All right, just keep your Bibles open there in Psalm 62.
We are gonna come back to this chapter,
so just keep it open there.
But it's gonna be a bit of an interesting sermon
this morning.
You know, at the end of last year,
before we went into 2020, I preached a sermon,
you may recall the title of it, it was called 2020 Vision.
Not very original, I've seen a lot of sermons online
called 2020 Vision, you know, as we got into the year 2020.
But that sermon was all about setting a vision,
setting a vision, then setting some milestones
and some goals that you can reach
in order to accomplish that vision.
And as I was going through and giving you some advice
for a New Year's resolution,
but one thing that I was always trying to say
within that sermon, you can go back and listen to it,
is that you can really apply that at any point in your life.
Any point that you need to set yourself a vision,
you wanna set something up and do what you can
with the help of God to accomplish that vision.
Now there is a portion of that sermon
that Brother Matt's gonna play on the big screen,
that's why it's up there at the moment.
And it's only about four or five minutes long,
so we're going to play that first.
I want you guys to hear that, okay?
Just to bring to your remembrance
some of the things that I preached about back then,
and then we're going to build that sermon off
what I preached back at the end of last year.
All right, so Brother Matt, when you're ready,
I'll get you to play that, thank you.
Mark chapter eight, verse 22.
And he cometh to Bethsaida,
and they bring a blind man unto him,
and besought him to touch him.
Of course, a blind man coming to Jesus for healing,
verse number 23.
And he took the blind man by the hand,
and led him out of the town,
and when he had spit on his eyes,
and put his hands upon him,
he asked him if he saw ought.
And he looked up and said,
I see men as trees walking.
After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes,
and made him look up, and he was restored,
and saw every man clearly.
I said that your vision must be clear.
What's the story that we get here?
A blind man goes to Jesus, blind, right, needing help.
Jesus, what's he do?
Spits on his hands, puts his hands upon him,
and his vision becomes clearer, right?
He starts to see, but he can't see 100% clearly.
He doesn't have 20-20 vision at this point, right?
What he can see is men as trees walking.
He can see some shadows, he can see some lights,
he can see the people, not just hear the people,
he can see the people, but he can't make them out.
They just look like trees to him.
So what does Jesus have to do again?
He puts his hands upon his eyes once again,
and then he's fully restored.
And then it says there, and he can see,
he saw every man clearly.
What's the third point about your vision?
Number three is reassess your vision from time to time.
Reassess your vision from time to time.
You know, you may have had a vision in 2019, okay?
And you may not have accomplished
the things you wanted to do.
You know, and you look back now and it's become blurry.
You know, you see men as trees walking.
Well, this is what's wonderful about the end of the year,
is a lot of people stop and say,
well, what can I do for the next year?
You know, they reassess their vision.
They reestablish the clarity.
They bring the clarity back.
What is it that I need to do?
And this is a healthy thing to do.
Create a vision, but understand as time goes on,
as life changes, as things around you change,
that vision might become cloudy.
And that's when you need to reassess your vision.
You need to go to Christ one more time
and clear up that vision, establish it all over again.
This is a great time, brethren.
This is a great time at the end of the year.
Now, look, you can do this at any point in your life.
You know, every day is a new day, all right?
I could preach a sermon any time, right?
Every day, if you need to reassess your vision,
stop and reassess.
You know, I've shared this with the men,
I believe, and maybe the church.
You know, there was a time when I was working a job.
I was there for nine years and I know why I was there.
I had a vision.
I had to provide for my family.
You know, we bought a house.
You know, we had a lot of things going on.
You know, it was local.
It was somewhere where I could go to church
and all these kinds of things.
But after nine years and after whatever number of kids
we had, I can't remember now, six or seven kids,
you know, life had changed, right?
From just being a single man,
I'm not a single man, but a married man with no kids,
life changes and I had to stop.
I had to reassess.
You know, and I took time off work
because I was a little bit, my vision was cloudy.
You know, do I continue just doing what I've been doing
for the last nine years?
Life has changed.
We've got a whole bunch of kids now, right?
So what did I do?
I stopped working because I could and I had saved up,
I had a bit of a buffer there,
stopped working and just with Christina,
what is it that we need to do now?
What is the next challenge over the next decade?
Like, what is it that we need to do?
You know, what is it that we need to change?
I had to reassess the vision
because men look like trees walking to me.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do
with the rest of my life.
And you know, Brevin, if you're at a point
where maybe in the past things were clear to you
and now you're like, I'm not sure where to go,
reassess your vision, nothing wrong with that.
Reassess it.
Praise God that He's gotten you where you are today.
Hey, maybe you've reached your vision.
Maybe you've accomplished what you wanted to accomplish.
Great, create a new vision now, right?
Create a new vision for the coming years
because life changes, okay?
Life changes and you all know that
and that's why I love this teaching here.
I love this story about Christ
having to heal this blind man twice
because that teaches us many things, you know?
Many things, it's like doctrine.
You know, you might learn doctrine,
but it's not just fully clear to you.
You believe it, but it's not clear.
You go back, you establish, you read the Bible again,
you learn, you've nailed down those doctrines,
now you can see clearly.
Many practical ways we can take this story
that Jesus has and apply it to our lives,
but I want to apply it to your vision.
Reassess your vision.
All right, so that's from my sermon, 2020 vision.
The title for the sermon this morning is 2020 revision, okay?
2020 revision, you say, why do we need to revise?
What's going on?
Well, I don't know, there's a pandemic, right?
There's been a lot of changes.
You know, when I looked at 2020,
I was really excited for this coming,
well, this year, it's already halfway through it now, right?
I was excited for this year to come.
I had established some things
that I wanted to accomplish personally and as a church
and let me just share what some of those things were.
You know, we were coming up with that
soul-winning mega marathon was coming up, weren't we?
That was being part of a global event
and I was asked to look after the events for,
or to oversee, I suppose,
the events for Australia and New Zealand.
We're gonna send brother Tim to Melbourne.
We're gonna send brother Rams down in Sydney to Wellington
to start some of those,
get the soul-winning going on there for that.
That's part of a vision, that's part of a big plan,
is it not, for our church
and for what we were able to accomplish back then.
Hey, we'll talk about a documentary, won't we, men?
We'll talk about setting up a documentary.
I was gonna go and visit some old-time preachers,
some old-time pastors, missionaries,
and interview them for a documentary.
We're hoping to get one done this year, maybe two.
You know, is that going?
That's not going ahead this year.
That's not happening this year.
You know, the other thing,
and not all of you guys know this,
but, you know, with brother Sam,
we were planning on having Friday night
church services down in Brisbane.
You know, New Life Baptist Church down in Brisbane,
not another church, just church services down there
for the brethren that live further down south,
for the brethren that,
or other people that we might be able to find
in that local area
and try to have Friday night services just for them.
You know, that was meant to be happening from May.
That was gonna be a weekly event on Fridays.
Hey, that hasn't happened.
I don't see that happening at this point in time.
The other thing we had planned
was for our free anniversary,
we're gonna go down to Coffs Harbour.
I was trying to get that organized.
We're gonna have a combined meeting or church gathering
with not just this church,
but blessed our Baptist Church down in Sydney.
You know, that was gonna be, you know,
something that I wanted to invest a lot of time
and thought into it, you know,
to bring the two churches together
for fellowship and soul winning in Coffs Harbour.
Look, I can't plan that.
I would have been planning that already, you know,
if it wasn't for this pandemic
and all the lockdowns and the restrictions, all that.
And finally, at the end of the year in November,
I had planned to do a missions trip to Chile.
You know, I was gonna take one other brother
down in Sydney with me
and some members of Faithful Word Baptist Church,
Pastor Steven Anderson was gonna be part of that as well.
It could still happen, I guess it's possible,
but it's very unlikely, especially with the cases,
the chronic cases that are going on in Chile at the moment,
South America, it's kind of out of control there
at the moment, so I can't really see that happening.
And so I had set this vision for 2020, right?
I had set some plans, some goals,
and brethren, when everything started to lock down
and our state was closed
and we couldn't fly international
and a lot of my flights down to Sydney for the church there
were being canceled, left, right, and center,
you know, I don't know about you,
but I started to get frustrated.
I started to get annoyed.
Why is this happening, God?
You know, I was excited for 2020.
I had set a good vision, I believed,
and I believe it was a good vision.
I believe a lot of these things are there too
for the glory of God, for the glory of God, right?
And you know, maybe some of you had personal plans,
maybe not just things relating to church,
but maybe in your personal life, you had plans for 2020
and with all these things, you know,
you probably got frustrated.
I think you probably did because I got frustrated
and we're made of the same flesh and blood.
I personally got very frustrated
about many of these things, very upset
and very upset when we couldn't meet for church as well,
you know, when we couldn't be in the house of God
and that was prohibited for some time there.
And you know, one, it's easy to get upset, I suppose.
You guys are in Psalm 62, I hope you kept your Bible there.
Psalm 62, it's easy to become frustrated
when you're forced to wait.
It's easy to get frustrated when you're forced to stop
and the plans you had to do,
the plans you wanted to achieve, you just can't do it.
You know, you've been put at a standstill, right?
And the vision can't be reached
that you had originally planned.
But as I had shown you in that previous sermon
from end of last year, from time to time,
you have to have a revision.
And now that I think about it, now that hindsight is 2020,
I can think back and say, well, hey, this is a good example.
This is a good time for us to reassess,
for us to establish a new vision.
Just as I had preached, we can put this into practice,
is what I'm trying to say, right?
And look at Psalm 62, verse five.
You can either get frustrated,
you can either get upset when you have to stop,
or in verse number five, it says,
"'My soul, wait thou only upon God.'"
You can either get frustrated, Brevin,
that you can't reach the plans you were trying to reach,
do the things you were trying to do,
or you can decide, Lord, I'm just gonna wait upon you.
I'm gonna wait upon God.
Listen, if anything, this tested our patience, okay?
If anything, I'm sure we've all grown in patience
to some extent, all right?
We've allowed the Lord God to work in us and say,
Lord, please help me to calm down,
help me to relax a little bit, Lord,
help me to understand this is all part of the bigger picture
we know this world is getting more wicked.
We know that this world will use things like
this coronavirus to further their wicked agenda
for a one-world government, for a casual society,
all these things that we read about in the Bible.
We understand that, Lord,
but instead of getting fidgety about it,
we should be like the Psalmist here,
where we say we're gonna wait upon God.
And you know what?
I've been able to rest in that now.
I've been able to rest and say,
Lord, maybe you've just put everything,
you've stopped everything.
And actually, when I talk to a lot of you,
it's like a lot of your prayers have been answered.
You know, during this whole coronavirus,
it's like God just stepped in and answered
everyone's prayers at once for different things,
for different reasons, you know?
Some of you got more time to spend with your family,
spend time with your kids,
praise God for that opportunity.
Some of you don't have to travel to work that much,
or you can stay home and save on the cost of travel,
save on that time,
and invest that time in more productive things, right?
I mean, hey, maybe some of these things
I had planned for 2020,
maybe they would have burnt me out, I don't know.
Maybe God put a stop to some of these things
because it would have been too much, potentially.
Look, I don't know.
But here's the thing, one thing that I know for sure
is that God wants us to wait upon Him.
Keep going to verse number five, it says,
for my expectation is from Him.
My expectation is from Him.
Hey, my expectation is not on the local government,
it's not on the media,
it's not on these other authorities
and other sources of information.
Our expectation should be upon God.
We should be waiting for God to move
and then for us to respond to that move that God has made.
Look at verse number six, it says,
He only is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defense, I shall not be moved.
Listen, if we're resting on God,
we're not going to be moved.
We're not going to be wavering to and fro
when we're waiting upon God.
Hey, but if we're waiting on the results of this virus,
if we're waiting on how the government wants us to respond,
or we're going to be unsettled,
we're going to be tossed to and fro.
If we're waiting on some professional
to tell me what to do in light of this pandemic,
you're going to be tossed to and fro.
But when our expectation, when we're waiting upon God,
hey, we can be established, we can be unmovable
because our God is our strong defense, all right?
And when we look at this situation, the pandemic,
yeah, we've been forced to stop
and maybe that's a good thing.
Maybe it's been a time for us to reflect
on establishing a new vision, a revision.
Again, the title for the sermon this morning
is 2020 revision.
And I know this verse is cliche, but it's so true.
Romans 8 28, it says,
for we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God,
to them that who are called according to his purpose.
Do you believe that brethren?
That if you love God,
that all things will work together for good.
Hey, that means the coronavirus
is being worked together for your good, for your good.
You're getting frustrated, oh, why is this happening?
It's for your good, if you love God.
If you don't love God,
well, don't expect it to be good for you, all right?
If we love God, the Bible Jesus says,
if you love me, keep my commandments.
How do we show our love toward God?
We keep the commandments that God has given us.
And brethren, if you're just loving God,
you're just wanting to serve God,
you know, no matter how challenging things can get,
no matter how cloudy your vision might get,
no matter, you know, how badly you're trying
to achieve those goals and you can't do it,
just be content, you know,
and know that those things are gonna work together
for your good, for your good.
And so, you know, yes, I was frustrated at the beginning.
I was frustrated that I couldn't achieve the plans
that I wanted to achieve,
but now I just rest in the fact that,
well, this is for my good.
There must be a reason behind this.
I may not fully understand it on this side of eternity,
but surely when I get to heaven
and I can speak to God one-on-one,
I'm sure he's gonna reveal some amazing truths to us
that we can't fully appreciate right now.
Please go to Acts chapter one, please.
Go to Acts chapter, actually, no.
Yeah, go to Acts chapter one.
Go to Acts chapter one.
Acts chapter one and verse number six.
What is the revision that you're speaking of, Pastor Kevin?
Well, you know, obviously I've spoken to every family here,
I believe.
Yeah, I have definitely spoken to every family here,
or at least some representatives of each family.
And a lot of you guys know what I'm planning on doing
toward the end of this year, all right?
So come October,
we're gonna be celebrating our three-year anniversary.
You know, I wanna be here.
I wanna be able to celebrate that with you guys.
We're gonna make that a great event.
We're gonna celebrate what God has been able to do
with New Life Baptist Church in three years.
But then straight after that, Reverend,
I'll be heading down with the family down to Sydney
to be a help to Blessed Hope Baptist Church,
to be a full-time pastor for 12 months
to Blessed Hope Baptist Church, okay?
And you know the plans.
I'm not moving for any personal financial reasons,
no matter what thought might go through your head,
why are they moving?
There's one reason why,
and that's to help that church, all right?
And I am the pastor of this.
I will do anything for this church, all right?
I will do anything except sacrifice my family.
My family comes first.
But besides that, I wanna serve this church,
but I also have another church
that I've been given authority over.
You know, when we started that church,
Blessed Hope Baptist Church, some two years ago,
it's not like we started it,
and I was thinking, you know what?
At the end of three years here,
I'm gonna go down to Sydney and help them out.
You know, I had no idea what might develop.
I'm not sure what it would look like.
I wasn't sure if there'd be a man ready to step up.
I wasn't sure if that church
could just join another church, right,
that would be maybe like mine,
that are a good church they can be part of.
I wasn't sure what could happen, all right?
And this is why you need to look at your vision
and reassess it from time to time because things change.
And, Reverend, when I look at this church,
I see a mature church.
Now, I don't know if you believe that, I believe that, okay?
I see a mature church, okay?
You say, how do you know that?
Well, I compare this church
to other churches I've been in, okay?
Other good churches that I've been in,
and I'm telling you, I see more maturity
in a lot of you, in your families, in your love for God,
in your knowledge for doctrine than many other churches.
I'm talking about independent,
fundamental Baptist churches that I've seen.
I see a maturity, I've seen growth in all of you,
in your love for God,
in your desire to serve the local church.
I believe this church is ready to allow me
to offer a sacrifice, I suppose, to the Lord,
so I can go and help bless it up at this church.
But in saying that, you guys are important to me,
and so I'm gonna be traveling up here every Wednesday
for midweek services, except one Wednesday,
where it's my twin's birthday,
we're arranging something else there, okay?
But every other Wednesday, I'll be here,
and there'll be some Sundays as well that I'll be here,
okay, to give the preachers a bit of a break on Sundays.
There'll be some odd Sundays,
I'm trying to work out the details still,
but there'll be some Sundays that I do make my way up here,
to be a blessing back to you guys,
and at the end of the 12 months,
we'll be traveling back up here with the family
to continue the work here, all right,
to establish a new vision for New Life Baptist Church.
That's the revision that I'm speaking about,
and that wasn't my plan.
You know, I didn't go into 2020 expecting that,
and I told you what I was planning on doing, all right?
There's a lot, there's enough to do in 2020,
but hey, God has put a stop to it,
and I've had to reassess, and I've seen a door open,
and I've seen a need,
and I believe this church is mature enough.
You say, we're only three years old, it's mature enough,
and I'll prove to you shortly why we are.
Okay, now you're in Acts chapter one and verse number six,
Acts chapter one and verse number six,
and I just want to show you,
you know, when it comes to establishing a vision
for our church and the things that we want to do,
the ministries that we want to accomplish,
it must be consistent with the Great Commission, okay?
And I remember when I first started this church,
one of the first things I covered was the Great Commission,
and I said, whatever decisions we make
must be compatible with the Great Commission.
You know, if someone comes up with an idea for the church,
you know, and says, we should be doing this,
my question to you would be,
how does that line up with the Great Commission?
Does it line up with the Great Commission?
Yes, all right, this is something we can look at.
If it doesn't, then don't bring it to my attention, okay?
Because there's one job that Christ has left us to do,
and that is the Great Commission, Acts chapter one
and verse number six, the Bible reads,
When they therefore were come together,
they asked him saying, Lord, will thou at this time
restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, it is not for you to know
the times or the seasons which the Father
have put in his own power, but ye shall receive power.
After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you,
and ye shall be witnesses unto me,
both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And so you say, what about that
admissions conference to Chile?
Well, that's an uttermost part of the earth, right?
When it comes to preaching the gospel,
that's an area of the earth that needs to be reached,
and when we talk about our local church here
in Little Mountain on the Sunshine Coast,
hey, you know, Chile admissions trip there
would be considered uttermost part of the earth,
would it not?
But it's not just that.
It says here in Jerusalem, and I suppose we can say
Jerusalem is the Sunshine Coast, and then it says Judea,
we could say Judea is like Queensland, okay?
And then we'd say Samaria, it's just another city.
It could be Sydney, okay?
It could be some other place that we have
an uttermost part of the earth anywhere in the world.
And Brevin, you know what?
We are a local church.
You know, we are a church that's been established
to reach this community, but at the same time,
Jesus wants us to have a greater vision.
He wants us to have a vision for the wider areas.
He wants us to have a vision for Australia,
the other cities in Australia.
And Brevin, when we started blessing up at this church,
it was because we had a vision for another city, okay?
Yes, the need came.
Yes, it wasn't expected.
Hey, but it was compatible with the Great Commission.
And Brevin, I know, you might be saying,
well, we're losing our resource here,
we're losing our pastor here,
but Brevin, you're gonna be rewarded by God.
This church, you as a family, as a member of this church,
will be rewarded by God because we saw the need
for the work of God to be done in another city.
And that's what blessed up at this church.
That's the influence we have.
Yes, there are other good churches in Sydney.
There are other good churches across Australia.
You know, I don't care what you think.
There are good churches.
There are good pastors out there.
There are people that are trying to serve the Lord
with the gospel, okay?
They might not be doing it exactly like we do it.
They might not be doing it as often as we do it,
but I know where their hearts are.
And I know that they've been serving God for decades
in many of these pastors.
There are great people out there.
Hey, but this church,
don't underestimate what we've been able to accomplish.
We've been able to establish, plant another church.
You know how hard it is to just start a church,
just one church?
And yet, and I'm not, this is not about me.
This is about this church, this body.
We're all part of this one body.
We've been able to start this church
and also establish, plant, you know,
blessed up at this church, okay?
There's a work to be done there.
Now, please go to Acts 11.
Go to Acts 11, verse 19.
Acts 11 and verse number 19.
So we saw that Christ wants us
to reach all the places on this earth.
He wants to use the resources of our local church
to get out there and do a work in other places.
Now, if you're someone
that wants to get into the ministry one day,
you have to be thinking about this, okay?
You need to be thinking that God may want me
to be relocated in another place,
whether temporarily or permanently.
And I need to be willing to do that for the Lord.
You know, if I wanna be in his work,
if I wanna be in his ministry,
I need to be flexible enough.
I need to put myself in a position
and have the faith where I'll have to step out
and do something where I'm gonna be
a little bit uncomfortable,
where it might be a little bit challenging, all right?
But this is so important that we are able to be flexible.
And when I look at the families of this church,
I'm not saying this to be critical to anybody,
but when I look at it, it seems like at the moment
that your pastor has the greatest flexibility, right?
That I have the flexibility to get to different places
and be a blessing to the brethren
in different places right now, okay?
And if that's a resource that God has given this church,
that I can be a pastor here and yet be flexible enough
to reach and help other people,
then hey, we need to use that resource.
We need to be able to get there
and just voluntarily allow God to open doors
and be a blessing to other places in this world, all right?
Otherwise, we get to Acts 11, okay?
And if you know the story,
I've been reading through the book of Acts,
God gave them the Great Commission, go everywhere,
and they were so comfortable in Jerusalem, all right?
They were comfortable with all their families
and all their friends.
They had their big church in Jerusalem.
It was doing well, okay?
It was growing, but you know,
they weren't doing the Great Commission.
They weren't going to these other places.
And so we get to Acts 11, verse number 19.
Look at this, Acts 11, verse number 19.
It says, now they which were scattered abroad
upon the persecution that arose about Stephen
traveled as far as Phoenix and Cyprus, Antioch,
preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene,
which when they were come to Antioch,
spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus,
and the hand of the Lord was with them,
and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord.
You see, brethren, if we don't voluntarily
use the resources we have to reach other places,
to be a blessing to believers in other places,
then we may have to, like what God had to do here,
allow persecution to come to force people to be scattered.
And I don't want that.
I don't want persecution before the time,
especially if we do have the resource,
we do have the flexibility,
we do have men here who love the Lord,
who love this body, who are able to cover me
on Sundays to preach.
You know, why not?
Yes, let's use the resources.
Let's establish a new vision.
Let's say Blessed Hope Baptist Church
needs a pastor full time for 12 months
to help that church reach another level,
to reach another stage for them to be a greater church,
a greater light in the biggest city in Australia,
to establish more soul winners,
to get the soul winning right and sound,
and that they can win more souls for the Lord,
and then come back here and give you a report
of the great work that has been done,
and I believe it'll be a great work.
You know, I believe it'll be a great work.
Let's use that.
Let's volunteer when we can,
and let's not wait for the persecution
to come to drive us out, all right?
We have a great church here.
It's only been three years.
We're not a very big church, but it's a great church.
It's a great church, all right?
I mean, we have people that travel hours to be here.
You know why?
Because during that two-hour journey,
there's no other good church like this.
That's why, all right?
So, you know, I appreciate what you have.
You say, are we really a great church?
Just read the Epistles, read Corinthians again,
read Galatians again,
read the seven churches in Revelation again,
and compare our church to that church.
You tell me which church has grown and matured
and is standing strong.
Hey, a lot of those churches had major, major issues,
all right, and the issues that we face in this church
are but minor compared to the struggles
that many of these other churches had in the Bible.
We have a very mature church.
Please go to Luke chapter 15.
Go to Luke chapter 15.
So is it consistent with the Great Commission,
this new vision?
Yes, it is.
Absolutely, it is.
I would not be doing this.
I would not be thinking about this
if it was not consistent with the Great Commission
that God has given us, all right?
And I want you to understand this as well,
because I get emotional when I talk about this stuff.
You know, being a pastor, being a shepherd,
something about being a shepherd,
you know, I'm not really fond of animals, all right?
But when you have a pet, it kind of grows on you, right?
You know, I remember when our neighbors,
back in Sydney, our neighbor's cat would jump over the fence
and the kids would play with us like,
ah, stupid cat, you know?
And then it's like, well, Christina's like,
let's feed it something.
Because it was eating the birds,
like it was attacking the birds.
It was killing the birds, so let's feed it.
So we started feeding it and the kids started to hold her
and they grew fond of that cat.
And then I started to hold the cat
and started to pat the cat
and I started to grow fond of the cat, right?
And so like, when you become a shepherd,
when you start to be a caretaker,
you really start to grow in love for that, right?
And I'm going to read to you from Jeremiah 50.
You guys go to Luke 15,
but I'm gonna read to you from Jeremiah 50.
Because is this vision consistent
with the heart of a pastor?
You know, I believe it is, all right?
Jeremiah 50 verse six, you know,
there were some bad pastors.
There were some bad shepherds
in the time of Old Testament Israel.
And what God says about these shepherds,
it says, my people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
They have turned them away on the mountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill.
They have forgotten their resting place.
All that found them have devoured them, okay?
So we have these shepherds,
and of course that's what pastor means, right?
It means shepherd.
We have these shepherds of Old Testament Israel
that did not care for the sheep.
In fact, they drove the sheep away, okay?
And the sheep was scattered so much so
that the enemy would come and devour, you know, the sheep.
And brethren, you know what?
I look at this church
and I see that this church is in a good place.
I see that this church is in a resting place.
I believe this church is being fed the word of God
every week, multiple times a week, you know,
because of the great effort that not only I've put in,
but a lot of you have put in as well
to serve this local body.
I see that these sheep are cared for, looked after, okay?
But then when I look at Blessed Hope Baptist Church,
yes, they're doing well, okay?
But as their shepherd as well,
I want them to have what we have.
I want them to be able to enjoy, you know,
the green pastures.
And listen, we know the great shepherd,
the good shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ, okay?
But I am a shepherd as well.
I'm the under shepherd.
I'm a servant of the Lord Christ.
And I have a heart of a shepherd.
I want to make sure that the sheep have everything they need
to grow and to enjoy the word of God.
You're in Luke 15, verse number three,
let's compare that shepherd in Jeremiah,
those that do not care for their sheep.
And brethren, are there shepherds
that do not care for the sheep?
Man, I've seen them.
They're out there.
They don't care about the sheep being scattered.
They don't care about the sheep.
They only care about themselves.
They care about the sheep when it benefits them.
You know, sometimes the shepherd has to be sacrificial, okay?
Luke 15, verse number three.
It says, and he spake this parable unto them,
saying, what man of you having an 100 sheep,
if you lose one of them,
doth not leave the 99 in the wilderness
and go after that which is lost until we find it?
I never understood this passage.
I was like, if I got 99 sheep that I cared for
and I lose one, I just, you know,
we'll count that as a loss, right?
I mean, there's 99, you know?
They're gonna reproduce.
They're gonna have, we're gonna have more
than 99 sheep eventually, right?
Who cares about that one that got lost?
Until I became a pastor, now I understand it.
Now I understand it, okay?
When I look at this church, I look at the 99 sheep
that have been looked after.
Let's keep going, what's it say there?
Verse number five.
And when he hath found it,
he layeth on his shoulders rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together
his friends and neighbors, saying unto them,
rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
And Brethren, I'm not saying that the sheep
at Blessed Baptist Church are lost.
I'm not saying that, okay?
But what I'm saying is that we've got 99 sheep here,
or not literally, but you know, we have the 99 sheep here,
and it says here, if you lose one of them,
doth not, sorry, verse number four,
doth not leave the 99 in the wilderness
and go after that which is lost until he find it.
Say, why in the wilderness?
This is not like he left them in a place to be attacked.
What he's talking about there is,
he's led this sheep out to pastures where they can eat,
where they can, you know, a shepherd would have to take
his sheep from time to time to different places
because the place that they're at,
you know, the food will be eaten,
so you'd have to drive them into another place
where they can eat the food there.
And so he's got the 99 sheep,
they've gone into a wilderness, they've been fed,
they've got a place to rest, and then he says,
but I'm missing one, and I need to go and find that one,
otherwise that one will go hungry.
And what I believe with Blessed Baptist Church,
it's a good church as well, it's a great church,
but I wanna make sure I feed them well, okay?
I wanna make sure they get the meat
of the Word of God as well.
Hey, the milk is important, milk is important, okay?
Milk of the Word of God is important,
but eventually you need to get into the meat
of the Word of God, and it's the meat of the Word of God
will allow you to get stronger and grow,
and my heart for that church is for them to get stronger,
to grow, to be a great light for Sydney, you know?
And listen, their success, you know,
is because of this church.
You know, I wanna make sure that you can rejoice
in their success when they do well, when they win souls.
You know, whatever future, you know, plan God has
for that church when they do well,
I want you to be able to say,
hey, that's because New Life Baptist Church
was willing to go and start that church,
willing to give up their pastor for a time period,
you know, so they can accomplish great things.
I look at the 99 here and I say, man, we're doing well,
okay, we're doing well, and yet I need to go
and find that lost sheep, I need to get out there
and make sure that sheep can also be, you know,
have what the 99 have, you know?
Never understood it until I, you know, I had two churches.
Never really understood that passage, but now I do.
And if you can please go to Ephesians chapter four,
go to Ephesians chapter four.
You say, is New Life Baptist Church ready,
you know, to be without their pastor for 12 months?
Well, don't forget, I'm still coming here on Wednesdays
and I will be here some Sundays, all right?
So obviously in my heart, I don't believe
we're completely ready to go without a pastor, okay?
But obviously I'm not gonna be able to be here full time
like I am now, is New Life Baptist Church ready?
Well, when I thought about this question,
obviously we wanna build our understanding
of what a mature church is on the Word of God.
This church is going to be three years old,
and when I look at a three year old child,
are they ready to, you know, make a living for themselves
and provide for themselves?
Of course not, okay, of course not.
But that's not how God measures maturity.
It's, you know, maturity is not measured
by how old you are in the spiritual life
or how old a church is.
I know we measure that with our children.
Of course that's, you know,
because they grow at a consistent rate.
But when it comes to Christianity,
when it comes to spiritual matters,
we all grow at different rates.
You know, some of us might take off and grow,
you know, super quick, right?
And then you kind of slow down.
Some people, it's just a little bit at a time
where they mature and grow.
But look at Ephesians chapter four, verse number 11,
speaking about the local church.
It says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Now, before I keep reading, why, okay?
Why do we have these teachers to come into a church
and perfect the body?
Look at verse number 13.
What's the goal?
What are we trying to achieve?
Till we all come in the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ.
That's the purposeful teachers and preachers
to help this body come into unity of the faith.
Now Brevin, when I look at New Life Baptist Church,
and I don't know, you think about this yourself,
do we have unity of the faith
or are we fighting about doctrine?
Are we arguing about the Trinity here?
Are we debating whether the Lord's blood sacrifice
is the atonement for our sins?
Are we arguing these points?
When we talk about the unity of the faith,
what are we talking about here?
Obviously, normally when you start a church,
I've been greatly blessed by the work of online preachers.
You know, where a lot of you have come into this church
and you've already had great understanding,
you know, great knowledge of the Bible.
And so there wasn't, you know, a great need
or a great work to get us all established in the faith.
Now, you know, I believe, you know,
you've been hearing me preach for almost three years,
I believe you guys know what I believe,
or at least you've asked me if you had some questions
of what I believe, that sort of thing.
I don't think you're gonna get any further surprises from me.
I don't think I'm just gonna come out with some doctrine,
you'll just be completely blown away.
It's like, I never thought he believed that.
I think you guys know exactly what I believe.
And I think as a church, we know exactly where we stand.
I believe we do have unity of faith,
because listen, I mean, again, look at 1 Corinthians.
Look how messed up that church is
because of all the different doctrines
and all the strange beliefs that are in that church.
You know, that church was considered a baby in Christ.
That church was considered, you know,
a carnal church, not a mature church.
We don't have that here at New Life Baptist Church.
You know, when I think about the unity of faith,
the first thing I think about are the fundamentals.
You know, we're a fundamental Baptist church, aren't we?
Okay, and what are the fundamentals of the faith?
The inerrancy of the Bible?
Do we argue about that?
We're not sure if the Bible's true and perfect
and preserved and pure.
We don't argue about that.
We all believe that, we all believe it's true.
Hey, the fundamentals is to believe
in the literal account of the Bible stories.
I've never heard anybody say to me,
I think creation, you know,
every day that creation was like a million years,
and maybe God used evolution to get us here, right?
The virgin birth, no one argues
that Christ was born of a virgin.
No one argues here about the Trinity.
We're on the same page.
The bodily resurrection, did that really happen?
Hey, these are fundamentals of the Christian faith.
We're sounding this.
The second coming of Christ, we all believe is coming back.
Not only do we all believe is coming back,
we're on the same page on the post-trib,
pre-Rapture position, okay?
The Bible teaches, and I already mentioned
the atonement of sins through Christ's sacrifice.
You know, these are called the fundamentals of the faith.
You know, this is a term that was used in the early 1900s
because a lot of churches were turning
to a more liberal view of the Bible.
You know, maybe saying that these miracles
aren't necessarily true.
Maybe we can take things like evolution
and apply that to the Bible,
and we can mix the wisdom of man,
the philosophies of man in the Bible.
No, you know what?
We've got unity in that.
We have unity in faith.
And also, when it comes to the statement of faith
of this church, the things that are important
for our church, you know, in the King James Bible,
you know, as the Bible to be used in this church,
because it's a perfect translation, we've got unity there.
Salvation by grace through faith, not of works.
You know, even repentance.
You know, what is repentance for salvation?
Repentance from unbelief.
Repentance from not believing the gospel.
That's the repentance.
We're on the same page.
You know, there are churches, independent,
front and back of the churches,
that do not have unity, even on repentance.
We have unity there.
We don't argue about that.
Jesus, 100% God and 100% man at the same time.
We believe in hell.
Brother Callum just preached on hell just recently.
We're not trying to avoid that topic, all right?
We have unity in the dangers of hell.
We're against abortion.
I'm looking at the statement of faith.
And I've never heard anybody say,
well, you know what, I think I'd like to abort my baby now
because I've changed my mind on what the Bible teaches.
No, marriage between one man and one woman?
Hey, we don't agree in homosexual marriage,
sodomite marriage, that trash, that's not even marriage.
We have a biblical understanding of marriage.
We agree what the Bible says there.
I already mentioned creation, literal six days,
post-treat pre-wrath rapture.
And we also believe in the literal millennium to come.
Christ's thousand year reign on this earth.
These are things that are added, you know,
to our statement of faith that we've got there.
Do we argue about that?
Do we ever sit down?
Are you arguing that with anybody in this church?
You know, we have unity in faith.
We're a mature church.
There are so many churches
that don't have unity in some of these areas.
We've got it.
We've got it, right?
With Ephesians 4, this church is what Ephesians 4
is writing about, has been written about, right?
To have unity in the faith.
Let's keep going, verse number 14.
Why is it important to have unity?
Verse number 14, that we henceforth be no more children
tossed to and fro and carried about
with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men
in cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
Is this church being tossed to and fro
with every wind of doctrine?
When someone comes into this church with some crazy idea,
are we like, oh yeah, that must be true now.
Listen, we've had weird people come into this church
and they're not here.
You know why?
Because they couldn't feed anybody their doctrine.
They'd come with their weird doctrine.
Now, some of those people were saved, I'm sure.
Some people have come with weird doctrine, right?
And they realize, hey, I don't have an audience here.
Why aren't they biting?
Why aren't they accepting my wisdom?
It's because we're a mature church, that's why.
We're not being tossed to and fro, okay?
Is New Life Baptist Church ready?
Do I expect, while I'm gone for 12 months, full time,
do I expect all of a sudden you guys
are gonna believe in oneness?
Is that gonna happen?
Or are you gonna just, you know what?
I think we do have to repent of our sins.
Maybe we do have to keep the commandments of God to be saved.
Do you think that's gonna happen in this church?
It's not gonna happen, brethren.
And you know what?
You read your Bible,
and people started to bring works into churches.
It started to happen in those churches, you know?
Churches that are documents for us in the Bible,
we're a mature church when you consider
and you compare ourselves to the word of God.
Look at verse number 15.
But speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him all things,
which is the head, even Christ.
Is there love for the brethren in this church?
I believe absolutely there is.
Can we improve?
Yeah, I believe we can improve.
I can believe we can have greater love
for our brothers and sisters here in this church.
How can we improve?
Look at verse number 16.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together
and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part,
make an increase of the body
unto the edifying of itself in love.
Listen, the more you serve this church,
the more you serve this local body,
the more love you will have for the people in this church.
Just like I talked to you about that cat.
Oh, that stupid cat.
What's it doing in the backyard?
Now I start to love that cat, right?
You start serving the cat.
You start looking after that little creature.
You start to care.
And listen, the more you serve in this church,
you're gonna realize that you start to grow a love
for each individual person in this church.
You want everybody to be edified, to grow,
whatever service that might be, brethren.
I'm not just talking about preaching behind the pulpit
or song leading.
Some of the ladies have been generous in providing things
in some of the food that's been brought,
whatever it is, cleaning.
There's a lot of things, the toilets.
Just putting a toilet roll is serving the church.
And brethren, here's the thing.
On Sundays, without your pastor for those 12 months,
that means more of you are gonna have to step up.
That means more of you are going to serve this church
because to make up for the lack of your pastor
not being there, that means you're gonna serve more.
Guess what's gonna happen?
There's gonna be more love.
You're gonna grow in love for one another
the more you serve one another,
the more you find areas that this needs to be,
the painting of the toilets, whatever.
Man, just the little things, right?
The covering up of that.
I don't know who did that now.
Was that Sam?
I don't know.
You know, just, you know, the internet,
you know, the NBN, brother Matt.
You know, all the service you guys do, you're gonna find.
The more you serve this church,
the more you're going to love this church, okay?
The more it's gonna grow in love.
Do I believe New Life Baptist Church is ready?
Absolutely.
Please go to Hebrews chapter five.
Go to Hebrews chapter five.
Hebrews chapter five and verse number 12.
You know, yes, we are a young church.
Yes, we're only gonna be three years old.
But again, how does Christ measure maturity?
Okay, Hebrews chapter five and verse number 12.
Look at this.
It says, for when, for the time, you ought to be teachers,
you have need that one teacher again,
which be the first principles of the oracles of God.
Listen, when I'm not preaching
and we have other men get up here and preach,
we have several men that get up here and preach.
And listen, I don't know about you,
but I'm finding every time, as time goes on,
they're getting better and better and better.
Hey, we've got more and more teachers in this church.
This is exactly what I wanted.
I didn't want this church to be a one man show.
I never wanted that from the beginning, okay?
Are we a church that needs to be taught again
the first principles of the oracles of God?
Or are we a church that understands the basic principles,
that understand the fundamentals,
and we can build full from there?
That we can get into some deeper, meatier doctrine.
Look at this.
And are as become, as have need of milk
and not of strong meats.
Can you say that this church needs to,
we really need the milk.
We need to get back to that milk.
Or are we a church that we can say,
hey, we can absorb some strong meat.
Hey, we have some men that can even preach some strong meat.
I believe that, I believe the latter.
I believe this church absorbs strong meat very well.
Look at verse number 13.
For everyone that use of milk is unskillful
in the word of righteousness,
for he is a babe.
Listen, again, don't measure me right now.
Measure the other men that get up here.
Are they preaching milk or some strong meat?
You know, there's nothing wrong with milk.
I preach milk from time to time.
We need the milk.
We need to be reminded of those things, right?
We can't forget the foundational things.
We need to cover those things from time to time
so we don't get lazy on those things.
Hey, but we don't spend all our time on the fundamentals.
We spend our time on the meatier things, okay?
They're being taught.
We have men that can teach meaty doctrine,
not only that, when I teach meaty things
and I look at your faces,
I can see that you can absorb it.
You know, you're not a baby that's choking on meat, right?
You're not a two-year-old, you know,
or a one-year-old who needs mother's milk,
you know, and you're just trying to force
a piece of steak in their mouth.
They can't chill because they don't have teeth.
No, you guys have teeth.
I realize when we preach some meaty things,
you guys get it, you guys absorb it.
You know, even the children absorb it.
Are we a mature church?
Are we still a babe in Christ?
Are we still little children?
No, listen, not only are we mature,
we have men that are growing,
that are becoming more confident in their preaching,
more confident in their study,
and they're able to teach the Word of God.
Hey, these Hebrews did not have those men.
We're a small church and we have several men
that I can count on to get behind the pulpit
and preach a good sermon.
Not just some fluff piece, but a decent sermon, man.
You know, we've been blessed.
New Life Baptist Church has definitely been blessed.
Look at verse number 14.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age.
Are we a mature church?
Well, if you can absorb strong meat, guess what?
We're full age.
We're like an adult now.
We're not a baby anymore.
We can't expect New Life Baptist Church
to still be in nappies, all right,
and needs a bottle to be fed.
No, we're of full age, the Bible says.
Even those by who reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
And listen, this church is of full age.
You know, I don't know what your opinion is.
My opinion is this church is of full age.
Does that mean that, you know, we can never make mistakes?
Does that mean we'll never have problems?
Does that mean there are no things
that we need to fix in this church?
There'll always be that.
There'll always be things that we need to improve.
We're never gonna be like Jesus Christ.
We're striving to be more like Christ.
We're never gonna be there.
We've always got the flesh.
We've always got the weaknesses.
We've always got our personal sins.
We've all got our personal struggles.
I understand that.
But when I look at ourselves as a body,
I see a mature adult.
I see a body of full age.
Not a baby in diapers needing a bottle to be fed, okay?
I believe this church is mature.
I believe it is of full age.
I do believe this church is ready
to let go of their past the full time.
Let me be part time here.
You know, let me serve that church
full time down there in Sydney.
And listen, the other reason I know
that you're of full age is because
when I spoke to you guys as families or one-on-one,
95% support, right?
95% is like, yeah, this is a great idea.
Go for it.
I was shocked, brethren.
I was surprised.
I was expecting like a 60% pushback.
I was expecting like all you guys like,
oh, what are you doing?
Are you crazy?
Are you changing your mind on us?
You know, you're letting us down.
I didn't have that.
I couldn't believe it.
I couldn't believe that pretty much all of you were like,
yeah, do it.
You know, this is good.
We believe we can push forward.
We believe in the men we have in this church.
You know, that's what I've heard.
I'm surprised, but I shouldn't be surprised
because this church is of full age.
And that just confirmed for me the truth
that you guys are also on board with this revision.
And brethren, listen, if you have concerns, that's fine.
If you have concerns, please share them with me, okay?
Because if you're making a new vision,
if you're shifting tactics a little bit,
of course there should be concerns.
Of course there'll be, you know,
I can't fully understand the full impact this might have.
Maybe you guys have a different pair of eyes
and you can see that.
And listen, just because there's concerns
doesn't mean you stop the vision.
It just means as you go and accomplish that vision,
you need to make sure those concerns are covered,
that there is an answer.
There is a solution for those things
rather than just stopping things altogether, okay?
I do believe New Life Baptist Church is ready.
And listen, can you, I'll just read to you.
First Thessalonians chapter one.
First Thessalonians chapter one, verse number six,
speaking of the Thessalonian church.
You know, Paul is right into this church
and this is what he says about them.
He says, and ye became followers of us and of the Lord,
having received the word in much affliction
with joy of the Holy Ghost.
Now look at verse number seven.
So that ye were ensembles to all that believe
in Macedonia and Achaia.
And Brethren, New Life Baptist Church is an ensemble.
It's an example to other churches.
You know, other people talk about our church.
Other believers talk about our church in Australia in,
or maybe sometimes they might not talk favorably
about this church.
Some people don't, okay?
But you know, I get feedback about our church.
I get feedback about the preaching online,
that it's blessing somebody.
I've got feedback from other pastors
that they're thankful for God for the work
that's been done here on the Sunshine Coast.
Listen, we have visitors that come through this church,
don't we?
And they go, they leave this church with a good report.
You know, they're in favor of the work
that this church is doing.
Look at verse number eight.
For from you sounded out the word of the Lord,
not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God
is spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything.
Listen, the Thessalonian church was a mature church.
You know, they were a good example
to other believers across the world.
Other believers, other churches across the globe.
And brethren, New Life Baptist Church is a good example.
You know, I'm telling you.
You know, the feedback I get.
You know, my parents,
I went to a funeral recently down in Sydney
for a family friend and they came across somebody
and they said, oh man, the preaching
that's going from New Life Baptist Church is awesome.
Praise God.
Hey, that we've got a good report as a church,
that we're considered a mature church,
that we're considered an example
to other believers in Australia.
And so, you know, I'm just telling you
that I believe this church is strong.
And yeah, maybe leadership is part of that,
but that's just part of it.
All right, it's all of you.
You know, the strength of a church
is dependent on the strength of each family
that represents the church.
You know, we're only as strong as our weakest link.
And brethren, we all have weaknesses in our families.
We all have some struggles we go through.
But listen, you're doing so much better
than many other families in other churches.
I'm telling you, I'm telling you, man.
I've been to church my whole life.
This is the most mature church I've ever been at.
This is the most church of a full age
that I've ever been at.
It's a church where there's a unity in love and doctrine.
Now again, I'm not saying that we've reached them.
We're just perfect now.
We keep growing.
We keep serving the Lord.
We keep seeing what God wants to do for us.
And listen, in the men's leadership class,
this might be a bit of a long sermon, sorry guys,
but I need to cover this.
In the men's leadership class,
I went through, and I went through the chess analogy.
Some of you guys may remember that.
I asked Nicholas, can you get me a chess piece,
the king piece, and I forgot to leave it.
It left on my bedside table.
Anyway, pretend there's a chess piece right here, right?
And you know, you might say to me,
well, you're changing plans now.
No one has really said this to me, right?
You know, you're giving up on us,
or you know, this isn't what you planned.
Why are you doing this now?
You know, I look at life like chess in many ways, right?
I mean, chess is not a complicated game if you play chess.
It's really not that complicated.
I mean, the rule is this.
You need to capture the opponent's king.
That's number one.
Number two, protect your king at all costs, all right?
The king piece is the most important piece.
It's not the most powerful piece,
but it is the most important piece in the game of chess.
All right, so you're trying to protect
your king at all costs.
And Brevin, look, I would not be doing this plan
of going down to 12 months, you know,
to let this church fall apart.
I would not be doing it if I felt
this church was gonna suffer in a great way.
I would not be doing it, okay?
Because when I look at my chess piece,
my chess, sorry, my king piece,
my king piece is made up of a few things,
and I do not want the enemy to capture it.
I do not want it to be taken down, all right?
And that king piece is my personal walk with God.
I don't want that taken down.
I wanna keep a good fellowship with God.
That king piece also represents my personal testimony.
You know, I wanna make sure that I'm blameless.
I wanna make sure that I've got a good report,
not just within this church, but even other people,
unbelievers, you know, that I deal with
outside of this church, you know?
And listen, if you're a single man or a single woman,
these are two things that should be your king piece as well.
I'm not going to allow anybody to take away
my walk with God, my fellowship with God,
or my personal testimony.
These things are too important.
I can't let the enemy capture those things, okay?
But then you get married, and you have a family, all right?
And then when you get married and you have a family,
listen, that's my king piece as well.
I don't want anybody to take down my family.
I need to make sure that I look after my family.
I do not want the devil to have my children.
I do not want this world to influence my kids.
I want my kids to love the Lord God, okay?
That's my king piece as well.
And then we started this church, New Life Baptist Church.
And listen, New Life Baptist Church
is that king piece as well.
I don't want anybody to take down.
It's not going to go down.
This is why I'm going to keep coming up on Wednesdays,
all right, and make sure if anything comes up
that I'm available, and some Sundays.
If something is important, something is serious,
I'm going to come up no matter what, okay?
I'm going to make sure it gets taken care of
because I'm not going to allow this church
to be taken down, okay?
But then we started Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
And listen, that's my king piece as well.
You know, as long as I'm the pastor over that church,
I'm not going to let that church fail, all right?
Now one day, that church will have its own full-time pastor
and it's no longer my king piece, okay?
But for now, it is.
It is my, you know, and I cannot allow these things to fail.
You know, I'm going to put all my effort,
you know, everything, every resource,
every ability that God has given me
to defend that king piece.
And Brethren, I'm saying that
because I want you to understand
that I'm not just going there
and I'm just not going to be thinking about new life
at this church.
I mean, constantly praying for you guys,
constantly thinking about you guys,
constantly trying to think,
well, what is a great sermon that I can preach?
I'm only preaching this church once a week now.
I need to make sure that I give it the best I've got.
You know, I give it a great quality,
give them a great quality sermon
so they can stay in the green pastures.
And listen, the men that get up to preach,
you're going to find that you're going to grow
in love for the Lord.
You're going to grow in love for the Bible.
You're going to grow in knowledge.
You're going to, you know, be able to,
maybe one day God can use you
because of the experience that you've been able to gain
by preaching more often that God may be able to use you
at some point in the future for your own ministry.
Who knows?
You say, well, I don't have no desire.
Well, you don't know that.
In 10 years time, you may grow a desire.
You know, I remember this missionary family,
you know, they were just established here in Australia.
I can't remember the names right now.
They had kids, the kids got married,
they grew up, they had grandkids and then they retired.
And then in their retirement, they're like, you know what?
We need to serve God, right?
In their retirement, they grew a desire for the Lord
and they ended up being missionaries to some place.
You know, what's, you know, they're old.
They've gotten past, you know, as Australians,
you think now you relax and take it easy.
They said, no, now the desire has grown.
We've gotten that part through that part in our lives,
you know, and now we're going to get out there
and serve God and win many souls.
You never know how a desire for serving God may come,
you know, and so, you know, just for those
that are going to be stepping up to preach,
please, you know, understand, you know, take advantage,
take the opportunity because you will grow in knowledge.
You know, the Holy Spirit will be working in you
so you can have great sermons for this church.
Because you know what?
I don't want new life at this church to fall
and neither does God, neither does God.
That means he's going to empower the rest of you guys
to serve this body in a great way.
You know, the power is going to come from the Lord God.
Now, please go to 1 Corinthians 4.
Go to 1 Corinthians 4.
The next question might be, is this biblical?
You know, yes, you know, it's consistent
with the Great Commission.
It's consistent with the pastor's heart,
a pastor's heart, right, who cares for the sheep.
Yes, this church is mature enough for the leadership
to move on temporarily, okay, yes it is.
But is it biblical?
Now, there are three books in the Bible
that are considered pastoral epistles, okay,
and they're written to two pastors.
Who are they?
Timothy and Titus.
So you've got 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus.
These are pastoral epistles.
Now, this means that Timothy and Titus
must have had a family, okay?
If being ordained as an elder or a deacon,
sorry, as a bishop, right, as a pastor,
you had to have one wife, you had to have faithful children.
These men had families too.
And listen, to serve God with a family is harder
because there's a lot more that you need,
a lot more logistics that you need to consider
when you've got a large family, right?
Go into 1 Corinthians 4, verse 17.
Have a look at this.
So of course, Paul is writing to the church in Corinthians
and then he says this.
For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus.
Now, Timotheus is Timothy who is my beloved son
and faithful in the Lord who shall bring you
into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ
as I teach everywhere in every church.
And notice that about Timothy, okay?
He's definitely a man who's married with kids.
He's going with Paul on his missionary journeys
and yet when the Corinthian church has a need,
when there's a lack of leadership there,
who does he send?
He sends Timothy.
He sends Timothy, right?
Listen, Timothy had to be someone that was willing
and able to go and help another church.
He was being sent to do that work.
I'm going to read to you from 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 1
and this is a more mature church.
The Thessalonians church was a mature church.
It says, wherefore, when we could no longer forbear,
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone
and sent Timotheus, our brother and minister of God.
By the way, that minister of God
means he held an office there, okay?
I know we're all ministers, we're all servants of God,
but when you see that term minister of God,
that's referring to the fact that Timothy has an office.
It says, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ
to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith.
And so we know the Corinthian church was messed up,
but we have the Thessalonian church
and they're a lot more mature.
They're able to absorb some strong meat, all right?
I mean, they get a lot of teaching
about the second coming of Christ, things like that.
And even then, Paul sends Timothy to that church.
Why? To establish that church.
And brethren, that's my goal
for blessing about this church,
to go and establish them further,
to make them more grounded, more faithful,
stronger in the word of God,
stronger in their love for the Lord.
So Timothy has been sent to the Corinthian church.
He's been sent to the church in Thessalonica.
And as I was studying this, I was like, man,
Timothy, you got sent everywhere, right?
Go to Philippians chapter two.
Go to Philippians chapter two for me.
Philippians chapter two.
And while you're turning to Philippians chapter two,
I'm going to read to you
from 1 Timothy chapter one, verse two.
You go to Philippians chapter two.
I'm going to read to you
from 1 Timothy chapter one, verse two.
It says, unto Timothy, my own son in the faith,
grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father
and Jesus Christ our Lord,
as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus.
When I went into Macedonia, thou mightest charge some
that they teach no other doctrine.
And so we see that Paul left Timothy here in Ephesus
in the church of the Ephesians to be their pastor,
to get them right on doctrine.
And so, man, Timothy, where are you being sent to?
Corinth, Thessalonica, Ephesus,
you're in Philippians chapter two, verse number 19.
It says, but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send
Timotheus shortly unto you,
that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state.
So where else did he go?
He went to Philippi.
Did Timothy serve in multiple churches?
Was he overseeing?
Was he pastoring multiple churches?
Yes.
Was he being sent?
Yes.
And listen, brethren, he didn't have Jetstar.
He didn't have a car.
It's not like he could go every week back and forth.
When he went to serve a church, he was there gone
for months and years to help that church.
Is it biblical?
It is biblical.
Now look, ideally, we have a pastor full-time here,
full-time there, completely independent of itself, right?
Ideally, that's where we wanna be.
And that's why they went to establish these churches.
Eventually, they were to teach, instruct,
get men trained up, so one day, one of those men,
a faithful man, can step up and be a pastor.
Hey, that's my goal.
That's my goal.
But notice the thing about Timothy,
he was willing and he was able.
You know, he was in a position that he could be sent.
Now, we don't have the details exactly how he was sent.
I'm sure he was being supported by some churches.
Maybe he had a side business like Paul,
like a tent maker on the side to make that happen.
But listen, do you think that was easy
for Timothy to go back and forth with his family?
He's a pastor.
He had a wife and kids.
All right, we don't know how many,
but he would've had at least a couple faithful children.
Listen, but he was willing to sacrifice.
He was willing to be used by the Lord
to go and help churches in all places across the,
you know, of where they were, you know?
Gentile churches and things of the like.
Listen, this is biblical.
You know, I would've been doing something
if I did not have a reason to do this.
You know, I was challenged by a pastor, a friend of mine.
You know, is your decision based on the word of God?
Absolutely.
I mean, if you just read the book of Acts,
just read through the epistles,
you'll see this happens time and time and time again.
Titus is another man that was being used greatly by Paul
to be sent to different places
and ordain elders in every city.
Listen, it is biblical, you know?
So I know ideally we want the pastor here
full time all the time.
But listen, if I had a Timothy,
and let's talk about Timothy Foley here, okay?
If I had a Timothy, a man who's a pastor
who's ready to go, who's ready to be sent,
I'll send him.
I'll send him, okay?
But we don't have another Timothy right now.
I'm the guy.
You know, I'm the guy that is flexible.
I'm the one that's able.
I'm the one that's willing to sacrifice.
You know, I don't really desire to pick up my family
and go for 12 months and pick them up again.
I mean, my wife and I, we're talking about
all the logistics, man, it's a headache.
You know, what are we gonna do?
We're gonna just sleep on sleeping bags on the floor?
If that's what we have to do, that's what we have to do.
I'm gonna try to take as little as we can over there,
keep our things here so we can come back here
and, you know, not make it so difficult on the way back.
Listen, but we do it for the Lord.
We do it for the churches, you know?
And this isn't just my ministry.
I want this church to be on board.
I want all of you to say, hey, this is our ministry.
And listen, brethren, just like Timothy would go
and bring back a report to Paul, you know,
a good report or a bad report,
I'll be doing the same thing for you guys.
I'll be coming back on Wednesdays and some Sundays,
and I'll be giving you a report.
I'll be telling you, this is the work that's happening.
This is what we're doing.
These are the souls that are getting saved.
These are the men that are being trained up.
I'll be giving you a report so you know what to pray for,
that you feel involved in the work,
this revision that is going ahead.
Reverend, it's as biblical as anything,
you know, what I'm trying to accomplish.
Are you still in Philippians, Philippians chapter two?
Look at verse number 20.
Why was Timothy being sent to the Philippian church?
Look at verse number 20.
For I have no man like-minded
who will naturally care for your state,
for all seek their own,
not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
You say, oh, pastor Kevin,
you just want to go back to Sydney
because your family or friends are there.
You're seeking your own.
No, I'm not.
This is my own here.
You guys are my family and my friends.
But he says, look, I have no man like-minded.
Who will naturally care for your state.
Listen, it's a natural thing for me to care
for the state of Bursar, the Baptist church, all right?
It's a natural thing for me to care
for this church as well.
And listen, if you want to be a pastor one day,
you have to get that natural care for you,
for other people and other churches,
other places in this world and say, Lord, I'm willing.
If you want me to take on this office,
I'm willing to be sent to a place
where I can naturally care for the state of other people.
Because look at verse number 21, for all seek their own.
Listen, Paul had other people.
He had other churches.
He knew a lot of people.
He says, the only one that I can send is Timothy
because he's like-minded, because he cares for you.
Everyone else is just seeking their own.
They're not seeking the things of Jesus Christ.
Listen, I'm not saying that if you're unable to move
that you're seeking your own pleasures.
No, this isn't a job for everybody.
I get that.
Being a pastor is not just this check the boxes,
I've met the qualifications and now I can be a pastor.
There's more to it.
You've got to be willing to sacrifice your time,
your finances even.
You've got to be willing to give certain things up
because you care about other believers.
Now, if you can go to the book of Habakkuk,
I'm almost done now, we're at the conclusion.
Habakkuk chapter two and verse number one.
Ah, sorry when I get emotional guys.
I want you to know that I care for this church.
It's not easy.
Habakkuk chapter two and verse number one.
Now the title for this sermon was 2020 revision, okay?
Now, I haven't worked it all out.
I know what I want to do.
I know what it's got to look like a little bit.
I'm still trying to work it out.
I'm still trying to document all of it.
I'll put it on a PowerPoint
and I'll share it with every family here eventually.
Hopefully I'll get it done in a week or so.
But I want you to notice Habakkuk chapter two
and verse number one.
It says here, Habakkuk speaking, he says,
I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower
and will watch to see what he will say unto me
and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
Listen, I don't have all the details figured out just yet.
I'm trying to put it all together, all right?
Please be patient.
It takes time for a big move like this, right?
And I'm waiting on the Lord.
You know, I'm waiting for the Lord to give me an answer.
What is the Lord going to say to me?
I really know what he wants.
He's really spoken to me in the word of God.
And I see that these plans are biblical.
These are his words.
And if these are his words
and I'm walking according to his will,
it's going to be successful.
It's going to work.
It's going to be what the Lord wants, right?
But I'm still waiting for some of those details
to come through.
Look at verse number two.
And the Lord answered me and said,
write the vision and make it plain upon tables
that he may run that reed of it.
And brethren, that's my next goal right now.
I want to document this vision the next 12 months
or next 15 months, okay?
Because it's still three months away, October.
I need to document.
I need to write down.
I need to make this plain to all of you
so you can read it and you can understand it, okay?
Verse number three.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time,
but at the end it shall speak and not lie.
Though it tarry, wait for it.
How do we start?
That our soul ought to wait upon the Lord.
Reverend, this vision, I don't have it all figured out yet.
Okay?
Just because I don't have it figured out,
does that mean it's not God's will?
Now sometimes God just wants us to tarry a little bit.
He wants us to wait, right?
He wants us to be able to slowly put it all together.
It says here, because it will surely come,
it will not tarry.
It will surely come.
This vision will take place.
Come October, my family will be going to Sydney.
I want you to understand that, okay?
But I want to make sure that this vision is clear
to this church and the vision is clear
to Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
But look at verse number four.
And I want your hearts to be right,
and I know it is because I speak to most,
all of you pretty much just are like, let's do this.
I'm really encouraged by your support to me.
It says here, behold, his soul which is lifted up
is not upright in him,
but the just shall live by his faith.
And we know that term, very famous.
The just shall live by his faith,
or the just shall live by faith.
Listen, when you have a big vision,
when you have a vision,
you're waiting for the Lord's instruction,
you're waiting for the details to come together,
there's always gonna be a bit of pushback.
Like I said, there's always gonna be some concerns.
It's healthy, it's good, it's right
for there to be concerns.
Let's address those concerns.
Let's address those concerns together.
But don't be the soul that is lifted up in you.
Don't be the one that says, I know why he's going.
He doesn't care for this church.
And he has his own personal ambitions to do this.
Don't be that soul.
That's the one that's lifted up.
That's the one that's filled with pride.
Instead of caring for the vision,
instead of caring for other believers,
it's, oh, this is gonna affect me.
And this is just, it's not good for me.
Listen, a vision is to have a long-term view,
to have a big picture view,
to understand that God's kingdom is more
than just what we're doing here, okay?
The Great Commission is more
than what we're just doing locally.
It's to reach other places in this world.
Instead of being the one that's lifted up with pride,
be the one that says, but the just shall live by his faith.
You know what?
This church, we have to step out in faith.
I have to step out in faith.
Not everything is going to be written down necessarily
and fully understood.
So there are times you just have to step out in faith
and say, God, I don't have all the answers.
I don't know exactly how it's all gonna come together, Lord,
but I know you have a vision for this church.
I know you have a vision for blessing about this church.
I know you have a desire for me as a pastor.
And many times I'm just gonna have to step out in faith
and say, and I need you guys to step out in faith.
You know, this is the greatest advantage.
We've seen the shield of faith in the Armor of God series,
how important it is, you know, the shield of faith.
We have faith, brethren.
We have an advantage over the unbelieving world.
You know, they need everything detailed and understood
and they're looking at themselves selfishly.
What do I get out of this situation?
No, we're people of faith.
Listen, our home is heaven.
You know, we're trying to bring as many people
into those gates of heaven as much as possible.
And brethren, if this church is willing to let me go
for 12 months in my family down there,
I promise you this, there's gonna be more souls saved
down in Sydney.
And it's gonna be on the account of this church
that we're willing to give sacrificially
to bless it up at this church.
And listen, just like Habakkuk,
I'm gonna write down the vision.
I'm gonna make it clear.
You're gonna be able to read it.
You're gonna be able to understand it.
You know, I wanna make sure
that we are all on the same page.
So brethren, 2020 revision.
Do we need to revise this from time to time?
Yes.
Was that my plan going into 2020?
No, the pandemic changed it completely.
And listen, doors have been opened
and need has been acknowledged and understood.
And brethren, all I'm trying to do
is serve the Lord Jesus Christ to the most of my ability.
I never thought I'd be pastor in two churches,
but this is the situation I'm in.
And maybe I needed to learn that.
I needed to learn what is it like to really be a pastor,
one that we can see in the word of God,
a man who's willing to be sacrificial,
a man who's willing to go and serve other churches.
Listen, brethren, that's what I wanna do.
But at the same time, I don't wanna neglect this church.
I want you to know that.
I love you guys.
We're praying for you guys every day.
You know, I'll be coming here every week.
You know, you're my king piece.
You know, if this church fails, I fail.
My ministry fails, my reputation fails.
You know, I can't afford that.
But hey, we need to step out in faith, don't we?
We need to trust the Lord.
He is our help.
He is our shield.
He is our defense.
Let's pray.