Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Morning, everyone.
[00:00:00] Speaker B: Let's pray for Eric before he shares with us. Father, we thank you for Eric.
We thank you for his love for you, for his faithfulness and serving you Sunday after Sunday, day after day.
And we are so blessed to have him with us this morning. And Father, I just pray that the message that he prepared this morning, that it would really minister to each and every one of us. And I pray, Lord, that it may be a special word to each and every person this morning. May it be as if you're speaking directly to us. May this message be for us and bless us and challenge us and encourage us that we can grow and that we can.
Yeah. Get closer to you, Lord. Father, I also pray that. That this teaching won't only be information or good news, that it would really help us to transform.
And we pray, Holy Spirit, that you would please help us to walk it out in obedience.
Ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: Thank you.
I. I've got. Thanks, Mark. Thank you. I think it's all working. Yep. Yeah. Good morning again.
Sure feel a little emotional, and I was absolutely blown away by what Ryan was just talking about, the verse that was read. There's been prayers that have been prayed today that point to exactly what I wanted to share today. It is nothing but a work of God in my mind.
So before I get on to a short little message which is entitled Life in the Body, I wanted to share a testimony from Natalie. You will remember before she left, you remember, she stood up two weeks ago and gave a beautiful testament. She says, I commit to giving a testimony every week.
And so, of course, Natalie, she will stick to that.
And, yeah, I feel very honored that she has entrusted this to me because she said, you can share it if you want to, or if you feel you don't want to, it's absolutely fine, too. And that takes a lot of trust, I think, because not sharing may hurt someone for whatever reason.
But certainly, if you're listening, thank you for that. Thank you for trusting me.
But it was a beautiful one.
Just before she left, she was drowning in work and she was just totally stressed out. And then at some point, she realized, I just need to hand this to God.
So she did.
And when she truly handed it over to God, she experienced such peace. She says, and I can send you the voice notes. That's fine afterwards. But, yeah, she's experienced such peace, and she knew that she could not do it all.
But even despite that, she was at such peace that she says she was able to do more work than she would have ever been able to do under that stressful feeling.
And so that was the first things that she just wanted to give thanks and praise to God for was like, we can hand these things over to God. The second thing was that she went, obviously, to South Africa to get her annual scans.
She's all clear, and she's truly grateful for that. But more importantly is that she actually wasn't nervous.
Like, for the first time, she had given that, too, to God. And I think even despite the possible outcomes, she just felt at peace about it. Now, isn't that amazing? Isn't that freedom to have that kind of peace and faith in God?
And then the third thing, she always seems to get stressed out when she travels. And one thing that comes out as she is in that state is that she complains everywhere she goes, complains about that person, this thing.
And again, the Holy Spirit just pointed this out to her, and she said, I can't do this. I cannot carry on like this, so I'm gonna stop. And she obviously told Gu that.
And.
And then not in a little bit of time passed, and she started complaining. And Gu said, hey, you're complaining. And so she said, okay, I'm sorry.
So again, talk about accountability and. And people holding you to that. And, yeah, she just said that it changed everything.
You don't want to be walking around annoyed and anxious and, you know, just carrying that is not nice. So she was grateful for that. And so, yeah, the point of this was that if we look hard, if we notice, if we walk closely with God, we can see him every single day.
And that's why she wants to, like, lead by example here and show that every week, if you wanted to, you could give a testimony of what God has done in your life.
So.
After the short little passage, I will share my testimony today of testimonies.
And so I want to jump into the message, which is life in the body.
As you will know, we had an eldest time this weekend in Lusaka and just want to say thank you to those who made the trip.
Was so great to have you there.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: And it was. It was a time of really spending quality time with people, and we received a lot from Andre. I don't know. You will know Andre. He's visited us before. He's an amazing man who we just love and trust and really received some beautiful, strong words from him.
Actually, two of the things that I remember in particular was he spoke on pride, which we've recently received a message on pride through William.
And then he spoke on conflict, which is like touching on that. And I hope you'll see that in my testimony soon.
But life in the body, what does it look like? I just want to quickly again go through the first church in Acts 2:42. This is what it looks like.
And we can spend a lot of time meditating on this and really seeing truly what it looks like and what it's supposed to be so we can read it together.
They devoted themselves to the apostles teachings and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common.
They sold property and possessions to give anyone who had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes. And they ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
So that is such a beautiful picture of. And it's not the complete picture because obviously the Bible has a lot more to say about this. But that is something that we strive for here in GCC is to be like this church here, the first church.
And I asked. I'm going to ask a question now.
I've asked this question before, you may remember.
Question is, do you believe that Jesus is building his church?
And it's such an important question because I wonder if you really do believe that.
And that's just something to ask yourself, to make it even more personal is, do you believe that he's building this church, this very one.
And do you believe that every part of what we try to aim for and we try to do is important if Jesus is building his church.
So a phrase that has been with me for a long time now is, you cannot take someone somewhere where you have not been yourself.
Wish I've been meditating on that a lot.
You cannot take someone somewhere where you haven't been yourself.
And I just have a sense that from the weekend that we've had, from the conversations that we've had, Coles and I with friends and.
Yeah, I just believe that there may be a difficult season where we're pressing through something and pruning and growing is going to happen and we will all be stretched.
So let's just look at that first opening sentence. They devoted themselves to the teaching, to fellowship, to breaking of bread and to prayer. I want to ask you today if you are devoted to the first one, to the teachings.
And this is why I ask if you believe if God is building your church. Because if he is, then whoever brings a message on a Sunday is from him.
And it is part of growing us up to, towards the Lord.
It's a message that he wants to share with us, with all of us.
I have the privilege of working through it in such detail, so I know it so personally.
And so missing these things can put you in a place where you are not receiving what God wants to share with his body.
As I was preparing that sentence, I thought to myself, you've got two doctors, you've got one who passed with 30% and you've got one who passed with 90%.
Who would you prefer to work on? You pretty sure every one of you will take the guy who got 90% for his work, isn't it?
And so Ephesians 4, 11, 12 talks about how Jesus himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers. These are just gifts. He gave these gifts to the church to equip his people for works of service.
And so that is what I believe messages that come from everyone is meant to be doing. It's supposed to be equipping us so that we can go out and do the work.
And if we miss them, then we're going to perhaps fall amongst those 30 percenters, and we won't be that effective and we won't be achieving the place where God wants us to be.
And I was going to say in my. I was going to say to you, and if you miss it, please, then just listen to it on, you know, online so that you don't miss the message. But then I read the next point, which is fellowship.
These guys and these people were devoted not just to the teachings, but also to the fellowship.
And I was thinking here earlier that we can have our quiet times at home. We can even have our community groups.
And that's all beautiful. And it's all part of church. It's all essential parts of church.
But there's something special when we come together.
There's something special when you take time out of your day.
It's like when God called the Israelites out of, out of captivity and wanted to take them into the wilderness because he wanted their full, undivided attention.
And then together, like, you may not feel like it, but the person next to you is praising with all his heart, and that encourages you to praise with all your heart.
And so, And please, we all miss Sundays. Don't hear what I'm not saying. We're not saying, like, oh, you didn't come at all.
It's fine. But What I'm saying is that devoting yourself to something means that you prioritize something. That's what it means. It's like, I'm devoted to Colleen.
She's a priority to me. I'm devoted to my son. Our kids, they have priority in your lives, and that's what it means.
Okay, so there's the breaking of bread and prayer as well, which I must confess, I don't think we have done well.
So something that we need to
[00:13:59] Speaker B: be
[00:13:59] Speaker A: better on the next one was signs and wonders.
And, you know, we've been touching on the Holy Spirit and gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fact that it's the Holy Spirit in us and through us that these miracles happen.
In Mark 16, verse 17, it says these. Sorry, I've said it. I've got a bit more there. But 17 is the verse to focus on. And these signs will accompany those who believe.
So let me read the whole lot, starting from verse 15. He said to them, this is Jesus.
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe in my name. They will drive out demons. Just take note of that, because that's something that I also want to get to on preaching. It's the first thing he said.
How far removed is that kind of thing from us?
In my name, you will cast out demons.
You will speak in new tongues.
Something we've spoken of recently. They will pick up snakes with their hands, and they.
When they drink deadly poison, it will not harm them. They will place their hands on sick people and they will get well.
These are the signs that follow the people who have given themselves to God.
So just to finish off that, that verse, all believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions and gave to everyone who had need.
And it's showing us that our family, the family of believers that we've been placed in, that's our primary responsibility.
Not to say that people outside are not.
Please don't hear that. But I'm not saying either.
We are called to reach everyone, but at least what we can do. We can't control everything. But when we have control with what we have.
So people in the body, we have the ability to meet needs, to.
Yeah. To help where there's needs.
And then every day, they continue to meet together in the temple courts.
I think in our context, that is extremely difficult. But what it says is that as often as possible, let's meet together.
And that's what we try to do.
So I know we do. Once a week, we do community group. I would encourage you to try do one more. Pick a couple, a family, and go have dinner with. That's something that we've been talking about. Let's really press in.
And they broke bread in their homes and they ate together with glad and sincere hearts. And I think that's what we love to do. That's what we're doing here. We're inviting all these wonderful students from.
From far, and we're opening our homes to them, and we're saying, come and be a part of our lives.
So that's what we aim to be like.
Now, I want to get on to my testimony.
This past week has been very busy, and personally, for Coles and myself, it's been very tough in many ways.
We had two couples, one visiting couple and one couple from Lusaka who we spent a lot of time with over this period.
And we have been carrying things in our hearts for a long, long time.
And we haven't dealt with them. And, you know, we have.
I think. We think. Well, at least I do. That we want to shelve them. We want to put them.
Put them there and just hope it goes away.
But it never does.
In fact, I think it's quite the opposite. It festers.
It festers and it gets worse.
And you think because you've forgotten about it for a few weeks, that, oh, no, that's fine.
But we've experienced that is not the case. And there comes a time where we actually have to deal with it.
And so with these couples, we offloaded a lot, and we were talking and it concerned. It concerned other people.
And, yeah, we were. Obviously had some offense and secondary offense in our hearts that it was coming out. It was very apparent that it was coming out.
And at the end of it, this guy, in the most beautiful way spoke into our.
Into our situation.
And he very gently just told us. And he started with me, which was a lesson in itself, because if I'm the head of my home and I'm leading my family, then I must take the brunt.
That's where God puts you. So we have to man up and take it on the chin.
But he told me how I wasn't controlling enough.
Wrong word, wrong word.
How I wasn't dealing with Colleen in love.
In trying to put my point across, I said, your heart is wrong.
And I was pointing out a problem.
And that wasn't the way to win her, to win her over. That wasn't the way make her feel loved and that I'm on her side. It was like I was, in a way, attacking, you know, saying, you've got the problem.
And he just beautifully told me, he said, you need to get in the boat with her. You need to show her that you're on her side.
Sure. So it was like a gentle rebuke, but it was.
I couldn't.
There were things in me that I wanted to say. There was. I wanted to defend, I wanted to explain, but I just had to listen and to receive and be honest. I felt such love from. From this couple, and I think we both did.
It was a beautiful moment. And it was a moment that, I mean, I just learned such a lesson.
And there's a part two to this, which I'll get to in a minute.
But he did that because he loved us and what. What was happening wasn't right.
So he had the. The love and the courage to actually just tell us.
So that, to me, was a real turning point.
The other couple, we spent like four hours with one evening just chatting about everything, and we're talking about our marriage relationship. And they also spoken to that.
And what I realized in that is that I don't prioritize things properly.
You know, we.
Yeah, the reason why I'm not doing the things that we need to do is because it's not a priority to me.
And if I make it a priority, I really and truly believe that it will change. It will change things.
Sorry.
So a verse that speaks to this situation is Ephesians 4, 14, 16.
Then.
We will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ.
From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love.
As each part does its work.
As each part does its work.
I mean, it's the whole thing about speaking the truth in love. Why do we do that?
Because we want to grow.
Have you ever seen someone grow? And I mean grow in character when everything is just going so well that you're totally relaxed and everything is good?
Have you seen people really grow in character when those. When that is the case, or alternatively, have you seen when people go through hardships is that they really grow?
It's like. It's like it's God's way of pruning us and growing us.
And in this situation with Coles and I, we had to.
Yeah, we had to receive.
It was. It was difficult, but we had to. And, and we've spent time praying together and thinking about it and talking about it and.
And so part two of that, of that, that first encounter with our friends, this guy actually called me afterwards and he said, been so convicted.
And I've searched the word and I have prayed, and I believe that what we did there was wrong.
We didn't know what to do. We thought that we were like offloading and coming for help, but it wasn't quite like that, in fact.
And the words he used was, we were gossiping.
Because the Bible tells us very clearly what to do in a situation like this. In Matthew 18, verse 15 to 18, we have a pattern of how we can deal with offences and hurts.
He says, if your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault just between the two of you.
If they listen to you, you have won them over.
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. I'll read the rest in a minute.
But he pointed out that if you have a problem, you have to go and see that person.
We've come up with this good Christian word called processing.
We're processing something and it almost seems like an excuse to.
To talk between ourselves when we have something between someone.
And so when he told me that I couldn't argue.
I said, you're right.
And it was hard because that was a far more harsh rebuke.
Because the problem is that by us doing that, it was affecting his relationship with this person.
You see, that's how gossip and stuff starts.
And so he. He pointed this out to me and, and I just knew. I said, right, tomorrow, we are going to sort this out tomorrow. So we did. We went and we dealt with it and when we worked, walked out of there. For me, I think for both of us, it was like a massive weight was lifted off our shoulders.
And I just want to say that as hard as an uncomfortable it is, God's ways are always good. They are always right.
And so, and, and, and I truly believe, like we went in there very nervous, not confident about, you know, what was going to happen, but it wasn't like that. And I really believe that if you follow this, if you follow the word 80% at least of the time, it's going to get sorted out. 80%.
And if the first step doesn't work. There's a second step where you take one or two witnesses and you've got other people with outside perspective that can weigh in and help the situation.
95, 98% of the chart time that's going to work.
And if it doesn't, there's a third step as well, is that we can take it to the church and hopefully we can win each other over in that way. And there's even another step after that if the person is in the wrong and they are not willing to see that in themselves.
And the Bible says, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Now, the next verse, verse 18 is what really struck me. We almost finished.
Truly, I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. That's great.
But what really struck me was the next one. And whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
And I thought to myself, what are we losing?
Nice word there. When we don't deal with these things that fester in our hearts, that are there to cause division and to cause just.
The enemy wants nothing more than to break this church apart. There's nothing more.
And these are the things he uses.
So when we don't like. I mean, what you said, right, was like, I haven't spoken to Ryan about what he said. He didn't know I was preaching on this. And he did not just say that.
What are we allowing to continue its work when we allow these things to just sit and fester?
[00:29:10] Speaker B: That.
[00:29:11] Speaker A: That's what struck me. And I just want to bring that to our attention. I want to just say to all of us, including us most of all, I mean, we're going through this head on at the moment. And yeah, it's not easy, but I know that. I know that it's that if we follow God's way, it's going to work out. I just know it.
I'm going to end off with this.
There was a verse there right at the end of that Ephesians 4 passage. And it says from. From him. The whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. Now, I got permission to share this.
Coles and Sean were having a discussion last night, and I heard Sean, I walked in, I heard Sean say, lord, why don't you just use Luke? Now we have a young boy in.
A young man in. In our old church, Mazabuka Community Church. You know, Sha Kelly, his son, Luke. Luke Kelly. Man, to see that guy at the moment, it is just incredible. He is on fire. And he is gifted. Like, there is just no tomorrow.
And I know exactly how she. How Sean was feeling, because I felt the same. I'm like, oh, why us?
There's people, better people to do this than we.
But I just felt on my heart right then and there to say, but, Sean, you have gifts that Luke does not have.
Yes, he's gifted in these things, in these areas, but you have something he does not have.
And also, you are just as important as he is.
As important and as wonderful as he is, you are just as important.
And when I was doing that, I.
I don't know why I did this, but you can do it with me. Almost done. This is the last thing.
Hold up your hand and grab your finger, but don't use your little finger.
Try. Leave your little finger up and squeeze.
[00:31:21] Speaker B: Right.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Even if.
Exactly.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: I was there as well.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: Now use your whole hand and squeeze.
And what I noticed was that you don't. It's not even twice as strong.
It's actually three times, four times as strong that grip, as opposed to when you're doing that.
So as little as you think you are, when you plugged in and you are part of this body, you make this body three, four, five, whatever, times more beautiful, more effective for God.
So I want to end off with that.
Can I pray for us, Father?
Thank youk for your word once again, Lord, we love youe word. It is the truth.
It is the very words that come from youm mouth, Lord.
Oh, Lord, it's all good. It's all perfect. And thank youk that it just guides us through this life.
It's such a love letter to us and such beautiful guidance, and there's just so much in it that will.
There's nothing that we can't tackle and address that your word doesn't show us, Lord. So thank you for that. And, Lord, I just pray that everybody in this body and those who weren't with us today, Lord, would know that they are so necessary, Lord, that they have a special and specific place here, Lord, in this little body here.
And yeah, Father, I just pray that you would help us to overcome these things which want to break and divide us apart, Lord.
We need to grow into maturity as your word says, Lord. And we just. I just feel such a sense of urgency to.
To get on top of this one, Lord.
Help us with grace and with love, Lord. I know we've spoken about this so much, about that being the absolutely most important thing and that the world, the whole world will know that we are your disciples because we love each other so much.
And love overcomes all things, Lord. All things. So help us in this I pray in your name, Lord Jesus, and may you always be glorified at the end. In Jesus name, amen.
