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So uh there in first kings chapter six might seem like a bit of an unusual chapter to read for our anniversary But I wanted to look at verse number 14 there first samuel chapter six verse number 14 and what solomon is building, right? What what is he building? He's building the first temple solomon's temple, right? And it says there in verse number 14. So solomon built the house And finished it the title for the sermon this afternoon is built the house And finished it built the house and finished it So I think you know where i'm going with this now when you look at what this is about Okay, and as brother anthony did a great job reading that for us, you know, there's a lot of detail, wasn't there? There's a lot a lot to get through and just just a very detailed work that solomon had to do For the house of god and listen The first point that I want to bring to your attention is that when we're building something for the lord god We have to take care of the details. All right, we need to make sure that everything is how jesus christ wants it It needs to be put together it requires a lot of work It requires a lot of manpower to build this house of god now look at verse number one first kings chapter six and verse number one It says And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of israel Were come out of the land of egypt in the fourth year of solomon's reign over israel in the month zif Which is the second month that he began to build the house of the lord And so the first thing I just want to bring to your attention Is this first temple this very beautiful rich temple that solomon built is called the house of the lord Okay. Now is a house important? Absolutely. I'm sure a lot of you guys enjoy the house that you live in, right? Maybe some of you own your house and you want it a special way You want it a certain way right you work hard to pay for your rent or you work hard to pay for your mortgage There are little improvements that you want to make for your own personal house And while that's important to you, you know, what is important to the lord his house and he calls his house This temple that was being built by solomon. Okay, so that's the first thing this is god's house You know if our house is important to us how much more than the house of the lord? All right now look at drop down to verse number nine drop down to verse number nine And it says here so he built the house And finished it and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar now I know it says that he finished it you may have the impression that all the job was finished But no, there's a lot more to this chapter. Okay, what was finished was a stage of construction, right? Probably here the the the uh, the uh, the building as I hold like the the outside, you know I don't know if you've ever seen construction, you know You start with a foundation the concrete foundation Then they build the frames and then they they do the outside cladding and the roof And from the outside, it looks like wow, this is finished. Look at it. It's built. It's done It's finished But really there's a lot more work to be done and quite often the internals Require even more work than what was done on the external and so when it says here in verse number nine So he built the house and finished it. It's the body It's the body of the house that was finished, but there's still more to be done But I want you to notice he built it And he finished it and brethren we're celebrating two years as blessed hope baptist church Okay, the new testament church is the house of god and listen we're building it's not done. It's not finished We need to keep yes We're getting to different stages of construction different stages of of growing this church, you know spiritually in quantity But also in quality we keep building but we need to make sure that we finish it You notice how many times this is mentioned someone built the house and finished it and brethren We started this church two years ago You know, I I came here to start this church right with the families that were involved from the very beginning and brethren Let me tell you I want to finish the job. I don't want to leave it half done I don't want to leave it a quarter done. I want to leave it finished That's what we see in the bible when it comes to the house of god drop down to verse number 14 Verse number 14 it says so solomon built the house and finished it again. Solomon Yeah, and next stage the next stage of construction is done, right? He built the house and he finished it notice that about solomon. Okay, he gets to work He wants to make sure the work gets done. And so this is the different stage of completion And you know, this might be similar today, uh, thank god, you know I got to work in a construction company for a little time for a couple of years And so I got to see what it's like to build a house, right? And so first, you know You you get a plumber the plumber gets in gets the plumbing done And then you get the concreter to come in and he lays the foundation, right? And then you know what do you start building straight away? Do you start putting some frames straight away? No, someone's got to go the site supervisor the certifier needs to go to the to the work and say yes This is done. Yes. It's been put in the right place Yes construction can continue right that stage is finished But then more needs to be done and so you get the carpenter to come in, right? He puts the frames up the wooden frames the roof and that gets done and then that gets checked that gets finished That gets checked off. Yes, that's done But then do we just finish there? No, then you get the outside cladding Like I said, you get the outside again. It looks good from the outside, but internally it requires a lot of work So you get your electrician right to come in you get the the guy doing the floors, you know The floorboards all the tiles coming in to do his work You're getting the guy to put in the kitchen and the and the toilets and and whatever it is You know the inbuilt wardrobes whatever it is that you're building in the house There are stages that need to be completed but notice we need to finish the job And brethren when it comes to blessed hope baptist church the job's not finished There's a lot more to do i'm very thankful for where we are in two years I never thought we'd be where we are today when we started this church. Honestly, I had no vision I had no idea. It was a band-aid church. It was kind of an emergency church, right? Because of the situation that we found ourselves in and listen, you know We started this church because I cared for the families and I still care for the families that made up this church I was concerned that people might get discouraged from church I was concerned people would go stop going soul winning I was concerned that people stop having fellowship and and have the contact with one another and so let's just do a band-aid solution Let's just start new life at the church sydney. We caught it back then, right? But now we've been able to grow the church the church has been grown. It wasn't just those initial families We've had other people come join the church. We've had other men who are able to preach praise god for that And hey at the start of the year, we became an independent body blessed hope baptist church Okay So what we're doing is we're building And before we go to the next stage We're checking the building make sure that it's sound make sure that it's been built correctly before we can take the next stage Now you say to me. Well pastor kevin, how long how long is this building? When are we going to be finished? What's your vision now? Well, let's drop down to verse number 38 first kings chapter 6 and verse number 38 It says and in the 11th year In the month bull which is the eighth month was the house finished throughout all the parts Now it's completely done right all the parts thereof and according to all the fashion of it So was he seven years in building it seven years in building Listen when you're building the house of god you want to take your time You want to make sure it's done, right? You want to make sure the details are put in you want to make sure that it's moving forward You want to make sure it gets finished it gets done We are two years into this project and everyone started this church. I don't know if I was Exaggerating, but I made a promise. I said look i'm willing to go 10 years That was my that's my plan I said look i'm gonna keep coming down to sydney for 10 years if I have to Just to make sure we finish what we started All right to finish what we started and look i'm not trying to be a hero here Okay, everyone's been involved. Everyone's been a help if not for all of you It wouldn't be a church there'd be no point of me coming down here If there was nobody that wanted to be to build this house of god to to be a service to the lord And that is ultimately who we are serving the house of god belongs to god. It doesn't belong to pastor kevin It doesn't belong to anybody in this church. It belongs to jesus christ And so what I wanted to show you here brethren In first king chapter six, this is the first temple. Okay, so this is old testament times Of course after moses has come on the scene god's given moses the commandments he's given moses the law And they build the house of god, but you know, the house of god is so important It's found from the very beginning of the bible till the very end. Okay, even before the old testament There was a house of god Okay, and the house of god evolves it changes over time And what was the house of god before is no longer the house and it gets replaced by the newer house of god So we're going to do a quick bible study. Please go to genesis 28. You don't need to say in first kings anymore Please go to genesis 28 and verse number 12 genesis chapter 28 and verse number 12 So we're going before the time of moses. We're going to jacob. All right, this is before the old testament I know I know genesis is an old testament book But the story of jacob is before the old testament has come into effect. All right So this is before the old testament and even before the old testament there was a house of god We pick up the story here where jacob has a dream I don't know if you guys remember this dream where he sees a ladder to heaven and he sees his angels descending and ascending Right look at verse number 12. It says and he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth And the top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of god ascending and descending on it And behold the lord stood above it and said I am the lord god of abraham Thy father and the god of isaac and the land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it and to thy seed? Now drop down to verse number 16 And jacob awake out of his sleep And he said surely the lord is in this place And I knew it not verse number 17 and he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place there is none other So this is none other but the house of god and this is the gate of heaven Hey, this is the first time the house of god is mentioned the house of the lord It's this place where he sleeps. He has this dream the lord appears and then he gets afraid, right? It said in verse number 17 and he was afraid he said how dreadful is this place? He was full of dread right? He was afraid and brethren. Let me tell you something It's a healthy thing to have a fear of god. It's very healthy very healthy. Listen before I get up to preach I have The most fear I have of god is before I get up to preach Because i'm standing before god's children god's sons and daughters. This is his house And i'm just doing the best I can a fallen man a weak man who can make mistakes, you know To take god's word and preach god's word. All right, and I get nervous And you know, I get a little bit excited and then i'm like god, please if I say something wrong Please don't chastise me. I'm doing the best I can lord with what I can see in the bible Look, there's a healthy fear of god. And listen, what did what did jacob say? He says in verse number 16 surely the lord is in this place And I knew it not you see the house of the lord is a place where we come to meet god where god's presence Is okay, so this is before the old testament right we see this player actually, let's keep reading Let's go to verse number 18. Genesis 28 verse number 18 It says and jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows So he had some stones that he used to sleep on and then it says here and set it up for a pillar Now that's important for you to remember and poured oil upon the top of it Please remember this because we're going to come back to this right at the end of the sermon, right? So he takes these pill pillows he sets it up for a pillar, okay It's an object that's standing upright then he takes oil and pours oil on top of it. He anoints it with oil Okay Now you might not understand that but i'll get to it soon verse number 19 and he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of that city was called laz at the first so he calls this place bethel now If you don't know el beth el el is a reference to god. Okay, and beth is house Okay, so bethel means house of the lord or house of god, okay So this is the first time we see the house of god being mentioned Now the next house of god is in if you can please go to exodus. Uh, Uh, 34 go to exodus 34 verse 26. So we're fast forwarding a little bit in our bibles So this is after israel come out of egypt moses leading the people of god And there is a new house of god that is constructed in exodus 34 verse number 26 Now i'm not going to read the whole context here You guys can read it here on time But these are the instructions god gives to the nation of israel to build the tabernacle Okay, the tabernacle was a like a tent it was meant to be something that they could carry with them They could easily pack it up because they're in the wilderness They were traveling from one place to another place and so they'll set it up And then when it's time to move they would pack it up and they'll take the tabernacle with them So it's something they could they could transport and in exodus 34 verse 26 It says the first of the first fruits of thy land thou shall bring unto the house of the lord thy god So what is the tabernacle called the house of the lord thy god? So this is now the house of god in the old testament the tabernacle In fact, it says in exodus, you don't need to turn the excess 25 verse 8 It says here and let them make me a sanctuary that sanctuary is a tabernacle that I may dwell among them These are the words of god it says look make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them What did we learn about the house of god originally? That's where jacob met god, right? That's where god is and god says make me a tabernacle make me a sanctuary That's where i'm going to dwell with you now. Look god is on the uh, Presence god is everywhere, but there's something about the house of god that he wants you to know that his glory His presence is in that place Okay, then we fast forward. Please go to matthew 21 go to matthew 21 We fast forward so after we have the kings that come into place We have king, you know king soul then king david then king solomon solomon being david's son When we get to king solomon's time what we read in first kings chapter 6 is when solomon builds the first temple It's called solomon's temple. Okay. It's the great temple and we already saw that that temple Is called the house of god. So that that temple replaces the tabernacle Okay as as more of a fixed building as it were okay and and the bible clearly called out the house of god All right Now we fast forward into history furthermore the two kingdom the or the nation of israel gets divided into two kingdoms The northern kingdom of israel the southern kingdom of judah then the babylonians come along with their great power And they take into captivity the jews of the southern kingdom. They destroy the city. They destroy the temple And then they're in captivity, right? Those are the stories of daniel shadrach mishak and abednego those kinds of stories eventually 70 years later The jews are brought back to the land if you all know that story. That's basically the history of the of the jews there But when they come back they come back to build jerusalem and they also come back to build the temple So it's not the same temple that solomon built. It's a lesser temple. Okay, uh, it's it's not as beautiful It's not as great as solomon's temple, but it is a second temple And before we go to matthew 21, i'll just read to you in ezra chapter 1 verse 5 So ezra was one of the preachers there at this time It says then rose up the chief of the fathers of judah and benjamin and the priests and the levites With all them whose spirit god had raised to go up to build the house of the lord, which is in jerusalem So the second temple, what does the bible call it? These are the words of the holy spirit He calls it the house of the lord. Okay, so the second temple now What's so special about the second temple? What's special about the second temple is when jesus christ was walking on the earth 2 000 years ago That was a temple he was dealing with it was the second time. It wasn't solomon's temple It was the rebuilt second temple, which is the house of the lord Now you guys go to matthew 21 verse 12 And probably the most famous story of jesus in the temple Is when he makes the whip and drives out those that are buying and selling right? That's probably one of the most famous stories in matthew 21 verse 12. It says And jesus went into the temple of god and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple And overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves So he's driving out all these guys that are buying and selling and by the way This is why in our house in this house in the church. We will never buy and sell You know if you need a hymn book you take a hymn book home You don't pay for a hymn book You need something if you need to make exchange with somebody in this church. Don't do it in the house of god Okay, do it in your own time outside of this because I don't want jesus coming here with a whip driving us away, right? Because of money changing right? Why is jesus so angry though? Have you ever wondered? Why is he so angry? Look at verse number 13 and he said unto them it is written My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves So this second temple, what is it called my house? What does jesus call it my house? It's his house Who's jesus christ the lord god? Hey, he's talking about the temple being the house of the lord He's his house. That's why he's so angry. Imagine someone coming to your house You know and doing whatever they want with your house. You get angry too. You get a whip out there It's like get out of here. Why are you guys? All right. This is my house and that's what jesus christ was doing when he drove these, you know money changes away So that's the second temple and of course we know when christ came he died on the cross And through sacrifice by shed blood he brought in the new covenant He brought in the new testament and today in 2020 we live in new testament times Okay, is there a house of god today well there is and if you can please go to first timothy chapter three I really want you to see this one. Please go to first timothy chapter three in verse number 15 First timothy chapter three in verse number 15. Is there a house of god because we know in 70 ad That second temple was destroyed Okay, jesus christ prophesied that there would not be one brick left upon another. Okay, so if you go to israel or you know, uh, Um Palestine today, right? You're not going to see that second temple. It's been it's been destroyed I'm glad it's been destroyed because actually it's been replaced by a better house of god First timothy chapter three verse 15 Uh pull right into timothy who was a pastor he says but if I tarry long That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself In the house of god, what's the house of god? Is it the temple? It says here which is the church of the living god Notice the next words the pillar and ground of the truth Now when we go back to the very first house of god, what did jacob do? He set up a pillar. He anointed the pillar with oil. All right now the new testament church What is it the pillar and ground of truth? These are things that connect for us in the bible so we can definitely see it's the same House and brethren when we come to blessed up at this church on to service we are coming to the house of god I'm not talking about these walls. I'm not talking about these floors. I'm not talking about the ceiling I'm talking about the people the church church means congregation. It means assembly when we come together. What did jesus say? He says where two or three are gathered in my name. There will I be in the midst of them Okay, so yes Just like the old testament house of god had the presence of god when we come to church We're coming to see jesus christ We're coming to be in his presence for god to do a work in our hearts for the holy spirit To help the preacher for us to honor him to give him praise to give him worship for the Joyful noise of our lips and hopefully our hearts reflect that truth what that's coming out of our mouth there Okay, so we come to meet god and what was it called? What did jacob say? He called it the um The gates of heaven you remember he called it the gates of heaven Well, that's what a church is brethren. Our job is to get people through those gates Okay, if it's not us who's going to do it Listen you know one of them the main ministry of a church and if churches aren't doing this They're not the gateway to heaven. Okay, they're not showing people the gates of heaven the primary ministry Once we worship god we we learn from his word is to get out there and preach the gospel To go there give people the gospel show people the gates of heaven how they can freely enter through the door of jesus christ And so that is the new testament church now, please i'll get you to turn to uh, go to hebrews chapter 3 Go to hebrews chapter 3 i'll read a few other passages to you while you're turning there hebrews chapter 3 We are building blessed hope at the church and we're not done You say who's building it. Is it you pastor kevin? well But i'll read to you in matthew 16 verse 18. These are the words of jesus matthew 16 verse 18 It says and I say unto thee Thou that thou at peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. What did jesus say? You say pastor kevin, you're going to preach it. You're going to build it. Did he say peter? You're going to build it. He says no, I will build my church said jesus christ. Hey who's building blessed up baptist church Who's been building this for the last two years? It's been jesus christ. It's his church. Okay. Here's the master builder He's the one that's in charge and we're just employees of jesus christ We're just servants of jesus christ trying to do his will in our life psalm 127 verse 1 says except the lord build the house They labor in vain that build it except the lord build the house now I know the context of that psalm is your family. Your family is considered a house as well Hey, but the principle is true for the house of god. It's the lord that has to build it Otherwise we're laboring in vain and brother, you know, i've not sisters i've not been coming here for two years to labor in vain A vain emptiness. No, we want to build something We want something that god can be pleased when he looks down We want some place where you can learn where you have the ground and pillar of the truth That god's truth is being proclaimed from his word So you're in hebrew chapter three in verse number two, so it's very clear that the lord has to build his house Okay And this is important because if we think it's us It's going to fill us with pride. It's going to cause us to be puffed up It's going to think look what we can achieve right with what we've done. That's the wrong approach but We have to have the right balance here. God will use his people God will use his children to build the house even though he's the master builder right just like you've got a master builder He gets his site supervisor out there the site supervisor overseas, right? I guess maybe i'm the site supervisor He's the master builder in a sense because i've got the authority as the pastor here But then the site supervisor gets out the concreter, right? He gets out, you know Then that guy gets his job done. Then you get the carpenter out Then you get the electrician you get the plumber you get all the people, you know The the tyler you get all the people that's necessary to work the job Okay, so yes even in the case of building a house you use multiple people use multiple skills and reverend God wants to use you to build blessed up at this church. You're important Okay, i'm part of the project but you're all part of the project of building this church now look at hebrew chapter three and verse number two referring to jesus It says who was faithful to him that appointed him So jesus is faithful and then it says this as also moses was faithful in all his house So it's saying here that jesus is faithful just like moses was faithful now in what way was moses faithful This is speaking about the house of israel So obviously moses was used by god to get them out of egypt to lead them to guide them in the wilderness for 40 years Moses was faithful to the house. Okay And again, let's take the principle here. Let's think about the church because this is the house of god All right, so we want to be faithful to the work that god has given us to do And by the way, the you know when the israelites were in the wilderness the bible refers to that as the church in the wilderness Okay, the corrugation the church that was in the wilderness and so moses as a picture or as a type is like an old testament pastor Just picturing a new testament pastor. He had other responsibilities. He was the law as well for the for the nation So that's a bit different but you know, he does picture he does typify what a new testament pastor is supposed to be So my desire is to be like moses that you know as a pastor That's what I should be striving to be like right? Let's keep going verse number three It says for this man that's speaking of jesus was counted worthy of more glory than moses absolutely In as much as he who have builded the house have more honor than the house Okay, so we need to make sure if when we come to church and we give someone honor It's not to the house that we give honor to it's the one that builds the house that's been jesus christ We come here to serve him now look at verse number four For every house is builded by some man But he that built all things is god Okay, so who's building blessed hope at this church. Yeah some man Some of us right we're all contributing to this church being built But ultimately who's the master builder who's in charge of all who's building it all. It's course. It's god Okay. So again, we can't get prideful pat ourselves on the back. Well done now, let's celebrate two years. Praise god Praise god. Thank god for two years. That's who we thank right? We thank him because he's the one that's building Let's keep going verse number five And moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken After now look as I said, I hope to be like moses Okay, it says here and moses verily or truly was faithful in all his house Reverend i've been given the authority over two house of gods of god Okay, the one on the sunshine coast and here, you know new life baptist church and blessed up at this church My desire is to be faithful To both these houses, you know, yes new life baptist church is my priority. Okay, that's where i'm mostly focused on But I really want you to know that I want to be faithful to blessed up at this church I want to make sure we continue building this church. I want to finish the work I want to get to the next stage and the next stage and the next stage You say what does it look like when it's finished? This is what i'm expecting This is what I want for this church. I have a vision now. I didn't two years ago. I do now Okay, and that vision is that we go to three services a week Two on sunday a midweek service that midweek service is a prayer night And listen, i'm not saying you all have to be part of it. I mean, I hope so But you know by having more services we're going to open up other times for other people to visit our church It'll help the church grow It'll allow more doctrine more teaching to be taught from the word of god allow people to grow in knowledge and wisdom. Okay That's number one number two. I want a permanent place like a lease like something that we know This is a place that we're going to be pretty much at You know unless there's some major change or we outgrow the place we need permanent place. Hopefully a lease and number three a full-time pastor Okay That's when I say We're finished. Okay, when we can have all these things in place a full-time pastor Yes, i'm the pastor here, but i'm really a part-time pastor. I do the best I can we've had You know, uh coming out on tuesdays every now and again and trying to take calls and all the things that I do Uh for you for the church here, but i'm really part-time I am full-time at new life at this church, but really here i'm part-time We need to get to the point where we can have a full-time pastor here at blessed up baptist church That's my vision. I want to be faithful to that vision I want to be faithful to this church to this house of god. I want to finish the job And brevin, I need your help to do it. I need your help to accomplish the job and notice it says here Um, sorry i've lost my verse number five and moose was faithful to uh was uh, verily was faithful in all his house as a servant And brevin, that's what I am, you know, yes, i've been given authority in the church, but i'm operating as a servant It's not about me. It's about jesus. I am jesus christ's servant. I'm here to serve this body Okay, and anytime anybody has the opportunity to preach or to song lead or just to do whatever the ladies bring in some Food of you know, that's been a blessing to the church. Listen you do it as a servant You know you do it because you're serving jesus you're serving the house of god, okay, that is the right perspective to have Otherwise, it's easy to be lifted up with knowledge It's easy to be lifted up by success and so many pastors have failed so many pastors You know end up thinking well, it's because of me It's because of the way I speak because of the way I organize things. No, it's because of jesus and thank god He can use men fallen men You know to do his work praise god Otherwise man i'd be doing nothing for jesus right because we are all weak. We are all fallen and look at verse number six now It says but christ as a son over his own house, what is the house of jesus? Whose house are we? That's you brethren. That's you and me. We are his house if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing Of the hope firm and to the end and brethren that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to finish the job We're trying to stay firm to the end because we are his house You know, thank god for this building. Thank god. We have these walls and these floors even though it's a little rough, right? But that's not the building. That's not the house that god is concerned with He's concerned with you. You are his house when we come together congregation the assembly that is the church That is the house of god when we're together here, you know, uh to to give worship to jesus christ Okay Keep that in mind. That's so important. That is so important. There are too many churches that lose focus on material gain On big buildings and i'm i'm not against those things. I think those things are wonderful when the time comes But what's more important is that we invest in people spiritually in the quality of people's spiritual life So you can live more godly that's my hope for you brethren. We are the house of god Please turn to our ephesians chapter 2, please go to ephesians chapter 2 And while you're turning there i'm going to read to you from first peter chapter 2 You go to ephesians chapter 2 i'm going to first peter chapter 2 and verse number five I just want to reinforce this teaching. Okay Jesus christ is not interested in a physical building. He's interested in you in me in us. Okay first peter chapter 2 verse 5 says Ye also as lively stones Are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices Acceptable to god by jesus christ. So what are we called lively stones? Just like when you're building a house you're using bricks. Well those bricks are you and me We are those lively bricks that jesus wants to use to build his spiritual house then it says in verse number six Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture behold I lay in zion a chief cornerstone Elect precious so we do have to have a chief cornerstone We do have to have a foundation by which we build on what is that chief cornerstone? It says this and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded So this chief cornerstone is a hymn a hymn that we can believe on and of course That is salvation believe in the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved. Amen So the foundation is jesus christ then on christ He wants us to be built upon him the house of god these lively stones. You're in ephesians chapter 2 in verse number 19 ephesians chapter 2 verse number 19 says Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners But fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of god. All right, look at verse number 20 And are built upon so we're built upon something the foundation of the apostles and prophets let's stop there for a moment Where is the foundation of the apostles and prophets? Say well, you know The apostle paul is not here anymore. Neither is peter and john and james, right? Or the prophets of old they're not here, you know, john the baptist and and isiah and jeremiah and uh, who else? I mean so many prophets kind of think about you know, who all they are, you know, say how do we build on that? Well, you know where we find their writings in the bible in the word of god We find the writings of the prophets and of the apostles And so if we're going to build upon something it's going to be built on the bible It's going to be built on the word of god, but then it says this jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone So there's a confirmation that the cornerstone there the chief cornerstone is jesus christ. He is the cornerstone Here's the foundation verse number 21 in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple In the lord's notice it grows right the building fitly framed together groweth It's not like you just start it and it ends it grows It needs to continue growing this church blessed about the church needs to continue to grow Unto a holy temple in the lord verse number 22 in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of god Through the spirit So when we come together, we're in habit together We're here and the holy spirit of god can do a work in our hearts in our minds, you know as we seek to To bless the lord So i'm sure you already knew this but I just wanted to confirm to you. You are the church You are the building you are that spiritual building You are the stones that make up the building that god wants to indwell So when we look at the buildings of old when you look at the old testament temple of old Yeah, that was a physical building. But what was that then that was a type That was a picture of the spiritual building that would come and that is the local new testament church Now if you can please turn to luke chapter 14, please go to luke chapter 14 for me luke chapter 14 Let me repeat to you my vision for blessed about this church, okay Okay I guess I consider myself the site supervisor. Okay. Now i'm not the builder. The builder is jesus christ Jesus employs me as a pastor to oversee to be the site supervisor, right? And there's a lot of work to be done. All right, so The finished product once again, what does it look like? What is the vision for blessed about this? Number one free services two on sunday one on Well, i'll go through that one midweek service, right? And I want that midweek service to eventually become a prayer meeting time as well So maybe a shorter sermon but a time for praying I pray a time for us and I know sometimes we do this Okay, and i'm not saying so we're building toward this we're trying to make this a stable thing All right. We also want a fixed meeting location, you know a place ideally a least building It's much better if you can have at least building in that sense because you can meet whenever you want You can change the times whenever you want instead of relying on other people But whatever it is Whatever it is that suits the church better to have a fixed permanent position We'll help this church grow as well. And the last one that I mentioned was a full-time pastor a full-time pastor, right? Those are the things when we get when we get all those things in place to me. It says we're finished the job Okay, when I look at new life baptist church on the sunshine coast I look at that now as a finished product It took a while to get there when I first got up there I didn't know if I could preach more than once a week I was surprised if I could even do once a week. We started with two services All right. Let's just make sure we can get two services done, right? Eventually, we got to three services, right? Eventually, we could afford a building eventually we could get that lease right eventually those things happen But it took to the point where we had well, we started with full-time passes That's a little bit different right up there then, uh, by the time we got to three services and a least building That took 20 months altogether Now maybe it could have taken shorter a shorter time than that Maybe but you know, because obviously I was flying down here midweek services as well So I was trying to be careful not to burn out. I didn't want to be doing too much, right? So but now that church is in a good place. We've got a fixed place. We've got a full-time pastor We've got three services a week and even more so The men there are being trained they're being taught they're able to preach they're good support They're able to back up the pastor right and be there if I ever get sick or if I ever need to Come down here There's always men that are able to preach and praise god today We're working on the live stream and that's going to be the next step right for an online community It's strange because we get a lot of online listeners and they're contributing financially to the church up there So it's like well, let's bless them back Let's get a live service for those guys That you know might not find themselves in a good church or or whatever Some people have disabilities and they just can't get out of the house And so we want to be a blessing to the people that listen to us online So that church as far as i'm concerned i'm looking at that church today and i'm saying wow, we're at a finished product It's not perfect It's not it's not like we can just dump things and it's just going to continue but listen once you build a house Once you build it once it's all put in place you move in go man. Look at this brand new house It's looking good, but eventually you need to live in it All right, if you've got a whole bunch of kids guess what holes start to make be made in the walls Right, there's going to be wear and tear in the building the gut will start to leak a bit of water rain or whatever And what does what does the house need now? It needs maintenance, right? It needs just constant maintenance It just needs constant maintenance, right? And so, you know, even though the job is finished up there in my as far as my perspective is it still needs maintenance It still needs work. It still needs to continue, you know to grow and don't forget the house of god Is the gates to heaven and so the work that needs there's a work that needs to continue Okay, we need to keep going over there at new life at the church, you know showing the gospel preaching the gospel So people can believe in jesus christ and enter into those gates for all eternity. All right, so that's my perspective For that church and uh I want the same for this church You know, and I want to be faithful to you You know, I said when we started I promised you i'm going to be here for 10 years if that's what it takes And i'm not going to go back on that word I'm going to keep doing this forever and i'm going to keep trying to serve this church as best as I can Try to build people try to help the preachers, you know teach the people and say well, who are you pastor kevin? You know Have you got experience building? Have you ever done this before? You know And look i'm going to go through a few things here and I don't want you to think that i'm boasting i'm not Okay, i'm not trying to pat myself on the back The reason I want to go for this is I just want you to have trust in the leadership here I want you to have trust in your pastor. Okay Before I became a pastor I just worked hard All right I just worked really hard and people would put me in places where I had to basically build departments from scratch There's work to be done there's a hole that needs to get done and you need to get some employees You need to build some processes. You need to work this out build a department and brethren i've done that many times And i've always been successful at it. I just put my heart into it lord. I'm serving you Please help me to build this department. Now. Was it always fun? Is is building always fun? You're involved in building brother. Is it always is the customer always happy? No It's a surprise when you man if you get everyone happy on board, right? That's awesome, but not everyone's happy and that's okay. You know, that's an expected situation But i've also built my family. Hey, that's my house my family my wife 11 kids raising them I think they're good kids. I think we've done a good job so far. Maybe my wife has done a better job than me Hey, look, i've got the experience of building people as well, you know, not just my family Hey, but I served two years as a deacon at victory baptist church where I got to know a lot of the Behind the scenes things about the church how it needs to be run You know, I got to baby to be a sunday school teacher for three years every week every week preaching to the children, you know As a sunday school teacher eventually I was made the superintendent of that, you know And as a superintendent, I was overseeing all the sunday school classes. So any of the teachers that needed help resources They would come to me You know talking back to my job, you know, eventually I had 50 employees under me, you know, I had like four teams in sydney one team in auckland Okay, now at that time I hated it at that time. I was like man a team in ogland and all these guys man I don't even know half their jobs now, right? I mean, there's so much to do There's so much work to be done. But when I look back now, I realized well, maybe god was preparing me for two churches Right now that's not really my desire. My desire was sunshine coast relax Go to the lake and have a swim with the kids, right? I wasn't expecting to come here every week and and help this church But i'm glad I did you know because the spiritual things matter more than anything else, you know And uh, you know had those teams and then my manager is in japan I have to go to japan to see my manager and then I have teams in singapore teams in thailand It got too much eventually brevin, but I had teams everywhere. Let me tell you this. I always worked hard I had a good reputation. I always was productive. I got the job done all the time all the time. Okay then eventually we went to My sending church. Okay, we start church. We started from scratch All right, so I got to see what it's like from very scratch. What's it like to start a church? Learn from the things that were done. Well learn from the things that were not done so well Okay, so i've got that experience right and then like I said, we've got the sunshine coast church I think it's ready to go. I think there's a lot of great men there that are ready to step up And be a help unto me And you know, we started this church here and it's still going two years into it So, you know, there was a church that got started up on the sunshine coast We went for like three or four months independent baptist church. We're like three or four months You know full support of the sending church. There were people coming up. They gave up a few months Hey, we're still going on the sunshine coast. Praise god, right And I say that not to puff myself up because it's not me. It's everybody. It's everybody involved That's that's helping me to get the job done because we're trying to serve jesus christ We're trying to be faithful to the house that jesus christ has given us All right And so what I want to tell you guys or I guess announce you guys some of you guys already know this Is it's my desire to come here for 12 months All right, october october 1st new life baptist church in queensland celebrates the three years Sorry guys, they celebrate the three year anniversary I Don't want to leave them right a lot of work The best of people So nice But that works getting done, all right, that's getting done the men are ready to step up and help out I want to come and help this church You guys are in luke chapter 14 verse 28 luke 14 verse 28, sorry guys You know, you invest a lot of time right invest in people it really matters Yes We'll have to edit this out on the on the youtube, right Luke 14 verse 28 says for which of you Intending to build a tower sit if not down first and count of the cost Whether he have sufficient to finish it lest happily after he have laid the foundation And is not able to finish it All that behold it begin to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish Brevin, I don't want to be that man Where are we started blessed up at this church and we didn't finish it and people start mocking us people start mocking me. Hey What who are you? You started you started building this thing and you didn't finish the job Listen up. We we had a granite flat built in our in our boundary house We've got to you know, and uh, I remember we were really excited about getting the granite flat built All right, and I remember when the foundation got laid I was like, yes, you know, it started I can see how it starts and you know, the kids would run on the on the concrete there and then have fun Right, and it's exciting then the frames went up and how excited when you get the carpenter in there He gets the wooden frames. It looks like a house now With with the roof and the walls and like yes, you know, this is awesome. Look at it's coming up now Could you imagine the site supervisor came up to me then because man you seem really happy about the Foundation and the framework you're really happy about this product. All right, man, we're done. I'm not coming back You seem happy with the finished product And yeah, I was happy with the stage that we reached but the job is not done All right, it needs to be finished. What we build has to be finished And brethren i'm willing to come here for 12 months with my family right to relocate them from the sunshine coast to come here and uh, you know, i've already spoken to some of the men in the church here about that And uh, it's not I don't really want to do it because i'm really comfortable there You don't really want to relocate your family. There's no personal or sort of financial reasons behind it But there's a need at blessed up at this church and the need is that we need to finish it We need to finish the work. I'm, very thankful for all the men that have been serving here I'm, very thankful for brother dave and brother luke and brother anthony and I can't has anyone else preached I don't know but you know for preaching the song leaders for getting up here and preaching Thank you for your for your giving the financials that coming in from from the families just your attendance is a blessing Just seeing your faces is a blessing to me You know But we need to finish the work and what it said there in luke 14 is we need to count the cost And we need to see if we can finish the job, you know, sometimes finishing a job requires financial giving it requires a bit of financial sacrifice You know and uh relocating my family is going to cost a bit of money You know It's going to cost this church a little bit of money and I guess what i'm what i'm letting you guys know is There will be a financial cost. I don't normally mention financials especially in sermons But it's going to cost a little bit to get my family down here, okay But I know we're going to be able to bless this church I know we're going to be able to get to the next stage that we need to get to right I know we're going to be able to do that And at the same time even though the job is finished, you know at new life purpose church I still need to go see them. It's maintenance maintenance. Okay, things will still happen You know when jesus christ was with his disciples for three years and then he was arrested right invested in them Every day for three years then he gets arrested. What does peter do? He denies christ Was he ready to be left alone? Well, eventually that was an experience that he had to go through. Okay to be a to be a great apostle for christ And so, you know by leaving the guys there, you know, I don't want to see things fall over You know, I don't want to see holes to be or if the holes do come up We can fix those we can get those, uh, you know, uh maintained So i'm gonna try to make you know weekly trips up there to the sunshine coast But all of this is going to cost something. Okay I've counted the costs and I think we can do it I think it's going to be beneficial for blessed or baptist church. If you guys have any questions about that, please please ask me Okay, please ask me your questions now, please go to uh Please go to uh, mark chapter 14 March of the 14 we'll end on this one march of the 14 Now i'm just going to read some passages to you Because the church is called the house of god there's also another name given to the church. Okay. I'll just read it to you in ephsians 122 It says and have put all things under his feet that's under the feet of jesus And gave him to be the head of all things the church Which is his body The fullness of him that filleth all in all What is another name for the church the body of christ? Okay, now two thousand years ago when christ was walking on this earth in his physical body He did amazing works. He preached the gospel did amazing miracles, right? Well now he's in heaven, but his body is still here. His body is still working and that's your local new testament church Okay, we are not just the house of god. We are also the body of christ And of course if christ's desire was to see people in heaven, that's how that's our goal. That's our aim We know we're trying to get people to the gates of heaven Show them walk through these doors believe on jesus christ and thou shalt be saved the body of christ now The reason I make mention of this is because I want you to remember the first house of god that was mentioned When jacob he set up a pillar, you know the pillar and ground of truth and what did he do? He anointed it with oil, right? He anointed he said what is that about? Well, let's have a look here. You can see the pictures. You can see how think these things start to form together mark 14 verse 3 mark 14 And verse number three It says and being in bethany in the house of simon the leper as he sat at meats There came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment And uh spic canard very precious Very precious. All right, and she break the box and poured it on his head All right. So this woman takes what is probably her most Expensive her most precious items perfume this oil, right? It's very expensive and she pulls it on the head of jesus christ What did jacob do? He anointed the pillar with oil, right? Let's keep going verse number four And there was some that had indignation within themselves and said why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor And they murmured against her So you see, you know, she's trying to honor christ. She wants to anoint his body Right. She wants to take the best of what she has and give it to jesus And there are others watching saying why'd you waste that money? You could have sold it you could have given it to the poor you could have done all these other things with what? You know with what you just did you just wasted it, you know Look at jesus number six verse number six and jesus said let her alone alone. Why trouble ye her? She have wrought a good work on me Look at this for you have all sorry for you have the poor with you always And whensoever you will you may do them good, but me you have not always She have done what she could she's come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying This woman knew that jesus was going to be buried. She knew she was going to die She had a faith on jesus christ. She was a believer and she anoints his body for the burying She brings the best she brings her most expensive item and others said hey, that's a waste. Why are you doing that? And brethren the reason I want to bring this up is because I just want to be realistic with you. It's it is going to cost This church some money, you know to bring this pulpitus here. All right, let's say what are you jesus? Are you going to be anointed of the oil? That's not me. I'm not anointing me What is the pillar the pillar that was was the ground of truth was the church, right? You take jacob took the oil and he poured it upon the pillar Okay, and this woman that pillar represents the body We are the body of jesus christ and we see this woman take a precious ointment something that was very costly to her Probably saved up her whole life to afford this and pause it upon the head of jesus christ the body of christ This is the body of christ and brethren. Yes, there's going to be some financial Questions to be to be made To to bring me here, but brethren I want to do it because I want to serve this church I want to be faithful to this church. I want to finish the job. We need to finish the job We can't be just just content with the framework Right the outside cladding needs to be done the inside the electrical the tiling we need to finish the house And reverend i'm committed to this church 100 Okay. Now I guess i'm not 100 I'm part-time still right but for the 12 months that I desire to come here It'll be from october to september next year I want to be your full-time pastor I want to be a full-time pastor and I want to take the men That are willing to preach maybe one day want to be in the ministry and train them up Okay, train them up so they can be uh, you know preachers of the truth They can be strong pillars as well for the local church. I really want to invest heavily in this church And I have no doubt that if I if we do this and it's going to cost a bit of ointment It's going to cost a bit. Okay But to me, what do we invest in anyway? Was it the building or was it the people? What was the lively stones that jesus christ is building? It was the people we want to invest Spiritually, I want you guys. I want fathers. I want you guys to be the best fathers you can be I want you to hear the best preaching that will help you be the best Fathers the best husbands mothers to be the best mothers best wives children to be the best children So we can be the best employees so we can be the best for jesus christ so we can be a light To this world, you know And brethren it all starts with this building Us right the lively stones And uh, we've started the work. We've gone two years into it. It's going well. I'm super happy Just like I saw the frames go up. I was super happy, but there's more to be done, right? And so I really ask you guys to to think about this. Please be praying about this. It requires a lot of work Uh, you know relocating a family of 11 kids is is not easy, you know But let me say to you the the families that bless at new life at this church I spoke to all of them before i'm telling you this And they they were all supportive Like they want you guys to have what they have up there, you know All right, let's pray