WEBVTT 00:00.202 --> 00:06.725 [SPEAKER_00]: And she said these words, do not rob me of participating in what God is doing there. 00:07.966 --> 00:10.307 [SPEAKER_00]: Do not take that away from me. 00:10.327 --> 00:12.228 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to play a part in that story. 00:19.221 --> 00:19.801 [SPEAKER_00]: Good evening. 00:20.201 --> 00:21.042 [SPEAKER_00]: Good evening, how are you? 00:22.142 --> 00:26.324 [SPEAKER_00]: So good to see you, Tim, Melissa's an honor to be with you guys. 00:27.865 --> 00:29.565 [SPEAKER_00]: You do, you have great leaders. 00:30.066 --> 00:38.489 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember when I, the privilege of being a reference for Tim and who's applying for the job here, and one of the, I think you're elder board called me. 00:39.330 --> 00:42.551 [SPEAKER_00]: And we were talking for a while and he was asking all sorts of questions. 00:42.591 --> 00:44.112 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, can we just catch the chase? 00:44.978 --> 00:49.000 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, I've tried to hide him many times and he's always turned me down. 00:49.600 --> 00:52.061 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't, if you don't hire him, you are stupid. 00:52.081 --> 00:57.724 [SPEAKER_00]: You're like, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, this guy is who you need. 00:57.944 --> 01:01.986 [SPEAKER_00]: And what a joy to see what God's doing with all of you. 01:02.066 --> 01:05.187 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a real delight to see how God is moving here at one church. 01:05.827 --> 01:10.810 [SPEAKER_00]: And particularly a privilege to be here this evening as you're looking at this reimagined journey that you're on. 01:11.859 --> 01:25.391 [SPEAKER_00]: anchored in that verse in Ephesians that we see that now to him who is able to do a measurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. 01:26.191 --> 01:35.720 [SPEAKER_00]: Immeasurably more, as we come and present our pledges, our prayer is Lord, do immeasurably more with this. 01:38.733 --> 01:42.575 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a miracle that Jesus did, that demonstrates it measurably more. 01:44.055 --> 01:45.156 [SPEAKER_00]: He lives it in action. 01:45.176 --> 01:52.819 [SPEAKER_00]: It's that story that we all, maybe have heard of the feeding of the 5,000 in John chapter six, we're gonna look at that tonight briefly together. 01:52.839 --> 01:58.961 [SPEAKER_00]: So if you have your Bibles turn to John six, if you don't, it's on the screen, I'm gonna read it from verse one. 02:02.519 --> 02:14.745 [SPEAKER_00]: Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, that is the Sea of Typerius, and a great crowd of people followed him, because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 02:15.925 --> 02:22.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Then Jesus went up on a mountainside, and he sat down with his disciples, the Jewish Passover Festival was near. 02:23.909 --> 02:27.711 [SPEAKER_00]: When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 02:32.182 --> 02:37.165 [SPEAKER_00]: He asked this only to test him for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 02:38.366 --> 02:45.551 [SPEAKER_00]: Philip answered him, Manu would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread, even if anyone had a bite. 02:47.452 --> 02:51.575 [SPEAKER_00]: Another of his disciples Andrew Simon Peter's brother spoke up. 02:51.595 --> 02:58.200 [SPEAKER_00]: Here's a boy with five small byloughs and two small fish, but how on earth will that go around so many? 02:59.837 --> 03:14.849 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said, well, have the people sit down on those plenty of grass in that place and they sat down about 5,000 of them, and Jesus took the loaves, he gave thanks, and distributed to those who are seated as much as they wanted. 03:15.949 --> 03:16.970 [SPEAKER_00]: He did the same with the fish. 03:18.191 --> 03:23.275 [SPEAKER_00]: When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, gather the pieces that 03:27.104 --> 03:35.288 [SPEAKER_00]: So they gathered them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who would eat them. 03:36.768 --> 03:50.455 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we go down to verse 35, where Jesus starts to explain a bit about some of the meaning of this miracle where he said, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never go hungry. 03:51.335 --> 03:55.437 [SPEAKER_00]: And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 03:57.053 --> 03:58.274 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray before we dig in. 03:59.214 --> 04:05.998 [SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus, we thank you that you are the bread of life, and that you invite us to feast on you. 04:08.460 --> 04:15.004 [SPEAKER_00]: That our spiritual stomach remain empty until we feast on you. 04:16.165 --> 04:21.528 [SPEAKER_00]: We were designed to know you, designed to live with you, designed for you to be our sustenance. 04:23.844 --> 04:33.912 [SPEAKER_00]: And as we come into this evening tonight, continuing to reimagine Jenny, Lord, I pray that we may see what you're calling us to do tonight. 04:35.754 --> 04:40.938 [SPEAKER_00]: And as we do that, we pray that you'd raise our faith to the immeasurably more that you will do with it. 04:42.480 --> 04:43.140 [SPEAKER_00]: In Christ's name. 04:43.480 --> 04:43.821 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 04:44.762 --> 04:45.082 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 04:46.163 --> 04:47.604 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus saw the crowd coming. 04:47.624 --> 04:50.326 [SPEAKER_00]: I realized he had to feed them. 04:53.167 --> 04:56.569 [SPEAKER_00]: But of course, he saw more than physical hunger. 04:58.350 --> 05:00.351 [SPEAKER_00]: He later on said, I am the bread of life. 05:01.692 --> 05:17.782 [SPEAKER_00]: Meaning that this miracle was a sign post, not just to the miraculous provision of food and practical help, but also the filling of our hearts with Christ himself, that we were made to live in relationship with Christ. 05:19.022 --> 05:37.130 [SPEAKER_00]: I live in a city where everyone tries to stuff their heart and soul with, all that this world has to offer, leisure, pleasure, pleasure, but the story of Los Angeles and I think it's the story of Melbourne too, that however much you shove into your soul, it may be good for a while, but it doesn't satisfy. 05:37.950 --> 05:38.791 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't fulfill. 05:39.691 --> 05:43.773 [SPEAKER_00]: You keep on needing the next thing because satisfaction. 05:44.645 --> 05:45.286 [SPEAKER_00]: is never there. 05:45.486 --> 05:49.649 [SPEAKER_00]: Meaning and purpose is never quite there until you eat of the bread of life. 05:51.971 --> 06:06.623 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus has to feed these 5,000s and he turns to disciples and they don't know what to do and they they find this little boy who's got a little lunch, five loads and two fish and say, look this boy's got a little lunch and Jesus says, well use that! 06:08.304 --> 06:09.745 [SPEAKER_00]: And then a shot, how on earth could 06:13.258 --> 06:14.939 [SPEAKER_00]: feed a multitude. 06:16.839 --> 06:25.282 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure the boy wondered that as well, you know, actually now I kind of want some of this myself, but he gives his five loads and two fish to Jesus. 06:27.503 --> 06:30.424 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus did his immeasurably more. 06:32.105 --> 06:37.006 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus did what Jesus loves to do is take the five loads and two fish of 06:43.060 --> 06:54.363 [SPEAKER_00]: The treasure that we want to give and with it, he does the measureably more than all we can ask or imagine. 06:55.583 --> 07:05.966 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you believe that if you give God your five loads and two fish, whatever that looks like your time, time, time, or treasure, do you know he will do the measureably more with it? 07:07.447 --> 07:11.048 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the story of our journey, particularly 07:14.568 --> 07:21.974 [SPEAKER_00]: to mention that we met at Seminary in Canada, and by wife and I moved down to Raleigh, North Carolina, had no idea where that was until we went there. 07:22.514 --> 07:30.060 [SPEAKER_00]: And after a few years, we were looking about what the next step is, and my wife had said to me, well, Gary, as we're praying, I feel open to anywhere. 07:30.080 --> 07:34.463 [SPEAKER_00]: I feel God really just permission to take us anywhere, except Los Angeles. 07:36.557 --> 07:43.262 [SPEAKER_00]: The next day, we were called by our denominations to pray about planting a church in Los Angeles. 07:44.323 --> 07:45.303 [SPEAKER_00]: They're not tell my wife. 07:45.323 --> 07:50.707 [SPEAKER_00]: But, ever after, while we felt that yes from the Lord, that's a bigger story, but we felt that yes from the Lord. 07:50.727 --> 07:54.390 [SPEAKER_00]: And we didn't really have any money to plant the church. 07:55.471 --> 07:56.932 [SPEAKER_00]: There was no team going with us. 07:58.073 --> 07:59.194 [SPEAKER_00]: We knew no one out there. 07:59.214 --> 08:02.356 [SPEAKER_00]: There was just one or two students who were going to help us while we were there. 08:03.237 --> 08:04.798 [SPEAKER_00]: But we felt the yes of the Lord. 08:06.353 --> 08:16.397 [SPEAKER_00]: So we started to raise money in Raleigh to try and get some salary to get a try and get some kind of seed funding together, and so we were talking to the church, talking to people about maybe sponsoring us. 08:17.798 --> 08:24.160 [SPEAKER_00]: And one day my office, one of our precious seniors, pillars of our community, Betty walked in. 08:25.981 --> 08:30.603 [SPEAKER_00]: And she walked in and she was holding a blue velvet jewelry box. 08:32.424 --> 08:32.604 [SPEAKER_00]: And she 08:37.482 --> 08:38.223 [SPEAKER_00]: I need to be here. 08:38.303 --> 08:38.823 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm old. 08:38.843 --> 08:40.204 [SPEAKER_00]: I won't be able to make the move. 08:41.085 --> 08:41.906 [SPEAKER_00]: But I wish I could. 08:43.327 --> 08:44.808 [SPEAKER_00]: But I want to invest. 08:46.109 --> 08:48.792 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to be part of the story of what God is going to do there. 08:50.853 --> 09:03.104 [SPEAKER_00]: She had recently lost her husband, Jim, and she said, look, Jim and I didn't have much money, but Jim had given me this, which is probably the thing of my value I have, and 09:04.323 --> 09:08.227 [SPEAKER_00]: She opened up the jury box and the side was this stunning pendant. 09:09.709 --> 09:14.834 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, I want you to have it to invest in what God is going to do in Los Angeles. 09:16.776 --> 09:20.800 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know quite what to say, except I thought I can't take it. 09:22.325 --> 09:25.887 [SPEAKER_00]: Deep down I thought I can't be the pastor who takes jewelry off old women. 09:25.988 --> 09:32.131 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I just I can't be that guy So I said Betty I can't I just can't take it. 09:33.432 --> 09:33.933 [SPEAKER_00]: You need it. 09:34.013 --> 09:34.513 [SPEAKER_00]: You need it. 09:34.593 --> 09:35.473 [SPEAKER_00]: We really appreciate you. 09:35.514 --> 09:48.482 [SPEAKER_00]: Pray for us But you need this and she walked out of the office disappointed The next day she came back to the office with her son Jim Jr I just had to get her back and I brought my son 09:49.700 --> 09:53.623 [SPEAKER_00]: because I want you to know that he grew to the me that we insist you take this. 09:55.144 --> 10:01.668 [SPEAKER_00]: And she said these words, do not rob me of participating in what God is doing there. 10:02.909 --> 10:05.250 [SPEAKER_00]: Do not take that away from me. 10:05.270 --> 10:07.192 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to play a part in that story. 10:09.213 --> 10:10.514 [SPEAKER_00]: So I felt the review of Betty. 10:11.615 --> 10:12.855 [SPEAKER_00]: I felt the review of the Lord. 10:15.117 --> 10:16.618 [SPEAKER_00]: It was her five loads and two fish. 10:18.573 --> 10:26.598 [SPEAKER_00]: It was her way of saying, I don't have much, but could you feed a city with maybe part of what I am able to give? 10:27.778 --> 10:32.261 [SPEAKER_00]: Could you bring the bread of life to Los Angeles with my five loaves and two fish? 10:32.281 --> 10:37.004 [SPEAKER_00]: I think the story of our church in Los Angeles goes back to that moment. 10:38.885 --> 10:45.889 [SPEAKER_00]: When Betty and others gave their five loaves and two fish, expecting and hoping and praying that God would do in measureable more. 10:49.030 --> 10:51.372 [SPEAKER_00]: We arrived in Los Angeles in 2011. 10:52.593 --> 11:00.541 [SPEAKER_00]: We met up with a person who was there and kind of a student graduate and she was there and we sat down in our apartment. 11:00.561 --> 11:05.706 [SPEAKER_00]: There's no furniture, we got, we bought, take out pizza and we thought, God, you got to do something. 11:07.868 --> 11:11.191 [SPEAKER_00]: We brought our family away from comfort and safety in Raleigh. 11:12.152 --> 11:13.293 [SPEAKER_00]: And now we're living in, 11:14.744 --> 11:16.785 [SPEAKER_00]: Big L.A. with three small kids. 11:17.505 --> 11:18.805 [SPEAKER_00]: No money and no church. 11:19.966 --> 11:20.806 [SPEAKER_00]: You gotta do something. 11:23.247 --> 11:27.708 [SPEAKER_00]: That day, I remember walking around, the area where we were living. 11:28.229 --> 11:31.350 [SPEAKER_00]: And I passed this building, which was a church on my right. 11:31.990 --> 11:35.291 [SPEAKER_00]: And I felt the Holy Spirit nudged me that this is important. 11:36.293 --> 11:41.338 [SPEAKER_00]: I've never had a Holy Spirit nudge just like something feels significant. 11:41.438 --> 11:43.180 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know what it was and I saw this building. 11:43.220 --> 11:44.021 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a church. 11:44.902 --> 11:47.865 [SPEAKER_00]: It was called the church, the Nazarene and I just thought, I don't know. 11:48.706 --> 11:49.947 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, Lord, but I don't know. 11:52.049 --> 11:56.814 [SPEAKER_00]: I went back to the house and later on, Amy, the graduate student who was going to help us. 11:58.372 --> 12:00.153 [SPEAKER_00]: So hey, care, really great news. 12:00.414 --> 12:04.797 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a new church plant of about 34 to people that are amazing. 12:04.817 --> 12:09.420 [SPEAKER_00]: I met them, they're meeting up the road, they're going to launch their church soon, it's really exciting. 12:09.440 --> 12:12.543 [SPEAKER_00]: We should go and encourage them, and be with them. 12:13.604 --> 12:15.365 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, she was excited, I was angry. 12:16.286 --> 12:19.168 [SPEAKER_00]: I was annoyed, I was saying, God, why did you bring us here? 12:19.748 --> 12:26.013 [SPEAKER_00]: If there's a church plant, and it's an amazing one, at least, maybe it's rubbish or something, but a good one up the road. 12:27.890 --> 12:29.352 [SPEAKER_00]: And say, I said, okay, let's go. 12:29.372 --> 12:30.874 [SPEAKER_00]: I put on my best Christian smile. 12:30.894 --> 12:31.795 [SPEAKER_00]: I went, okay, let's go. 12:31.815 --> 12:35.179 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember going up there, rather bitter about the whole thing. 12:35.679 --> 12:38.542 [SPEAKER_00]: And I walked into the back doors of the room. 12:40.164 --> 12:40.845 [SPEAKER_00]: Amy and I walked in. 12:42.118 --> 12:51.067 [SPEAKER_00]: And what we heard, I can promise you is not to preach your exaggeration or hyperbole, this is actually what was said, walked in, sat down at the back. 12:51.647 --> 13:00.136 [SPEAKER_00]: And the guy in the front who's obviously the pastor was saying to the group about 30 or 40 of them, saying, well, you know, you know, we're praying because we've had a big shift. 13:01.497 --> 13:06.202 [SPEAKER_00]: That I've been here for six months gathering a team to plant this church in West LA. 13:07.438 --> 13:18.860 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to launch soon, but sadly, they've announced last week that the church I'm from, the senior pastors has had to retire for good reasons, and I need to get back to take over. 13:20.261 --> 13:32.863 [SPEAKER_00]: So I can't continue that we've got to close this down, or we're praying God, if by some miracle, a pastor shows up to take over. 13:34.204 --> 13:35.504 [SPEAKER_00]: They'd let's pray for that miracle. 13:36.956 --> 13:44.382 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, he said, let's go to be a miracle because they've got to be here now and they've got to kind of be funding themselves for a bit, we've got no money. 13:46.087 --> 13:48.648 [SPEAKER_00]: And they kind of have to be connected with our DNA. 13:48.668 --> 14:05.292 [SPEAKER_00]: We're praying for someone who really is a good fit, and that is kind of semi-trained and deep theology, orthodox theology, but also has the experience in life, the spirit kind of like someone about background, back in the UK, back in England, with HGB and those guys, and that's where I'm from. 14:05.572 --> 14:09.993 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was just like, oh my gosh, God, pick me, pick me! 14:12.333 --> 14:13.814 [SPEAKER_00]: I went up to afterwards and I said, 14:15.934 --> 14:20.858 [SPEAKER_00]: and we realize that God had orchestrated this divine appointment. 14:23.380 --> 14:28.223 [SPEAKER_00]: But Betty's five-loves and two-fish were starting to see the immeasurably more. 14:30.085 --> 14:32.267 [SPEAKER_00]: We grew by God's grace, 14:33.463 --> 14:34.824 [SPEAKER_00]: in that little building for a few weeks. 14:34.844 --> 14:37.646 [SPEAKER_00]: And we go, we're going to launch soon on East O'er, meeting in the evening. 14:37.666 --> 14:39.006 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't meet here in the evening anymore. 14:39.026 --> 14:43.029 [SPEAKER_00]: The church, actually, church in that green, want to kind of kick us out. 14:43.449 --> 14:44.730 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're East's coming. 14:44.750 --> 14:45.731 [SPEAKER_00]: We want to launch East O'er. 14:45.751 --> 14:49.433 [SPEAKER_00]: We desperately need somewhere to launch on a Sunday morning. 14:49.473 --> 14:50.413 [SPEAKER_00]: But there's nowhere available. 14:51.414 --> 14:54.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it sounds as a very difficult place to rent space. 14:55.677 --> 14:59.059 [SPEAKER_00]: Most schools and most businesses don't rent to churches. 15:00.406 --> 15:04.648 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we were struggling and praying, and there's like eight days to go seven days to go. 15:04.669 --> 15:07.250 [SPEAKER_00]: And we were praying, Lord, open some of our up. 15:09.011 --> 15:13.914 [SPEAKER_00]: On the Monday, before Easter, had a phone call from some other pastors in town, had met. 15:14.874 --> 15:17.656 [SPEAKER_00]: They were a church plant that had been going for about three years. 15:18.437 --> 15:20.778 [SPEAKER_00]: And they said, yeah, just something comes to mind. 15:22.374 --> 15:29.719 [SPEAKER_00]: I have no idea of what you're planning and now you're going to build in and everything is great and now you're thriving, you just have to get going. 15:30.560 --> 15:42.368 [SPEAKER_00]: But if by any chance you're looking for a place to meet on a Sunday morning, then we've decided to move out and if we're at, you know what, it's going to be available next Sunday morning, Vista. 15:43.149 --> 15:44.450 [SPEAKER_00]: So if you want it, you can take it. 15:45.450 --> 15:49.253 [SPEAKER_00]: The landlord is desperate for a church because he wants the money and so I don't know, 15:53.100 --> 15:57.562 [SPEAKER_00]: Here it is, God had arranged a divine appointment. 15:58.862 --> 16:00.383 [SPEAKER_00]: Betty's five-thousand-two fish. 16:01.263 --> 16:03.224 [SPEAKER_00]: We're seeing more of the immeasurably more. 16:05.205 --> 16:10.067 [SPEAKER_00]: Then about five years later, by God's grace, we're growing and God's doing great stuff. 16:11.208 --> 16:16.430 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, we were kind of overflowing our little building, our little premises where we were meeting. 16:17.582 --> 16:25.506 [SPEAKER_00]: And after the service we held one of our kind of quarterly Q-nays, just the people to ask what's going on in the life of church and what about this, what about that? 16:25.546 --> 16:27.947 [SPEAKER_00]: And one person said, yeah, are we ever going to buy building? 16:29.228 --> 16:31.349 [SPEAKER_00]: We're all tired of setting up, setting down in the morning. 16:32.729 --> 16:34.010 [SPEAKER_00]: And I get it, I get it. 16:34.330 --> 16:35.991 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what, this is Los Angeles. 16:37.712 --> 16:38.412 [SPEAKER_00]: I have no money. 16:39.793 --> 16:41.714 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't want to take on any debt. 16:42.820 --> 16:43.541 [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know what? 16:43.921 --> 16:44.382 [SPEAKER_00]: Probably not. 16:44.422 --> 16:44.962 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what? 16:45.443 --> 16:47.725 [SPEAKER_00]: If God wants to give us a building, that'd be great. 16:50.327 --> 16:53.751 [SPEAKER_00]: Next week, an email came into my inbox. 16:54.672 --> 16:57.975 [SPEAKER_00]: From someone I never met before or heard of, the guy called Barry. 16:59.510 --> 17:01.451 [SPEAKER_00]: And his email address looked really fake. 17:02.071 --> 17:06.713 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it was a mixture of AOL and all this kind of weird stuff. 17:06.733 --> 17:07.914 [SPEAKER_00]: It was like, dude, this is fake. 17:08.334 --> 17:20.900 [SPEAKER_00]: And I actually said, who's, is this a spam or something, but he said, dimsy Jones, I'm an elder of a church in Los Angeles, didn't say where, but our pastor's pastor is retiring. 17:22.176 --> 17:32.059 [SPEAKER_00]: And where we've shrunk to faithful Jesus following older people, and we wonder if it's best to merge with the church, because we have buildings. 17:32.659 --> 17:35.099 [SPEAKER_00]: We have a big building, but very few people. 17:36.820 --> 17:40.621 [SPEAKER_00]: We're wondering if churches who don't have a building would like to merge with us. 17:42.346 --> 17:55.113 [SPEAKER_00]: Didn't know where this church was, and I actually thought, because of the fake email address, it was a joke from one of our congregation members, having heard me say, if God wants to give us a building, but for it, but I did reply to Barry and say, okay, let's meet. 17:56.954 --> 17:58.695 [SPEAKER_00]: We are in to place that week to meet. 17:59.295 --> 18:07.239 [SPEAKER_00]: And I walked in, met with Barry, and we got on really well, and he was talking about his church and where there are, and suddenly I went, hang on a minute, this sounds familiar. 18:07.559 --> 18:08.400 [SPEAKER_00]: Where is this church? 18:11.050 --> 18:15.172 [SPEAKER_00]: And he went, oh, well, it's the church on the corner of 10th and California. 18:17.053 --> 18:23.957 [SPEAKER_00]: I was absolutely dumbfounded because of anywhere in Los Angeles, where this church could be. 18:25.038 --> 18:27.159 [SPEAKER_00]: This was the church where my son goes to preschool. 18:28.560 --> 18:30.421 [SPEAKER_00]: And where I lived around the corner. 18:31.582 --> 18:36.625 [SPEAKER_00]: And where the previous week, my wife, when picking up my son from preschool, 18:41.780 --> 18:53.087 [SPEAKER_00]: because I was absolutely dog-tired, getting up at four in the morning every Sunday, riding a bike to the storage center, getting a truck and hauling everything to the church and doing all of church and back again. 18:53.688 --> 19:00.312 [SPEAKER_00]: And I was dog-tired and she said to Sam, my son, we should pray for daddates to get a building for the church. 19:01.032 --> 19:05.255 [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't even pray now, and they had laid their hands on the church building. 19:07.372 --> 19:12.655 [SPEAKER_00]: and prayed, not necessarily for that building, but just as a sign of Lord, please let us have a building. 19:18.597 --> 19:22.639 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus was doing a measure we more with these five loaves and two fish. 19:23.420 --> 19:31.603 [SPEAKER_00]: We had the joy of getting to know this beautiful, small, older community in a really beautiful, big building in the heart of Los Angeles. 19:33.364 --> 19:34.505 [SPEAKER_00]: And we merged our churches. 19:35.717 --> 19:52.891 [SPEAKER_00]: 20 or so of them, and a few hundred of us come in together to see what we knew was not just a church filler building, but a building being available to bring the bread of life to the city. 19:54.352 --> 20:01.017 [SPEAKER_00]: We knew straight away that this building was not for us, that we had to get this building 20:05.193 --> 20:12.475 [SPEAKER_00]: But, yes, it was great that we weren't doing pop-up church anymore, but we knew in our hearts that this city needed the bread of life. 20:14.016 --> 20:20.798 [SPEAKER_00]: And our church, if anything, would just be a feeding center, where people could come and taste and see that the Lord is good. 20:20.818 --> 20:29.900 [SPEAKER_00]: I had a specific word from Acts chapter 16 that I thought God gave me for what we were called to do with these buildings. 20:29.920 --> 20:34.762 [SPEAKER_00]: You've heard the last few weeks that Tim was said that your campaign is not about buildings. 20:35.942 --> 20:37.563 [SPEAKER_00]: about what God is going to do through them. 20:39.683 --> 20:48.226 [SPEAKER_00]: And in Acts chapter 16, God gave me this word I felt for our church, which was taken from that story of Paul on his second missionary journey. 20:48.866 --> 20:54.548 [SPEAKER_00]: He's going around strengthening the church, is that he planted on his first journey. 20:55.760 --> 21:03.664 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know the story, he's trying to visit the church, but all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit stops him going this way, stops him going that way, doesn't know which way to go. 21:04.485 --> 21:10.148 [SPEAKER_00]: So he's camping out in a place called Trowas, waiting for the Holy Spirit to say, go here. 21:12.089 --> 21:14.130 [SPEAKER_00]: And then in verse 9, we read this. 21:15.230 --> 21:23.835 [SPEAKER_00]: During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia, standing and begging him, come over to Macedonia and help us. 21:25.132 --> 21:32.675 [SPEAKER_00]: After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 21:34.656 --> 21:41.359 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul had his instructions to go to Macedonia, but do you notice how God instructed him? 21:43.080 --> 21:45.881 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't give him an angel saying go to Macedonia. 21:46.542 --> 21:48.403 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't write Macedonia in the sky. 21:48.423 --> 21:52.444 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't just give him a vision of Macedonia itself and 21:55.126 --> 21:57.006 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, how did God call Him there? 21:57.027 --> 22:03.368 [SPEAKER_00]: The adivision of a man of Macedonia saying, come and help us. 22:04.869 --> 22:08.009 [SPEAKER_00]: And did you see what this man of Macedonia was doing? 22:09.170 --> 22:11.690 [SPEAKER_00]: Standing and begging for help. 22:14.151 --> 22:15.291 [SPEAKER_00]: Begging for help. 22:17.072 --> 22:22.093 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul could see what God sees every day, which is, 22:23.602 --> 22:32.785 [SPEAKER_00]: The people of Macedonia, the cultural elite of the day, no matter how much they enjoyed, the leisure pleasure treasure of Macedonia, their hearts were empty without Jesus. 22:33.425 --> 22:34.165 [SPEAKER_00]: Begging for help. 22:35.266 --> 22:37.367 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think our cities are very much different. 22:38.567 --> 22:43.969 [SPEAKER_00]: Melbourne thrives, it's well-renowned for its culture, and it's coffee. 22:45.849 --> 22:51.051 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet you can enjoy all of that and without the bread of life, your heart is begging for help. 22:52.805 --> 23:00.071 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the same for Los Angeles, and we knew that we actually had to get this building ready to feed the city the bread of life. 23:02.232 --> 23:05.235 [SPEAKER_00]: So we actually raised money like you guys are doing. 23:07.378 --> 23:13.423 [SPEAKER_00]: To fix the place up, to get it ready, it actually was quite an old building for American standards. 23:13.463 --> 23:18.988 [SPEAKER_00]: It was built in 1950 and it hadn't really had much work done to it. 23:19.008 --> 23:26.255 [SPEAKER_00]: And the last time it was renovated was when a film crew had filmed inside this chapel for a famous film. 23:26.295 --> 23:29.758 [SPEAKER_00]: If you may have seen it, it's a very old film now called Father of the Bride. 23:30.870 --> 23:34.972 [SPEAKER_00]: And inside, it was like in 1980s and 1990s movie, I think. 23:35.072 --> 23:39.394 [SPEAKER_00]: And, but it hadn't been read done since the film crew had read done it. 23:39.414 --> 23:44.976 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was falling down a bit, all the electric things he'd do in the plumbing needed doing. 23:44.996 --> 23:53.640 [SPEAKER_00]: And, which we raised money and said, Lord, this is not just a fix this place, but to get it ready again, to welcome the city who are begging for help. 23:56.367 --> 24:02.170 [SPEAKER_00]: We didn't know how much we could raise, we didn't raise much at the time, but we did what we could to get it ready. 24:03.951 --> 24:07.212 [SPEAKER_00]: And I had three people in my heart who I wanted to get the building ready for. 24:08.853 --> 24:11.054 [SPEAKER_00]: The first was our young adults and teenagers. 24:13.275 --> 24:20.899 [SPEAKER_00]: We had three kids at the time, and we knew firsthand the battles that teenagers had in schools and on the playground. 24:22.506 --> 24:29.050 [SPEAKER_00]: The battles have drugs, the battles of sex, the battles of liberalism, and secularism, and all sorts of stuff. 24:29.810 --> 24:34.673 [SPEAKER_00]: LA, the playgrounds were probably the most raided art environment of the whole city. 24:36.635 --> 24:39.596 [SPEAKER_00]: And our kids, therefore, are on the forefront of that battle. 24:39.676 --> 24:50.123 [SPEAKER_00]: At least in kind of your companies where you work, you have an HR department to keep things under control, but not in the playgrounds, not in the schools. 24:51.427 --> 25:13.947 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we felt Lord, we want to have a space that our own teenagers can feel safe, can feel normal, can actually let their head down and just be full of Jesus without having to hide it, without having to fight it, but let this building be a safe haven in a sea of opposition. 25:15.783 --> 25:26.526 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we created an amazing venue for our youth and we hired incredible youth leaders and won by well and we saw the youth run to the building. 25:28.707 --> 25:29.547 [SPEAKER_00]: Not wanna leave it. 25:30.768 --> 25:31.948 [SPEAKER_00]: Bring their friends here. 25:34.869 --> 25:40.391 [SPEAKER_00]: For they knew this was a slice of heaven in a city of darkness. 25:42.176 --> 25:47.339 [SPEAKER_00]: God was giving us a place that we could feed our youth and teenagers, the bread of life. 25:50.620 --> 25:56.864 [SPEAKER_00]: The other person in my heart, I thought, Lord, parenting is so challenging and Los Angeles. 25:56.964 --> 26:10.071 [SPEAKER_00]: The divorce rates through the roof, so many single moms in particular, Lord, we want to make sure this building feels like home and feels like the extended family for every single 26:12.258 --> 26:18.660 [SPEAKER_00]: that we can only imagine a single mum getting up in the morning or something morning going, do I have it in me to get the kids ready for church? 26:20.521 --> 26:33.665 [SPEAKER_00]: And what are they, they finally get together and get to get dressed and throw something in the back of the car, they're fighting and she's thinking, oh my gosh, I just can't even do this, I just want to go home to bed and I felt the pain of that mum. 26:35.625 --> 26:40.007 [SPEAKER_00]: And what if we could design and do this building that she knew that if she could just 26:41.866 --> 26:44.947 [SPEAKER_00]: As she drove up, she would see her family saying, come on, we've got you. 26:46.927 --> 27:01.590 [SPEAKER_00]: Places to park just for her, a kid's ministry that is safe and secure and, for their kids want to go and run in, where they're being fed the bread of heaven, where they're becoming alive and things to the spirit, where they realise, this is my family, this is my home. 27:06.152 --> 27:07.992 [SPEAKER_00]: And over the years, we've seen a vintage. 27:09.730 --> 27:15.791 [SPEAKER_00]: Our family ministry and our singles ministry and the kids ministry plus them and grow. 27:16.132 --> 27:22.493 [SPEAKER_00]: So now that people in our city don't want to leave the city when their kids get older. 27:23.833 --> 27:32.656 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a, you may not notice, but in Los Angeles, as soon as your kids get to a certain age, you leave the city because you want three, four bedrooms, not two. 27:33.356 --> 27:36.297 [SPEAKER_00]: You want a high school with a football field, not an office block. 27:40.574 --> 27:48.540 [SPEAKER_00]: And now we have families getting the last thing I've ever doing is taking my kids away from this place because here they're experiencing the bread of heaven. 27:49.721 --> 27:53.384 [SPEAKER_00]: Which is far more important than a fourth bedroom and a football field. 27:53.404 --> 28:01.111 [SPEAKER_00]: I have the core of my heart for what God was gonna do in this building. 28:01.531 --> 28:02.652 [SPEAKER_00]: The image really more. 28:03.453 --> 28:06.435 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, Lord, if it could be this, I'll go home happy. 28:08.043 --> 28:13.727 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is, to see this church be a safe place for people to explore Jesus. 28:18.031 --> 28:28.939 [SPEAKER_00]: Like Melbourne, most of us city would be not an active follower of Jesus, and my heart breaks for them as yours does. 28:30.440 --> 28:34.303 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet at the same time, they find it very intimidating to come to church. 28:37.588 --> 29:02.061 [SPEAKER_00]: very uncomfortable to come to church, it's very odd for many, and it's awkward, and even if they want to explore Jesus, it feels intimidating, and when Lord we've got to redo this building that it doesn't feel so intimidating, and just judgment when you walk in, I remember 29:07.322 --> 29:09.783 [SPEAKER_00]: He wanted to know Jesus, wanted to explore Jesus. 29:10.443 --> 29:15.644 [SPEAKER_00]: He was a small guy, so he climbed a tree, so he could listen to Jesus' teach. 29:17.744 --> 29:26.006 [SPEAKER_00]: But he had a problem, which was, he was ostracized by his own community for, he was a task collector, colluding with the Romans to flee his own people. 29:27.826 --> 29:36.748 [SPEAKER_00]: He was for certain on grass, so he was blacklisted by his own community, and so how is he gonna explore Jesus in safety? 29:39.165 --> 29:42.688 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus comes up to the tree and looks up and says, it's a key, it's come down. 29:44.008 --> 29:46.330 [SPEAKER_00]: And did you notice what Jesus said to his a key is? 29:47.091 --> 29:49.973 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't say, it's a key, he should hang out with us for a bit. 29:50.653 --> 29:51.674 [SPEAKER_00]: He should come to church. 29:52.655 --> 29:53.936 [SPEAKER_00]: Did he come to synagogue, come to temp? 29:53.956 --> 29:56.818 [SPEAKER_00]: He just didn't say that. 29:58.459 --> 30:02.121 [SPEAKER_00]: Because he knew that would be the last place he'd want to go. 30:03.602 --> 30:07.085 [SPEAKER_00]: He wanted to explore Jesus, but not feel shame or judged. 30:09.169 --> 30:10.010 [SPEAKER_00]: So what did Jesus say? 30:11.231 --> 30:13.673 [SPEAKER_00]: Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your house. 30:15.655 --> 30:28.727 [SPEAKER_00]: He went to the Zacchaeus house because he knew in Zacchaeus's house, Zacchaeus would feel safe, would have feel relaxed, wouldn't have feel judged or shamed, that Jesus could come onto his turf. 30:31.343 --> 30:41.250 [SPEAKER_00]: And we had an ambition at Vintage Lord, can we raise money to redo our building that on Tuesday night for Alfa, it feels like it's a key as it's house. 30:43.491 --> 30:49.175 [SPEAKER_00]: That people can come in and feel at home and feel safe and not judge or ashamed. 30:53.038 --> 31:00.203 [SPEAKER_00]: We call our Alfa on Tuesday night, our second Sunday service, because it's the Sunday for the city. 31:01.478 --> 31:02.318 [SPEAKER_00]: where they can come in. 31:03.999 --> 31:14.264 [SPEAKER_00]: And some of them love our space so much because actually we've raised money enough to redo it in such a way that actually you walk onto our church campus and there's no church stuff anywhere. 31:14.985 --> 31:17.026 [SPEAKER_00]: It feels like this is a neutral venue. 31:18.386 --> 31:21.648 [SPEAKER_00]: We take down all the posters, we hide all the bibles, we do everything to make. 31:22.628 --> 31:24.069 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's make this a key of this house. 31:30.793 --> 31:34.977 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to tell you the story of a friend called Carly. 31:35.838 --> 31:38.020 [SPEAKER_00]: Carly was my hairdresser about five years ago. 31:39.382 --> 31:40.242 [SPEAKER_00]: Very Los Angeles. 31:41.172 --> 32:08.178 [SPEAKER_00]: Kind of in her early 30s, looked the part of New Age Spirituality Los Angeles, you know, she had crystals on the thing in front of her, she cut my hair, she was microdosing, she had little things burning everywhere, and she had sleeve tattoos, she wore eccentric 1960s, kind of dresses, she had bright red hair in three directions, going out like that, and she had kind of piercings all over, 32:08.878 --> 32:15.204 [SPEAKER_00]: And she was enthusiastic that I was a pastor because, hey, she was spiritual, so my, we're all big one spiritual family, right? 32:15.344 --> 32:18.166 [SPEAKER_00]: And she was great, I loved it dearly. 32:18.307 --> 32:26.334 [SPEAKER_00]: And then one alpha, about a year later, get my hair cut, curly showed up and it wasn't to be with me. 32:26.394 --> 32:31.118 [SPEAKER_00]: Someone else had cut their head, he invited an alpha. 32:32.185 --> 32:34.546 [SPEAKER_00]: She came into my group on Alpha and she loved it. 32:34.586 --> 32:43.269 [SPEAKER_00]: She loved the venue, we have a pub in our church for the Alpha to make it really sure it's the key of his health and could be a cafe. 32:43.289 --> 32:45.630 [SPEAKER_00]: But anyway, she loved it. 32:45.650 --> 32:46.290 [SPEAKER_00]: She felt safe. 32:47.110 --> 32:49.151 [SPEAKER_00]: She's in my group and at the end of Alpha, she loved it. 32:49.171 --> 32:50.612 [SPEAKER_00]: She was so talkative the whole time. 32:50.632 --> 32:51.732 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I loved this Alpha thing. 32:52.052 --> 32:52.653 [SPEAKER_00]: Can I do it again? 32:52.673 --> 32:53.233 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm in sure. 32:53.613 --> 32:56.414 [SPEAKER_00]: And she said, well, next time, you taught what about Jesus. 32:56.694 --> 32:59.115 [SPEAKER_00]: Next time, can I talk about what I believe and do the talks? 32:59.703 --> 33:02.425 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I'm not to show that as how Alfa works. 33:05.406 --> 33:07.927 [SPEAKER_00]: We didn't see Kali again for a while. 33:09.989 --> 33:11.709 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell her about, yeah, go. 33:13.630 --> 33:17.953 [SPEAKER_00]: And Kali was in church on the third row, and you can't miss her. 33:18.093 --> 33:18.613 [SPEAKER_00]: There she is. 33:20.374 --> 33:23.356 [SPEAKER_00]: I kind of signaled as I was at the preaching, as I spotted her. 33:25.037 --> 33:26.477 [SPEAKER_00]: She came up to me and said, yeah, 33:30.140 --> 33:31.922 [SPEAKER_00]: Life's been really hard for the last few years. 33:35.065 --> 33:41.150 [SPEAKER_00]: It's been really hard, and if Carly says it's really hard, it's really hard. 33:43.192 --> 33:51.099 [SPEAKER_00]: And she said, I couldn't stop remembering that the only place in the city I felt safe and loved is here. 33:54.342 --> 33:55.143 [SPEAKER_00]: So can I come back? 33:57.677 --> 33:58.477 [SPEAKER_00]: How do I offer again? 33:59.478 --> 34:02.659 [SPEAKER_00]: I won't call you, of course you can. 34:02.679 --> 34:03.880 [SPEAKER_00]: So she came back to Alpha. 34:04.360 --> 34:05.681 [SPEAKER_00]: She wasn't in my group this time. 34:06.681 --> 34:07.722 [SPEAKER_00]: She did it Alpha again. 34:08.662 --> 34:09.583 [SPEAKER_00]: Two times in a row. 34:11.005 --> 34:18.868 [SPEAKER_00]: And then it wasn't so long ago that on a Sunday, there she is now every Sunday at the same place and she came out to me after the service. 34:19.988 --> 34:26.070 [SPEAKER_00]: And said, again, can I just disturb you just for a minute, and of course, I kind of knelt down the state, and what's going on? 34:26.730 --> 34:30.272 [SPEAKER_00]: And she said, she looked up and she said, I got some really important news. 34:31.032 --> 34:31.432 [SPEAKER_00]: To the what? 34:33.113 --> 34:36.734 [SPEAKER_00]: I just want you to know, I'm all in. 34:38.244 --> 34:47.092 [SPEAKER_00]: I go, what do you mean, she went, I'm all in with Jesus, I'm all in, and Tears filled my eyes. 34:48.473 --> 34:57.722 [SPEAKER_00]: Tears filled her eyes and then now every Sunday, she's there, learning how to worship, learning how to follow Jesus, come out of everything that she's been involved in. 35:07.495 --> 35:13.057 [SPEAKER_00]: And God did what He always loves to do, immeasurably more. 35:16.278 --> 35:21.680 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what you're gonna give to this renewal, reimagine campaign. 35:22.941 --> 35:25.942 [SPEAKER_00]: I can promise you this, he'll do immeasurably more with it. 35:30.323 --> 35:34.645 [SPEAKER_00]: And your five-loz and two-fish may be really five-loz and two-fish. 35:35.717 --> 35:37.278 [SPEAKER_00]: But I better you go, but you know what? 35:37.298 --> 35:40.480 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter how much I want some skin in the game. 35:42.402 --> 35:43.663 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to be part of this story. 35:44.563 --> 35:47.886 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not gonna miss out on a measureably more. 35:50.368 --> 35:54.751 [SPEAKER_00]: You may be giving a lot, and other people may, wow, that's a lot more than five loaves and two fish. 35:55.071 --> 35:55.651 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you know what? 35:56.412 --> 36:00.555 [SPEAKER_00]: According to God's riches, wherever you give will always be five loaves and two fish. 36:05.815 --> 36:09.337 [SPEAKER_00]: and he will do you measure me more with your five-lose and two-fish. 36:13.059 --> 36:14.860 [SPEAKER_00]: I always wonder what happens that little boy. 36:16.521 --> 36:21.924 [SPEAKER_00]: Going home after that miracle, going into the house and his mum, going, hey mate, how was your day? 36:22.684 --> 36:23.084 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what? 36:23.104 --> 36:24.045 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a pretty big day. 36:25.045 --> 36:25.726 [SPEAKER_00]: How was your lunch? 36:26.426 --> 36:31.049 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Jesus took my lunch. 36:32.670 --> 36:32.910 [SPEAKER_00]: What? 36:34.243 --> 36:35.685 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus took your lunch, were you? 36:35.705 --> 36:37.366 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna have a word of that, Jesus. 36:38.267 --> 36:39.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Stealing boys lunches. 36:40.409 --> 36:42.932 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, no, no, no, don't, don't, don't, don't let me tell you. 36:43.993 --> 36:49.639 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you what Jesus did with my lunch. 36:53.463 --> 36:54.804 [SPEAKER_00]: That would have changed his life forever. 36:57.759 --> 37:03.903 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you're going to see what God is going to do, what a measure would more God is going to do with your five-loss and two-fish. 37:04.283 --> 37:09.127 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you'll see it here as you're continuing to see the fruit of his a measure more amongst you. 37:09.467 --> 37:13.550 [SPEAKER_00]: But I can guarantee if you don't see it here, there will be a day. 37:16.051 --> 37:19.514 [SPEAKER_00]: When you hear those words well done, good and faithful servant. 37:21.275 --> 37:25.798 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think he'll lean over and say, hey, do you remember that reimagined campaign? 37:26.752 --> 37:28.693 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you remember there's five loaves and two fish? 37:30.815 --> 37:32.136 [SPEAKER_00]: Can I show you what I did with it? 37:33.597 --> 37:35.319 [SPEAKER_00]: Can I show you the immeasurably more? 37:38.361 --> 37:39.101 [SPEAKER_00]: Less down together. 37:48.409 --> 37:52.131 [SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus, we thank you that you are the God of immeasurably more. 37:56.691 --> 38:02.454 [SPEAKER_00]: And what we have to offer is tiny, but Lord, you say that's what I want to use. 38:06.256 --> 38:06.957 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to use you. 38:08.938 --> 38:12.080 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to show you what I can do through you. 38:13.300 --> 38:23.626 [SPEAKER_00]: But I thank you for beddies, five loads and two fish, all those years ago, reaping into now multiple campuses and church plants and hundreds of now for because of, 38:25.233 --> 38:28.234 [SPEAKER_00]: her insistence on giving her five-lose and two-fish. 38:30.755 --> 38:34.496 [SPEAKER_00]: And we'll repray equally that we may have a story like Betty each one of us. 38:36.516 --> 38:43.578 [SPEAKER_00]: That when we give you an invest our lives in you, you will do a mesh limo. 38:45.859 --> 38:46.559 [SPEAKER_00]: In Christ's name. 38:46.879 --> 38:47.199 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen.