?
- [29:31]
B
I am. I've recorded the whole thing for him. It's one out.
- [29:35]
A
Make it worse.
- [29:36]
B
I'm not such another stick. Well, go on then, play one hand. I mean, don't applaud the kid. He drives me crazy. You know, that night we're back in the kitchen and I said to him, hey, Sol, I know it's kind of funny that you could do the thing one handed. I get it, but I'm just a little bit nervous and apprehensive that you might find the tension too hard to manage and you might end up going and using two hands. And I'm just worried that you're going to prolong this injury. I don't want you playing the drums anymore. And he thinks for a minute and then he just looks up and he presents his hand that's in this device and he just says, dad. He goes, I'm broken, but I can still play. And when I think about Peter being used in Acts Chapter two, about how he boldly and courageously became a mouthpiece for the local church, I think that Peter understood the exact same principle too. I think that Peter realized that there can be elements of your life that can oftentimes feel broken and disjointed and not perfect, but you can still be you marvelously, by God. So I went digging in the Scriptures to see. Is there anything that might give us a little bit of an insight into maybe how it really was possible for Peter to make that jump between Matthew 26 and Acts chapter 2. Let's jump Acts chapter 2, verse 14. Again, it tells us this, and it's almost like a hidden gem that's in the text. It tells us that when Peter stood up with the 11, he raised his voice and addressed the crowd. When I think, how did this happen for Peter? How was he able to be used so marvelously by God in this time? And the fact and understanding that everything in Scripture is there for a reason. And another translation describes it, when Peter began to speak, he was backed by the 11. The fact that there were 11 people behind him, championing him on, must be there for a reason. Because the 11 people that we find who were backing Peter in Acts chapter two were the same people that had previously been gathered around the table with Peter in Matthew 26. In other words, they were just about to see the best of Peter, but they were already aware of the worst of Peter. So what we've got to ask ourselves is this question. What is it that filled the gap between Matthew 26 and Acts chapter two? Because I believe that there was an environment of just audacious grace and inclusion that was given not only by God, but also by those that were closest to him, that enabled Peter to stand up so brilliantly and confidently and be used by God in Acts Chapter two. His life was marked by this audacity of grace. And, you know, when we think about this word grace, it really is more than just undeservedness, favor. You know, in 2 Corinthians 12, 9, there is this passage of Scripture that gives us an insight into how God uses grace even in your life today. And it tells us that my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness. And when we think about grace, we can understand the favor that you didn't earn part. But when you look back and find in the Greek what it actually means, it doesn't only just mean favor that you didn't earn, it also means power that you did not have. So when there was this audacious grace that flooded into Peter's life, it was the great enabling of him to do incredible things for God. It wasn't as though grace just overlooked his sin. Grace is about God restoring, restoring you and enabling you to do marvelous and wonderful things for God and the kingdom and the expansion thereof. It he moved from being horrifically broken to being brilliantly used by the power of God. And it was grace. And it was not grace that was given to Peter by the crowd. It was grace that was afforded to him by those Closest. And I don't know exactly how this worked, but maybe Peter in Acts chapter two, he got up to deliver this speech and he had some papyrus paper that he was about to read from. And maybe Matthew just whispered, whispered in his ear and said, come on, Peter, you've got this, Peter. The old has gone, the new has come. Maybe Philip said, come on, Peter. We believe in you, Peter. You've got this, Peter. Like, maybe that's what it looked like for them. There was an environment of just this audacious grace that filled the gap. And it makes perfect sense to me to see why this was even possible. It's because when you start to look, even in the very first book of the Bible, if we go all the way back to the book of Genesis, what we can see in Genesis is that there is this intrinsic detail that God gives us an awareness of, of exactly what he instituted for all of mankind. Because in Genesis chapter one, it tells us about there being a system that God had created in order for someone's life to flourish and grow and develop and move forward and multiply. In fact, it's a command that God gives. He says God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. In other words, this is the call, not only on Red Rocks Church, but for everyone that says they follow Christ. The call is to grow and to flourish and to multiply all that God has given you. But how does that actually happen? Because in Genesis 1, there is this principle, this thought that multiplication is possible, but it only happens when there is intimacy. Now, I'm not gonna give you guys a science lesson. The last thing that you need on multiplication is that. But practically speaking, in our lives, as we follow Jesus today, it is true that you can grow and have fruit hanging off the branches of your life, and multiplication and growth is possible. But it only happens when you choose to get honest and intimate with people that are around you. And what that really looks like is this. There's got to be people in your world like Peter had with the 11, with whom you take your mask off with, that get to see the real version of you. There's got to be people in your world that get to see not the perfect version of you. Because let me tell you this, if there's one thing that the devil would love, it would be to keep you messed up and feeling reluctant to towards relationship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Because he would know that that would stop you moving forward, stop you progressing, and stop you multiplying that's his goal. But there is a problem when we think about intimacy and taking your mask off. It's because that means that people get to see parts of your life and your character that maybe wouldn't be the proudest thing that you have hanging out on the branches of your life. But what I want you to know is this. God is not attracted to perfection. He is very attracted to honesty. Honesty is magnetic to God. I mentioned earlier about that season of life that we were in when Emma had received this cancer diagnosis. We'd done chemotherapy for what felt like forever. And we were so prayed up and in faith, and we'd been fasting and believing that on this one particular New Year's Eve, that we were going to go back and sit in with the consultant and he was going to say to us, great job, guys. You're all done, you're healed, you're healthy. That's it. You can go and live the rest of your life. That's what we were believing for. That's what we were hoping for. And on New Year's Eve, whilst everybody else is getting ready to go out and party and see in the new Year, we sat down and had a consultant say to us, emma, you're gonna have to do the whole thing again. And the thing about chemotherapy is that it has some really nasty and hard to deal with side effects. In that moment, I have never seen my wife cry. And she curled up in a great big ball and I physically had to carry her out the hospital. She was saying to me, I don't think I can do this again. I can't do it. I honestly felt like someone else must be able to come up with a better answer here. And even though I believe now she was being seen by the best medical staff on the planet, for some crazy reason, because even though I was a policeman before I was ever a pastor, I felt like, I can fix this. And even though we'd made this promise and a deal to one another that we were never going to live our life just googling all of this, that night, I started the most unhealthy habit that I've ever put my path of life onto. I would stay up every single night till 3, 4 o' clock in the morning, and I would just read every single medical, medical paper that I could find and I would try and figure out other options for us to not have to do this again. I would go exploring. What is it that rituximab and doxorubicin and vincristazine would actually do in her body, how would it respond to the CD20 protein on her blood? And I would try and figure this whole thing out. And I'd stay awake every night reading on this computer screen, like all of this language and everything that I didn't understand, desperately trying to find a way to fix it. And as I'm trying to fix it, I can feel my heart beating like crazy. I'm feeling like I'm getting depressed. I'm feeling like I'm becoming more anxious now. And I do this every single day and every single night I'd stay up and not tell Emma about it. And all of a sudden I just felt like, man, this is getting way too much of a wake up to bear. Like, I can't keep doing this. I'm thinking, man, I'm not a very good dad anymore. I'm not a great husband anymore. I don't feel like I'm being a good pastor in the church because apparently they like it if there's somebody to do this and preach every single Sunday. And Sunday was coming around way too quickly and I'm getting worked up so much that I can't even breathe. And in that moment between me and this computer screen, I prayed a very simple prayer. It was like, God, I need you to get in between where I am and where this computer screen is. And in that moment, I felt like the peace of God started to flood into my life and it was as though I could breathe again. But I'd written a prayer in my journal and this was my prayer up till that point that I don't mind sharing with you because I think it's real important that we understand that we don't stand up here because we're perfect. We just stand up here because we're loving on a very perfect God. So this was my journal. Dear Lord, some prayers are way easier to say than others. But honestly, I think that you've got this wrong. I'm incredibly thankful, beyond grateful for all the prayers that you've answered. You've built a church that was once a dream in our hearts. More people come now than ever before. People get saved, people get baptized. And I love it. But it's not easy anymore. Sundays seem to come pretty fast. The demands only ever increase. Nothing diminishes. And sometimes I just feel like I'm running out of space stuff to say. If you'd have chosen someone way smarter, I think that they'd handle all the pressure way better. Lord, hear my heart. This is an honour. But there are just definitely times I think that there are better candidates to do this job. Are you sure you got this right? But for as long as you want me here to be a part of your plan, I'm open. I just feel right now a bit little broken. I wrote that in my journal. And then I did something that I, as an Englishman, would never do. I took my mask off and I called one of my closest friends and I said, hey, I'm in a mess. Don't want to be here anymore. Can't picture a future. Don't know what's happening with my wife. We can't fix it. The doctors are saying they can't fix it. I just don't think that God has a plan for my life anymore. And in that moment, he did something that I look back on now and go, I don't think I'd be here today unless he'd have done that. He goes, we're gonna do two things. He goes, we're gonna get you some really good help, some really good people to speak to. But then secondly, he goes, I'm gonna put an army of brothers around you. They're going to pray for you every single day. They're going to send you scripture every single day. People that are going to help hold up your arms and carry you through. And the truth of the matter is you. If you feel like your life is broken and turbulent, you can pray the prayer, but you need to take your mask off and also find a person. It's almost like it's. Why doing church on a Sunday, it doesn't work if you just come once every four weeks. It works when you come and you choose to be a part of the family, get in a group, get baptized, choose to follow Jesus in a dynamically powerful way. Because the reality is you can find Jesus on your own. You just can't follow him on your own. Emma. Emma is fit, strong, beautiful, healthy, and healed today and is doing as good as ever. But the reason why I want to share that with you today is because I think that we're doing the same thing, but just on different parts of the world. We're trying to create an environment in church where we want you to come and not to look at us, but instead look at the one that we're looking to. We don't want you to come and put your faith or your trust in us. Put your faith in Jesus, because he's the author and perfecter of our faith. He's the one that we look to. And if there's anything that you need to know Today, this one simple thought is that, yes, God wants relationship with you, but he has a plan for your life. And like Peter, he wants to use you as well. And for some of you, you go, no, I don't think that's possible for me. You don't know my history. You don't know the context of my life. You don't know what happened to me relationally. You don't know what happened to me financially. And I'm like, no, I understand. Exactly. Because we're all the same in this. And God wants a real and authentic relationship with you, but he wants to use you as well. And instead of keeping resistant to that, just step into his wonderful and accessible audacious grace that's available for you undeserved favor, but also the enabling power of God for you to be used to share your faith, to bring someone to church, to come back to Red Rocks, to be used around the canteen, on the hospital ward, just be used by God. And that really is my prayer for you today. Because what if the greatest miracle is not the avoidance of pain, but what if it is God's ability to get you through? And maybe the way that he gets you through is by using people that are in your world around you today. Red Rocks, can we stand to our feet today and let me pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you right now and God, that we just ask that you would help us not be reluctant towards relationship with you or the idea or the concept of being used by you. Lord, we thank you that the prerequisite for being used by you is not ability, but it's availability. So today we simply say that we as a church family are open to being used by you today. You know, with every head bowed and every eye closed. If you're in Red Rocks church today and you've never made a decision to follow Jesus. And right now, just as you've been sat in the worship and you've been listening to everything that we've been talking about, you know that this has been missing in your life. You know, and you're aware of how imperfect you are and never thought that God would give you a chance. But tonight, today is your day that you're going to accept Jesus to become the Lord and Savior of your life. This is what I want you to do. In one moment, I'm going to count to three. And if you want to choose to put your faith in Jesus Christ, to become a Christian, to walk with him, I simply want you to raise your hands so warm, and I don't want you to be shy or reluctant. Two, I want you to be bold and I want you to be brave. But if today is your day, where you want to say, I want to follow Jesus. Three, Right now lift your hand in this room and we're going to pray for you over here, over here, over here at the back as well. Amazing, amazing church. Can we celebrate with all of these that have made this decision today? Let's pray and then we're going to worship. Say this prayer after me in your heart. Heavenly Father, I come to you today and I choose to follow you. I give you my life and ask you to be my savior. Come live on the inside of me. Forgive me of all my sin and all that I've done wrong because from this day forward, I'm choosing to follow you. Everybody said amen. Let's worship. CHURCH.