(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Let's get into the sermon, I was thinking of the sermon and obviously I had some plans of what to preach this morning, then we had the lockdowns on the Sunshine Coast, so I wanted a sermon that's going to help both churches and you know I spent more time thinking about the title for this sermon than the sermon itself, well not really but you know some of the titles that I thought about was well you know Don't Lose Your Mind, that was the first one that I thought about and then I thought no let's put Don't Lose Your Humanity, you know I'm seeing people you know ring up Crime Stoppers if you've done that right now hey don't lose your humanity okay calm down and what else, I can't remember what other titles that I thought about but if you look at Philippians chapter 4 verse number 6, Philippians chapter 4 verse number 6, it begins by saying be careful for nothing okay and I know in the last few sermons I've been preaching I think for both churches I've been taking this verse and applying it in different ways but of course be careful for nothing, don't be full of care about everything is basically what it's saying there but just every little thing that you're worried about don't be full of care don't be full of worry so I decided to title the sermon this morning Stop Worrying, Stop Worrying okay now we are facing lockdowns and it can be frustrating, I've been frustrated, I can be annoyed all right I don't even know if I'm supposed to be in church like in the building today it's more than five kilometers I get confused brethren I don't know what's going on right the things are changing every few days I have no idea but here we are so if you want to call crime stoppers go ahead but look you know we've all these lockdowns all these challenges the reason it's frustrating the reason we get annoyed and maybe stressed and maybe worried is because God created us to be social creatures okay God created us to be social creatures it's not good for people to live alone it's not good for people to live a reclusive life some people feel like they're you know rejects of society and so they go into a reclusive life but it does more damage to your mental abilities more damage to your just the person that you are that's not how God created us to be I'll quickly read to you from Genesis 2 18 of course at the very beginning of the Bible God created Adam and Eve and it says in verse about 18 and the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone I will make him and help meet for him of course we know this passage about marriage right Adam and Eve getting married okay but the concept the principle is true it is not good that the man should be alone God did not create us to be our loners God did not create us to be separated and locked up in our homes and and you know not being able to see people that we want to see and not be able to travel the way we want to travel God created us to be social creatures and this is why you know you may be going through periods of worry and stress and concern and you know that God is with you but it's just it's difficult still because you know it's the way God created us to be and obviously with all these lockdowns that what the media keeps promoting is that this is keeping us safe safe from the virus and you know it's all it's for the best of mankind or whatever right anyway I've just seen a recent article from the Sydney Morning Herald it's only came out four days ago it's an article from the Sydney Morning Herald and I just want to read the first few paragraphs to you okay so this is coming from a secular obviously article secular newspaper that is basically largely promoting all the lockdowns promoting this new normal what they call the new normal is abnormal okay you know I use the term new normal so we know what we're talking about but really the new normal is abnormal okay it's anti-social but the article states before COVID-19 arrived in Australia so this was the good old days back in 2019 all right the first few months it says about five percent of Australians typically reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression in the previous two weeks that's five percent leading before COVID hits Australia before all the lockdowns you know five percent of people you know reported moderate or severe symptoms of depression and then it says but by April 2020 so this is just a few months a couple months after COVID hits in the lockdowns it says with the nation in its first lockdown that increased five fold then it says by August one in five people have had at least has had at least occasional thoughts in the previous two weeks that they would be better off dead could you imagine that one in five people in Australia have thought you know I'm better off dead hey that's just the people reporting these things what are the people that are too embarrassed to say yeah I've given those thoughts okay I've had those thoughts it says Monash University research has found strict lockdowns led to the highest levels of depression and anxiety on record but where restrictions were eased people reported lower while still significant levels of mental health problems at the height of Victoria's stage four restrictions in 2020 forty four percent of people in the state forty four percent of people in the state reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression and thirty four percent reported moderate or severe anxiety in states where restrictions had eased thirty two percent had reported moderate to severe depression and twenty three percent had moderate to severe anxiety so what do we see there okay five percent before covered before lockdown for restrictions five percent of Australians reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression well when Melbourne had its fourth lockdown and they've just recently had the fifth lockdown so it's probably increased since then but when Melbourne had their fourth lockdown that increased to forty four percent of people from five percent to forty four percent of Australians or from Melbourne at least reporting depression and so these lockdowns are you know I didn't get suicide rates yeah they couldn't get suicide numbers for in time for the sermon but I'm sure they've increased I've heard reports that they have increased as well and so this propaganda that lockdowns restrictions that are for the safety of the people you know it's all hogwash it's all nonsense okay these lockdowns restrictions are doing things worse okay making things worse now brethren most of our Australians most of our fellow citizens do not have the Lord they are not saved okay we have the Lord praise God we're never truly alone because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us but we can still go through periods of depression we can still go through periods of anxiety but we have an advantage okay we have an advantage and so this sermon isn't to the lost you know unsaved Australians this is to the saved Australians reminding yourself you've always got the Lord with you okay and if you're going through periods of depression it's not unusual okay this is what the lockdowns are doing now if you can quickly just turn to our third John for me go to third John verse 13 third John verse number 13 and I'm gonna put on this mask right now for the safety of humanity all right here it is so we're gonna read from 3rd John 13 3rd John 13 the Bible reads I had many things to write but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee look at verse number 14 but I trust I shall show shortly see thee and we shall speak face to face our face to face let me take that off for a minute peace be to thee our friends salute thee greet the friends by name you can see when Paul was separate from the Brethren he was well he was excited right he was hopeful to see the Brethren face to face again with social creatures you know it's important for us to see each other face to face to see the faces of people this is what how God created us we all look different we all have different facial structures right you we can all identify one another you know if I say a pack of dogs I can't differentiate them okay if they're all the same kind of breed or whatever but with human beings you've got someone's face and you can identify that person because God's created us to be very unique very different okay so we can see each other face to face and that brings joy in society now right now I'm sure there are some Brethren that are going well pastor Kevin is about to preach let's protest let's take off these masks all right let's get out there let's go face down the police and get ourselves arrested in front in prison that's not the point of this sermon today okay that's not the point of something like okay we're just facing reality well this is a reality we've got in lockdowns and people are depressed and the reason I read that passage is because these masks you know when you walk around not just inside now outside apparently you've got to wear them okay you can't differentiate people's faces okay now they can still tell people apart of course you know if I go home with this my kids identify who I am okay but the average Australian the average person that you know you might go to the shops and see they all kind of look alike to me these days we all basically all have something blue covering half our face okay and we can't see we can't even speak in fact you're not even encouraged to speak to each other okay so we're separated you know when we're losing that facial identity through these lockdowns that's going to cause some level of depression you know what we're being told hey stay one and a half meters away from each other don't talk don't preach you know because my spit my land when you get COVID or something all right I mean it's you know stand far apart you know we're being told you know who I were allowed to visit in fact we're not allowed to visit anybody actually okay unless now if you're a single and you're in the single bubble you can nominate another single to visit your house I don't know okay you can't even you know you're not allowed to have who you want to come over to your own house your own property okay you're not allowed to have people over at your own house what's like what's gonna happen now look thank God I've got a family of 13 like my house is still a hive of activity I wish it was a little bit less quiet in my house you know one of the blessings of having a large family but you know I can see how people that may not be living with their family or might be alone or just a small family might be struggling in these days okay we're being told how far you can travel I think it's 5 K's or 10 K's I don't know in some of the site in some different LGAs of Sydney and I don't know if that applies to all of Sydney I'm losing track of all the rules brethren okay and we're being told you know what businesses are allowed to operate what business are allowed to open obviously the big shops they're allowed to be open but you know if you're a sole trader you know you're you know you've got your own small business these people are struggling they don't have the income they don't have the money come in they are unable to pay their bills they're unable to pay their rent okay they're unable to put food on the table I mean boy what's happening to this country the economy is starting to really give in and people saying hey government give me the job saver all right maybe that maybe the government has the answer we can go and ask them for more money and you know the government keeps saying that they are able to give us what is it 600 700 whatever if you've lost money but where they getting that money from they get it from you it's like government give me money well actually yeah take my wallet you know take a hundred bucks from my wallet and give me fifty dollars in return and you can pay yourself fifty dollars that's what you know asking government for money that's what you're doing you're taking a hundred dollars out of your pocket and maybe fifty dollars is an exaggeration you're getting twenty dollars back okay but at least the government's come to help us governments not helping anybody okay they're hurting us they're hurting humanity they're hurting our mental health okay maybe I'm going insane a little bit I don't know brethren okay but this is the reality of the situation we're in and we can't ignore it and what I want to preach on today is you know it's time to protest no no what I want to preach on today brethren is you know just to stop worrying how to stop worrying you know to be mentally strong to be mentally stable of course and I I can I can hop on about how much you need to walk with the Lord and and be in fellowship with the Lord and I've preached many sermons like that but I want to give you some other practical tips today of how you can help yourself can you please turn to Matthew 24 Matthew 24 and verse number 10 Matthew 24 verse number 10 just another passage that I want to read to you and just what we're seeing develop in our society go to Matthew 24 verse 10 and we know that Matthew 24 is about the end times about the the return of Christ about the great tribulation beginning of sorrows the wrath of God all that okay I'm not saying we're in that period but we can see one great truth from this passage II in Matthew 24 verse number 10 Matthew 24 verse number 10 and then shall many be offended and betray one another and shall hate one another brethren this is what's happening right now okay the fact that we're socially separated okay I'm talking about society that people are willing to betray one another okay look and then shall many be offended people are offended you know I'm on a Facebook group which has the local in the Fairfield community whatever group and there are people constantly you know posting oh I saw my neighbor do X Y and Z I saw this shop oh should that shop be opened I saw three people walk into a cafe together you know and I'm gonna report them here's a photograph of what's going on boy what's happening people are getting offended for what for walking into a cafe together for going to a park and kicking a ball or you know what going 5.1 kilometers outside of their circumference instead of five kilometers you know people are getting offended offended what and betraying one another and shall hate one another what we're seeing in society is a breakdown a break and so I said you know don't lose your humanity that was one of the titles I wanted to give this sermon it's like hey I'm seeing somebody he's not wearing a mask outside I better call crime stoppers what's the crime stoppers number this sermon is brought to you by crime stoppers okay let's call crime stoppers crime stoppers who does who commits crime criminals let's okay let's ring I mean imagine being on a call center for crime stoppers let's stop some crime you get a call all right what's your call about I saw someone outside not wearing a mask oh man what a criminal I saw someone standing half a meter away instead of art you know I told you to stand back I told you to stand two meters away but he came and he was half a meter away and I need to report this incident I mean people betraying one another we're losing our humanity okay that people because you don't see each other's faces do you just see this and so you're a no-name you're you know what are you you know what are you really and people are you know people are worried people are concerned people are offended people are betraying one another and it says there shall hate one another look at verse number 11 and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many so when people are acting this way you know what it's easy for false prophets to come on the scene and deceive many okay but look at verse number 12 and because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold the love of many shall wax cold we're seeing a society that is not loving the fellow man anymore okay Christ told us commanded us to love our neighbors that's not happening in Australia okay in Sydney honestly people are ringing up and and dobbing people in and going on Facebook and complaining and and whining and and you know I'm not look and I'm not even I'm not even preaching a sermon to complain about those people that are complaining okay they are victims as well you know if I'm gonna love my neighbor I'm gonna love my community I'm gonna love the safe I'm gonna love the lost guess what that means I've got to love even those that have contrary views to me okay in this sense I realize that and something you need to understand our community the people that were with our neighbors we're all victims okay we're all victims and they're just lashing out in the in the wrong ways but they're lashing out because of the you know of the measure of the lockdowns or the restrictions the mental health problems that they're suffering okay and we need to be able to identify you know who is causing this versus just our fellow neighbors that are doing things contrary to the way we would like them to do it okay now let me just quickly read to you another power newspaper article that I read this was obviously in Sydney we had some protests last week in the article it says New South Wales police said Crime Stoppers has received over 10,000 reports in what they've dubbed an amazing outcry over Sydney's anti lockdown protests over the weekend okay now pastor Kevin are you for the protests no are you against the protests no okay this is what some people don't understand this about me and they think man you must be offensive we'll get to that shortly okay we'll get to that shortly okay I just want to show you what is going on 10,000 phone calls okay to dub in somebody who in Australia you've got the right to protest okay in Australia you have the right of religious freedom apparently but it's all been taken away okay new powers have come on the scene and this is why you know fruit in Sydney we're preaching through Jeremiah so we understand what happens when there's a transition in power when there are new powers in play and what Jeremiah is teaching his people to do and we need to obviously think and understand our society but also as Christians understand how God wants us to act how he wants us to behave okay I'm not here to dub in some protester like I you know if somebody my church said you know pastor do you think I should go to the protest I would say no to you they say well what if I do you're gonna report me no I'm not gonna report you okay report you in fact I hope you're successful but see anyway I want to just show you just some of the time times where obviously you know I'll probably skip just this one passage but if you can please turn to 2nd Thessalonians turn to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 I want you to also understand if you're worrying that and I've said this many times many sermons there's nothing new under the Sun okay people snitching on one another betraying one another it's always happened you know remember back out when Daniel was praying and they set a new law a new law that you can't pray to any gods anybody you can't ask anything from anybody except if they go to the king again the king signs it into law and Daniel says you know what forget this opens up his windows and praise the Lord three times a day and then what happens people betray him they find out they snitch on him and he gets thrown into the lion's den he made he got out of it praise God okay I want you to also notice 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 and I won't ask to think about this with a new pair of eyes here especially in the in the lockdown we're in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 verse number 11 it's very important that men go to work okay and it says here in verse number 11 for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but our busy bodies you see when you don't work you become a busybody you become a gossiper you become a snitch you become a betrayer okay you walk disorderly you know what God did not create us to be idle and do nothing and be locked down in a house and we kind of you know what does it do it breeds this kind of behavior this is why you know I think you know I get angry I guess when I see people reporting one another because they whatever you know they forgot to check in at the store or something right but at the same time I need to understand that our government the powers that be okay and I do believe Satan is running things behind the scenes they're causing us to be locked down they're causing us to be idle they're causing people to not go to work to not be productive then what's gonna happen people are gonna become busybodies people are gonna walk this orderly and so I'm not so angry at my my fellow citizens that are doing things like reporting and ringing crime stoppers I think it's stupid but I'm not angry at them I'm angry at the powers that have turned these people like this they have taken away their liberties have taken away their work their businesses and they're going nuts they're going crazy and they've been taught by the media to think well if we just all lockdown you know then we're gonna be it's gonna be quicker for us to get out of this and no it's not if this is gonna happen this is gonna continue for a long time okay and I don't even know all the reasons behind it I don't know what you know is it just some social engineering event are they trying to turn us into zombies are they trying to turn Australia into a socialist communist country I don't know there could be various reasons okay but stop worrying stop worrying that's a title for the sermon this morning stop worrying okay now turn to Luke 22 turn to Luke chapter 22 Luke 22 of course the most famous person that got betrayed is our Lord Jesus Christ Luke 22 verse 47 Luke 22 verse 47 and while he yet spake behold a multitude and he that was called Judas one of the twelve went before them and drew knee unto Jesus to kiss him now is kissing Jesus a you know a loving thing to do it's it's loving okay he's showing love on the outward okay verse number 48 but Jesus said unto him Judas betrays thou the Son of Man with a kiss okay betrays thou the Son of Man with a kiss this is what's happening with our society we're being told hey lock down close your businesses don't talk to people don't visit your family don't let people come okay for your good we're kissing you all right turn your cheek we want to kiss you because we're trying to keep you safe from this Delta covert whatever what happened to alpha was there an alpha was there I don't know anyway it's the Delta one right we're keeping you safe we were giving you a kiss but brethren our government is betraying us the powers that be are betraying us okay they're trying to destroy us Judas's heart here was to destroy Jesus Christ for his own profit okay he got his silver alright he got his wealth for betraying Jesus and we're being betrayed by our governments okay so it's time to protest pastor Kevin I knew you're going to get no it's not time to protest it's not time to do that okay go back for your Jeremiah series just remind yourself of what we've been covering okay what Jeremiah has been preaching to the church okay not me Jeremiah okay get mad at him anyway what I'm trying to drive you to right now is obviously when people are trying to amass power when they're trying to take over and again I don't know exactly who these people are so is that our is it our prime minister is it Scott Morrison is that you know our premieres are they the wicked ones I'm sure many of them are wicked okay but I also believe many of these are pawns many of these people are pawns and they're afraid as well they're afraid if I don't carry out you know this worldwide plan what's going to happen to me and my family and and so you know remember who we wrestle against okay we don't wrestle against flesh and blood and I want to remember that as Christians okay so one of the great you know strategies to win a war or to amass power of course I'm sure you've all heard of it is to divide and conquer to divide and conquer and even Jesus Christ says you're actually in Luke so turn to Luke 11 if you can turn to Luke chapter 11 verse number 17 Luke 11 17 for me Christ is speaking about the kingdom of Satan but he gives us a good illustration here good points in Luke 11 17 it says but he knowing their thoughts said unto them every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and a house divided against the house fourth okay Christ is teaching us the concept of divide sorry yeah divide and conquer if you divide a kingdom you divide a house it's going to fall you can win the victory that way you can win a war that way and what we're seeing in our society is this divide and conquer mentality okay you've got those that are for the lockdowns yeah you know what let's keep ourselves safe then you have those that are against the lockdowns right instead of getting mad at the people bring in the lockdowns right we get mad at each other all right oh you're for lockdowns you're against law you're you know ring crime stoppers okay divide and conquer you know the the powers that be are dividing our nation on purpose okay so they can amass their power get to make themselves rich whoever it is it's the pharmaceuticals whether it's the governing authorities whether it's bill gates or whatever else your conspiracy you know videos told you whatever it is brethren all right who i don't know who i don't know who it is but i know at the end of the day it's satan pulling the strings you say pastor kevin you've been telling us that god is judging our nation judging our i do believe he's judging our world he is judging our nation okay god many times just allows the wicked to do what they have to do okay so he can you know increase in his wrath okay that he can bring judgment you know and uh do it justly because of the wickedness that you know that that takes place in society in our in our nation in the world and god may very well just be allowing these things to bring forth his judgment in this world one thing i've been saying for a long time is that australia has lost its fear of god and i believe god is just allowing these things to play out so people can run to him so people can start worrying okay i'm talking about the unsaved here i'm not talking about the saved okay don't make the unsaved they would develop a fear of god and say boy what does the bible have to say you know what does the bible have to say about this what does god have to say and that people will be drawn to the lord and this is why it's so important that god's people that we remain mentally stable because i believe that as as things develop we're going to see you know greater opportunities of seeing soul saints greater opportunities of preaching the gospel because people in our society are going to be more receptive they're going to be more unstable they're going to you know they're going to be struggling to pay their bills you know australia is a very rich country for a long time you know our our citizens have thought well i don't need god i can make myself you know i can make a living for myself you know i'm you know i don't have to worry about food on the table we don't have to pray for our daily bread there's always bread in the pantry you know we're very rich and we just have this mindset you know our nation's put away god that they've they've forsaken god and i believe god's just allowing all this to develop so we as god's people if we remain mentally strong that we can be used in a powerful way to reach our community that are lost and confused that they'll be more receptive to the gospel moving forward all right but divide and conquer and we um you know a lot of people understand and uh if you're in my generation you understand the uh left right paradigm concepts okay um people of my parents generation they don't fully understand this okay and uh we understand this in our generation because we've seen how wicked the governments have become okay and what is this this is the false idea that you know when you uh vote for let's let's talk about australia right you're you're voting your liberal or your labor party okay people generally understand or they view at least the labor party as the left-leaning party and the liberal party as the right conservative leaning party okay and uh there's that there's that left right paradigm that says you know you've got a voice you know you can choose which one of these you want in power but one thing that i had to learn you know in my life is as i've seen the so-called liberal conservative party in power they're the ones enforcing the the corrupt labor policies okay you know labor's saying hey you know we need to bring in same-sex marriage and the conservative party saying you know liberals no we're not going to do that but then when the liberal parties are in power they're the ones that bring it in okay you've got the the left-leaning you know socialist party going hey we need to take everyone's guns away and you got the conservative right-leaning party saying no that's not right you know people deserve to be able to arm themselves and protect themselves and and uh you know keep their families safe in home in case a intruder walks in but when the liberal party was in okay uh what was the thing with um hobart what was the guy's name again the serial the serial the guy that killed a whole bunch of people anyway it's the liberal party when all the guns you know gonna the guns were were stripped away from gun owners okay and you start seeing this and go well hold on it's the same party and yeah they are the same party they're the same people okay labor gets people ready to be watered down and then and then liberal party comes in right the right-leaning party comes in and they bring in the laws that the labor party wanted to do right the liberal party the right-leaning party has become what the left-leaning party is and the left party has gone to the devil okay so there's this false left and right paradigm where you know again our previous generations don't fully understand this because they may have come from a world where it actually mattered who you voted for actually mattered but these days it doesn't matter okay it doesn't matter if it's scott morrison or some other look think about look at the whole world think about all the people that all different parties are in power and think about what's going on with covered they're all doing the same thing they're all doing the same thing okay it's all the one party it doesn't matter who gets in power okay there's wickedness in high places and they're doing this whole process of divide and conquer and so you know the left-right paradigm is well you know which side you're going to choose you're going to choose the left you're going to choose the right you're going to vote for and you feel like you're contributing to society okay and you're really not okay and there's that sense of division there and really what's happening they're just one party they're all part of the same group they're all doing the same things that each other will do and so a lot of people understand this i think a lot of people in my churches at least a lot of people in my generation understand it's nonsense okay but they haven't realized that they fall into the same type of trap anyway with this whole covid-19 lockdowns and uh you know restrictions let me explain to you what i mean by that okay let me just say something else as well uh with these politicians bringing in the lockdowns restrictions normally in the past i remember as a child i would watch the news and i actually liked the media i actually liked the news because i would see them hammer the politicians they were always like against the politicians right politicians would do something they'll just hammer them and say why you know and just just expose them for their mistakes i thought this is great you know it's great there's an organization keeping all these politicians accountable okay but what are you seeing these days in the media they support say no no pastor kevin they don't yeah i've seen them attack the politicians of the world no this is what's going on the politicians come out all right all right we're going to put the city under lockdown and the media comes out yes lashing out against the politician yes pretending that false paradigm once again pretending they're against the politicians but then they come out saying things like well you know when is the time for you know for you to go door to door and ask and and get people vaccinated in their own doorstep it's like wow the the media they're against the politicians they're calling out the politicians no they're furthering the politicians cause the politicians are making the media seem like this extreme well when are you going to do this and like oh no no you know we need to give people their liberties and then but before you know it then you've got the scott morrison recently coming out saying hey you know what uh down this pathway of of coming out of covert those that are vaccinated they're going to have extra liberties against compared to those that are not vaccinated okay and so the media kind of is is pushing you know these greater lockdowns these greater anti-social measures uh and but they just put it out there it appears on the media that they're against the politicians no they're furthering the cause as well so who do you trust you know right you go that's why you gotta bitch you that's why you go to uh all these no no you don't go there you know you go to the word of god you go to the lord okay here's the source of truth here's the source of truth okay what am i talking about you say pastor kevin you're rambling on all right let me just quickly give you some other things like people are being fooled into you know this left left right paradigm as it were divide and conquer as it were okay and uh so what we're seeing is people that are pro lockdowns as i said people that are against lockdowns okay and you've seen our community you've seen people human beings at odds with one another you see people that are for protesting and people that are against protesting right the people that are protesting like you know looking at the the anti-protesters and they're like can't you see we're fighting for your liberties we're standing for your rights you know what if you just got behind us and all the population what are we 26 million if 26 million just rose up and stood against you know these lockdowns we'll be out of this and we'll be able to bring in a you know a new government system or whatever i don't know what they might be thinking and look i do believe many protesters have the right heart they want to get out of this they realize there's mental health problems and it's destroying the economy it's destroying people's lives okay i do believe they have the right intentions like in their heart okay and then you've got the anti-protesters saying look at these idiots why are you going out there they're just making it harder for us okay they're going to spread the virus and they're going to give or if even if they don't spread the virus they're giving the government excuse to bring in stricter lockdowns and yes that's that's true as well they're actually both true okay say pastor cam which side are you on neither okay neither because i don't want to play this game you know i don't want to be forced hey what side are you going to choose are you going to choose the liberals of labor are you going to choose the lockdowns or the anti-lockdown are you going to choose the protesting or the anti-protesting brethren you don't have to choose okay you don't have to choose you'd be on the lord's side that's what that's the side you'd be on you'd be on the lord's side and let the world go down the toilet for a while okay and you stay mentally strong faithfully serving god in fellowship with god okay what else pro maskers anti-maskers you know i was at a post office the other day wearing my mask where'd it go where my mask and i had some businesses at the post office then comes in some lady carrying on anti-maxer you know is our anti anti-masker right and she's like look at all you idiots you know wearing masks it's bad for your health and probably is wearing this all the time you know you know you're all you know zombies you know take them off stand up for your rights and just carry on no one's talking to her she's talking to herself and actually i kind of agree with her okay but you know what she's fallen into that trap she's playing the game okay there's that divide and conquer situation and she sounds crazy i actually agree with everything she was saying but i know the average person there be like who's this crazy woman they're probably even more encouraged now to put on their masks maybe they're going to double mask now after the same man see look at these anti-max uh maskers okay look look how crazy they are i don't want to end up that way you know this is the strange days that we're living in right pro-vaxxers anti-vaxx i'm anti-vaxx by the way brethren so you chose the side are you going to protest no i'm not going to protest because i'm not playing the game okay i'm not playing the game and look if somebody in my church and i've had a few calls someone says i'm thinking about getting the vaccination my my my workplace they're making it mandatory pastor what do you think you know i've preached on the topic already you know where i stand you know the biblical principles that i've brought up on that topic but here's the thing you get the jab i don't i hate calling the jab that's what they call it all now it's like this little play toy the jab you get that thing in your arm you know god bless you i love you i don't care it's your business it's between you and god you know and you know i'm not going to fight you because you're my brother in the lord you know and here's here's what i'm talking about there's a game playing there's a game and i want you to stop playing the game i want you to stop worrying okay because here's what i'm finding i've got pastors and christians that are on facebook and uh let's pretend for a moment that i'm for this okay i'm for this well let's say another pastor of another church another ifb church is against this okay but i put this on now i'm their enemy because they they're saying we shouldn't put them on i'm saying hey just put them on just obey now even though that's my brother in the lord you know he's my saved brother i love him because i've done this he doesn't love me anymore okay because he's playing the game okay and instead you know what in fairfield there was this orthodox what's his name this orthodox i forget his name some orthodox priest and he came out on on youtube and you know what i agree with a lot what he said and he says hey you know don't wear the masks you know you don't have to wear that stuff don't obey the government he's coming out with all this stuff and talk about how the and you know what happened yeah you know what a lot of what he said is true but then you've got pastors you've got christians that share that video and they're like wow look at this yeah he's right but what is he promoting what is this person promoting he's promoting a false prophet a man who's going to lead his congregation to hell because they don't believe the gospel oh but he agrees with me on the topic of the masks he agrees with me on the topics on the vaccinations he agrees with me on the topics of the protesters so what you're going to promote him listen you're better off putting this on okay and dying from all the bacteria that builds on there and go to heaven okay then take yourself and okay maybe you live a few years longer but then you die and go to hell because you've promoted some some wicked orthodox priests who enforce gospel okay what is happening tell you what's happening people don't realize they're playing the game okay they've been involved in the game and they don't realize they think they're standing up for something and you know but really you're you're you're playing that game that the powers that be are forcing you into the whole divide and conquer thing okay and we're seeing now ifb pastors and and a safe people dividing over these issues and siding with people that preach false gospels okay it's crazy to me it's crazy to me i don't care where you stand on all this brethren between you and god if you're saved if you're my brother in the lord my sister in the lord i love you and i stand with you all right i'm with you you know we're on the lord side that's the side we're on okay we're we're fighting a spiritual battle okay but we're getting the world is getting distracted with with all this stuff stop playing the game you know something i learned as a child there was i was once um invited to uh they call them play dates but anyway there was some kid that didn't get along with anyone in school so the mother wanted me as a child to go and play with her son okay well i mean if no one likes him i'm not gonna like him either probably but anyway i remember playing some board game right and uh you know i can't remember i rode some dice okay and i was doing well i was winning in the game and and that boy said oh you're cheating you know you started to cheat okay and i'm like no i didn't cheat and so now you got to roll again you know yeah that was wrong fine you know i just whatever wrote again you know continued playing right and then he started to cheat so he could start winning the game right and i said okay and you know there are many things you should learn as a child so you learn how to be an adult okay and a lot of things just you know god has given given us you know uh as children's sponges you know brain sponges so we can learn things and then we know how we can apply that as we grow up and then i realized okay you know what if i continue playing the game i'm going to lose okay because he's setting the rules and this is his house this is his game he's setting the rules and he wants to make sure he wins okay even though i'm playing right he's going to claim that i'm cheating and even when he's cheating he's going to claim that no he's doing everything right okay he's playing the right game so how do i win this you know what i'm going to stop playing game over and i walked away okay game over all right you walk away you don't play the game and there are too many christians that are playing the game right now okay they've been fooled into playing the game and you're going to lose you're going to lose you've got to stop playing it okay you're going to get mad at your fellow man you're going to get angry at your fellow you know a christian that got vaccinated you're going to get mad at some christian that decided to wear a mask okay who's your brother in the lord who you ought to love okay you're going to get mad when people you know you're going to get mad at the people that ring crime stoppers and report a crime you don't realize they're the victim okay stop thinking that you know that whole left and right paradigm a lot of people understand it but they don't understand when they're in it okay you got to pull out of the game and stop playing listen when i pull out of the game that guy that you know friend came running to me i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry you know we play you know right you know i won't cheat anymore this and that you know but i got to a point i said i'm not playing the game anymore okay i don't want to play it anyway with you okay because you know you've set the rules up so you can win and brethren again you've got that false idea i can choose this side i can choose this side you know what whatever side you choose you're going to lose okay it's stacked against you right now okay the devil's in control so stop playing the game as i said i wanted to title this don't lose your humanity because we're seeing people with contrary views as the enemy it's wrong okay we don't wrestle against flesh and blood can you please turn to first corinthians chapter nine first corinthians chapter nine there's a lot that i wanted to talk about today i'm sorry if i go a bit over time i'm not even sure what the time is right now go to first corinthians chapter nine for me first corinthians chapter nine verse number 19 first corinthians 9 19 let's take the principle here from paul okay paul a great soul winner okay a great church planter first corinthians 9 19 it says for though i be free from all men yet have i have i made myself servant unto all that i might gain them all forever i'm not interested in being like i'm an anti-vaxxer i'm not interested in just making friends with the anti-vaxxer group of people you know what what do you say i made myself servant unto all that i might gain them all it's our job to see souls saved okay i know the lockdowns have stopped us okay but i'm telling you i believe god is going to use this to instill a fear of god into the hearts of our fellow citizens and we need to be prepared okay to gain okay to win the lost okay be prepared for these hard times coming up when people are running and seeking the lord because if we don't give them the answer as we saw in matthew 24 you're going to have the false prophets rise up and they're going to deceive many like the orthodox guy okay that people are supporting promoting that are christians you know you know leading people to listen to this guy they will cause him to preach a false gospel leading to hell you know the verse number 20 and unto the jews i became as a jew that i might gain the jews say oh the jews they're wicked ungodly people yeah they are you know what if i'm going to try to win the jew you know what i'm going to have to do i'm going to try to find some common ground with the jew okay yeah you know what because we're meant to be servants unto all men to them that are under the law as under the law that i might gain them that are under the law to them that are without law as without law not being not without law to god but under the law to christ that i might gain them that are without law to the weak became i as weak that i might gain the weak i am made all things to all men that i might by all means save some it sounds to me that paul did not play the game he says you know what i'm going to be available to all i'm not going to to you know uh push for this side of the argument against that side and create divisions you know what i'm gonna i'm gonna be ready to be able to submit myself to be a servant to all that i might win them all to christ and i fear that as christians if we get too caught up in the world's affairs on whichever side it is that you're not going to be profitable you're not gonna be able to win the loss you're not going to be able to win as many people in the times to come when people start having that fear of god in their hearts once again okay we need to be used effectively by god okay it doesn't matter who it is a jew a person that's under law a person that's uh you know without law doesn't matter who they are brethren we need to be ready to find that common ground be ready to give that person the gospel okay rather than seeing people as the enemy they're not the enemy okay they're the victim the victim of what's going on in this world okay the lockdowns etc i'll quickly read to you from ephesians 6 12 just as a reminder for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rules of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places who's destroying humanity who's destroying society who's destroying businesses who's destroying the livelihoods of people it's spiritual wickedness it's the devil okay we can't fight the devil with flesh and blood okay we need to put on the armor of god which i won't go through right now okay but satan the forces of satan wants you to turn against your fellow man okay and he wants you to feel worried and uncertain about these days and about the future that's what the satan wants he wants us to be unstable can you please turn to romans chapter 12 romans chapter 12 and verse number two romans chapter 12 and verse number two romans 12 2 which reads and be not conformed to this world let me stop there be not conformed to this world say pastor should we go and protest don't be conformed to this world should i go ring crime stoppers for those don't be conformed to this world okay don't get distracted we're not wrestling against flesh and blood here okay god can use us to his full potential if we don't conform ourselves to this world i know often we keep preaching well that means don't sin like the world don't be wicked of course that's a that's application but when we tie ourselves to worldly institutions and worldly arguments and worldly positions you're going to find yourself being less productive for god you're not going to be ready for the times to come what are we to do but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god say god what is your will i want to know your will i don't want to know what the vax pro-vaxxers will is i don't want to know what the anti-vaxxer view is lord i want to know what your will is in my life help me to renew my mind take your mind out of the gutter take your mind out of this world for a moment take your mind out of uh the media and yes take your mind out of the alternative media take your mind out of all these things that are causing you to get frustrated with society and with your fellow man and wanting to wrestle with flesh and blood renew your mind and ask god god show me your will lord get me ready for the time to come where i can be used as a mighty ambassador and win as many souls as i can lord lord i pray that you'd get the the fear of god in the hearts of of australian so i can be there ready lord with a stable mind you know without worrying lord that i can be used effectively for your mission for your mission for your work can you please turn to john 14 turn to john 14 verse number 25 john 14 verse number 25 john 14 verse 25 jesus christ says these things have i spoken unto you being yet present with you but the comforter praise god that we're saved we've got the comforter we've got the comforter stop worrying you've got the comforter i can understand the unsaved aussie next door i can understand why he's worried i can understand why he's having mental problems i can understand why he's suffering depression and all those kinds of things that go with these lockdowns but you brethren you've got the comforter but the comforter which is the holy ghost whom the father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever i have said unto you what are you doing during lockdown are you are you filling your mind with you know with the world with what's going on in this world or you trying to learn from the holy ghost are you learning from the comforter are you trying are you picking up your bibles more than you have before and asking god god show me your truths prepare me for this wicked day that we're living in look at verse number 27 peace i leave with you my peace i give unto you christ is telling us he's given us his peace look at the next words not as the world giveth this world's not going to give you peace so but if we protest and we stop the lockdowns we're going to be at peace aren't we pastor look there's a piece of the word gives but it's it's insignificant it cannot compare to the peace to the peace of jesus christ my peace i give unto you not as the world giveth give i unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid brethren if you're choosing what side am i on which battle am i fighting in this world you're not going to find the peace of god right your heart will be troubled your heart will be afraid okay the devil wants you to pick a side he wants to go fight some worldly battle out there okay and see your fellow man who has a different opinion a different view as the enemy no they're not the enemy okay you need to draw yourself closer to god to find the peace that jesus christ is offering you through the comforter okay spend time with the lord use these times that you're stuck in that in your house not to become idle and a busy body and concern yourself with worldly affairs use your time with the comforter use your time with the lord pick up your bible learn more ask god for his will to reveal his will in your life okay that's where the real peace is that's where you're going to stop worrying about everything that's taking place in the world as i said the wicked wants you to choose a side and uh and this is where i'm getting to the point now where you say pastor you know you seem like you're for the protest but uh you know you don't want to participate what's going on you know and if you're again if you're not going to participate why aren't you ringing cripestoppers and reporting people faces that you may have seen on them on the news well what's going on the next thing i want to talk about here today is about the power of indifference the power of indifference okay you know what this whole thing with lockdowns i'm indifferent and behind you say what does that mean okay i just i thought i'd get your dictionary definition here okay indifference the one of the definitions that i found here was without interest or concern not caring apathetic okay not caring oh you don't care pastor kevin no remember the verse that we started with philippians 4 6 be careful for nothing that sounds like not caring hey that sounds like being indifferent listen i've got my views i've got my preferences but really brevin when it comes to this world i've learned to be indifferent meaning that it doesn't matter if it's liberal or labour in power i'm indifferent i don't care okay because i'm not of this world okay i'm not focused about you know i'm not focused on these things i'm not i'm not going to get tired i'm not going to play the game okay i'm indifferent i don't care who wins i'm on the lord side lord's going to win at the end of the day okay and uh you know some people don't know what it means to be indifferent they think it's fence sitting say well say you just sit on the fence you don't choose the side you don't have opinion i've got my opinions okay i've got my sides okay but indifference is not fence sitting there's a danger in fence sitting you know we should understand where you know what is right and wrong we should understand you know uh the dangers that come with things like lockdowns we also have knowledge and awareness okay uh the bible tells him james one eight a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways i don't want to be a fence sitter offensive someone says well i don't know you know maybe the lockdowns are good you know maybe they're not good i don't know i don't know that's a fence sitter okay he's unstable in all his ways he can't make an opinion indifferent that's not what indifference is okay being indifferent it's it's not offensive you say what i'm not even going i'm not going to sit on the fence okay i'm not going to i'm not going to care about either side and i'm not going to sit on the fence that's what it means to be indifferent i'm not going to play the game okay i'm not going to give into this thing where you're forced to make a decision okay uh and indifference is not ignorance that's the other thing i want to say indifference is not ignorance you know um i don't mind wearing this again when i when i go uh shopping whatever i have to wear it you know i don't want to cause any any problems you know i don't want to go and argue against some shopkeeper that's just you know they're a victim as well and they're trying to take on the mask all right i'll put it on okay there was a day that i i forgot to wear my mask i got out of the car and i went to the shop the guy goes off can you go back to car and get your mask i could have argued right all right i'm still you know okay took 30 seconds to go back to the car and get it i don't make this guy's life any harder okay and you know what when i when i meet people and i talk to people with masks i put a big smile on my face as much as i can and i try to be extra polite because i'm sure everyone's suffering everyone's going through some mental strain i'm not there to add more stress and worry in other people's lives okay but indifference is not ignorance and so i don't mind wearing this and so because i don't mind wearing this then i've got uh you know brethren safe brethren that are very loving and very caring and they know that this is not good for me and so they'll give me information say well you know what uh watch this video and learn how the masks are dangerous you know watch this video and learn how the lockdowns i know all of that okay i know what are they doing saying they're saying pick a side okay take it off you know i'm not interested in playing the game i mean i'm indifferent to it okay i'm not interested but see i'm not ignorant i understand i've done my research i've looked at the sides okay not only that i've watched the videos i've seen all that stuff you know what i don't do i don't go necessarily go and promote all the videos that i've seen because i need to fact check them as well okay look the mainstream media is full of lies the alternative media the channels they're full of lies as well and people don't realize this okay just because one argument one video sides with your opinion doesn't mean it's factually correct you start giving out factually incorrect information you might even turn people against your position okay and so it's not about being informed indifferent just means yeah i know i have my position i know what is right and wrong and yeah i don't care anyway because i'm not in this world i'm not going to play the game i'm not going to get involved i'm not going to see people that have the contrary view as my enemy because they're victims as well okay of course jesus christ says in matthew 10 16 and be therefore wise as serpents okay so we should not be ignorant we should know we should develop our thoughts and opinions okay be wiser serpents and harmless as doves you know what whichever side you're on i ought to be a dove to either side i ought to be a servant to either side because my goal is to bring people into the kingdom of jesus christ okay and if this world goes to hell let it if it brings the fear of god and we can we can be more successful you know at giving the gospel to the lost now i want to just give you some illustration here because i said don't worry stop worrying that's the title of the sermon today stop worrying and we are going to go a bit over an hour but uh hope you guys are patient with me and uh let me just draw a little circle here in the middle of my notes i'll color it in you know we're all influential to some extent you know we're social creatures we're influential to other people and uh you know when it comes to your world you know let's say you're a single person you know this dot on my paper here represents you your life maybe your job the things that you're in control of that little dot on paper represents where you've got 100 influence on things okay you've got control in that area right and uh you know when you get married that circle grows a little bit bigger because now you've got someone else that you can be an influence on and then you have children and that circle grows a little bit bigger you know uh the average um family size or the average uh what is the average um the average number of children that mothers are having in australia is 1.8 okay let's say two let's run that up for two you know what we've had 11 what does that mean i can be five to six times more effective to the next generation because we've got a bigger family so you know what that that you know the bigger your family is or maybe you start your own business one day or me as a pastor i've got two churches where i can be very influential uh in both churches you know that that circle starts to grow as you start to be productive and develop and mature in life and you you know you have your families you get your workplaces you develop and you grow and etc you maybe start your own business one day that circle grows and i'll just draw where i don't know if you can see that but i'll just i got it upside down that's 100 you know influence in that sphere of life okay and then i'm going to draw another little circle around that now that circle around that that represents let's say your friends okay other families other families in church your work colleagues the people that you interact with on a regular basis but really i mean at the end of the day they live their own lives they've got their own families and you're not as influential to them as obviously that that circle in the middle there okay you might have not a hundred percent influence but what you would have is about ten percent that's right that's right ten percent influence in that circle there okay meaning that you know you live right you can give good advice you're going to help people along but really at the end of the day they don't have to take your advice on board let's say it's ten percent okay this is not obviously necessarily fully accurate but you get the picture okay then you've got another circle i'll just draw that circle there another circle around it that circle around that represents covid world okay that represents our politicians that represents uh you know you you still have apparently some level of influence you know maybe some of you say well we don't okay well let's just say you can still go to the polling booths and cast a vote okay you can still have your voices heard to some extent okay so let's just say you know your influence in that world in this world in the wicked world and uh you know that there is let's say it's one percent and it's much less than one percent but let's just you know make it easy okay so there's your area of influence a hundred percent your family your jobs you know the things that you have control over ten percent the people that you interact with you can be a good influence to some extent but at the end of the day not that much and then when it comes to everything else you know your voice is like a drop in the ocean okay you have some as a member of society you have some level of influence okay and then there's another circle around that okay and that other circle is zero percent there's really nothing you can do you can't change the laws of nature you can't change the weather okay you can't change a comet that's flying in space or something right you can't you got that's that's that's fully god's realm okay god is the one that's fully in control of that and you just really you're just living it right there's nothing you can do right and uh and so you've got this as an aspect of your life and you know what's going to drive you insane when you try to make changes over here where you're the you've got the one percent influence okay this is going to drive you insane see the more you get away from this circle the less influential you are and you've got people that are out there protesting for example i'm for it okay but you're out there and listen they're not going to make any difference okay very little difference one percent difference okay that's there and so they're worried about all this stuff and you and look the further you get out of that circle the more you're going to worry because you've got less control you've got less influence okay how do you overcome worry you keep your mind here where you have full control where you have full access to things okay okay that's where your mindset ought to be you're locked down you know what you're spending more time with your family praise god you've got stronger influence there like if i have one hour to influence people one hour i'm going to be more effective using that one hour with my children okay then that one hour with my work colleagues or something okay and so you know what i'm going to focus my attention during this time right there in the middle and that's where i've got most control over when we start to lose control that's when we start to worry because we don't know what the future holds you know we we lose that control of things and and we say oh what's going to happen what's going to happen but here's one simple truth we know that god is in control of that area that you've got no control over okay god is 100 in control of that but you know what god is also 100 in control of this circle and god is 100 in control of that circle and god is 100 in control of course of that circle okay and so while you lose control and you start worrying when you when your mind is focused on these other things you need to remember that god is in full control over every aspect of this okay 100 in control you have the holy ghost living in you you are a child of the one who has a hundred percent control over everything okay and you remind yourself that no matter how wicked crazy this world gets i have a god that is in full control of what's happening i have a god that is not surprised about what's happening okay god knew ahead of time we're going to have five weeks of lockdown plus four weeks of lockdown god knew in ahead of time that the sunshine coastal is going to be locked down this weekend okay god is the one in control of that okay and so what do you do you stop worrying about this say well god you're in control and you just take care of the things that you do have full control over that's what's going to help you to stop worrying can you please turn to colossians chapter one colossians chapter one i'm almost done colossians chapter one verse number 16 colossians 1 16 just as a reminder to you okay colossians 1 16 says for by him were all things created that are in heaven that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all power listen there are so many wicked powers in this world okay but it says all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist what is this telling us god has not lost control okay god is not worried god is in full control of what is happening okay i'm not saying god is causing wickedness but god is allowing the weakness to take place for his ultimate purposes at the end of the day okay one day christ is going to come back and fix it okay we're going to be with him a thousand years we're going to be living this earth and we're going to have more control than we've ever had before but don't lose focus of what's important what you're in control of you know your family your children your jobs the things that you have full control that's what you need to spend your time on your walk with god you'll learn in the bible read the bible your prayer time you have control of that okay if you want to be mentally stable you keep your mindset right there okay i'm not saying be ignorant of everything else okay be aware make sure your mind is on the things that you have full control full influence over okay and you leave the rest to god can you please go to philippians chapter four turn to philippians chapter four which is the passage that we started off reading philippians chapter four philippians chapter four verse six this is our concluding passage philippians four six be careful for nothing but so this is what we do in prayer in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto god let me just go back to that circle okay so don't be full of care hey be indifferent okay you have control there focus there you've lost control there all right it's time to worry it's time to be full of care what do you do you go to god about everything you take it to god who's in control of it all okay say god i'm worried about this i'm worried about that i'm worried about this say god please take it off my shoulders take it off my mind lord i know you're in control you take care of it lord so i can be focused on the area that i can have most control i can have most influence on verse number seven and the peace of god which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ jesus the peace of god which passeth all understanding brethren are you at peace today say pass i'm not at peace today well then apply it okay don't let today finish okay make sure that after the service if you're worried if you're stressed okay you're suffering anxiety and depression you go to the lord right now okay you say i don't know what the future you know holds i don't know what's going to happen next year you know i've got plans to move to queensland on top i don't know if that's going to happen okay i have no control over that brethren but i know who has control over it that's my lord god okay so what do we do we apply this sermon all right we prepare ourselves hey lord i've lost i'm worried there are things i have no control over but i know you're in full control okay let me hand this over to you let me give you my worries let me give you my concerns so i can be focused on the things that i'm on influential the most where i can be influential the most my family my children okay my my walk with you my study of the bible my knowledge of who you are god help me to focus my attention on these things okay and not be distracted help me not to play the game help me not to get involved in the wrestling with the flesh and blood and being you know create divisions lord and being divided even amongst brethren help me not to be that kind of person help me to be prepared for the right time when i can be used effectively for you lord when the fear of god returns in the hearts of australians and i can be used in a mighty way to preach them the gospel and to bring them into your kingdom all right let's pray