January 19, 2025 • 26 mins
Behold - Looking Up. Message by Adam Meredith including Redkids movie message from the movie Meet the Robinsons at The Red Door Community Church.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
So the last three, weeks we'vebeen doing this series called
Behold, we've looked back, we'velooked up, we've looked ahead.
And so in the idea of looking back, Psalm85 is our focus through this series.
And Psalm 85 calls us to look backwardsin remembrance, to look upwards in
prayer, and to look inwards in repentance.
(00:21):
But today we're lookingforward in a resolution.
We have resolved in our hearts to beresolute by what God has promised.
So this is our scripture from verses 10.
Mercy and truth have met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
Truth shall spring out of the earth andrighteousness shall look down from heaven.
(00:45):
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him, andshall make his footsteps our pathway.
Many commentators believe thatPsalm 85 was written just after the
Jews had left Babylon in captivity,returning to their homeland.
(01:07):
And so, it seems that that wouldbe somewhere in the middle of
the 5th century before Jesus.
Which is around the same timeas the last book in the Old
Testament, Malachi was written.
And so knowing what was to come,what was to come after Malachi, the
historical journey suggests, and theyuse this phrase, the silent years.
This period of time between when Malachiwas written in the Old Testament and the
(01:31):
arrival of the Messiah, Jesus, this periodof time, the silent years, it makes a lot
of sense if that's the case, why Psalm 85?
fits perfectly into that timeline picturebecause God's promises are sure and
Psalm 85 is calling his people to haveresolve, God's people to have resolve
(01:52):
and to hold on because God's promisesare sure and they will come through.
And so the psalmist have gone, hasgone through from verses one to three,
basically looking back into the past.
He's looked into the present throughverses four to nine, and now he's
looking into the future in these verses.
(02:12):
And so these promiseslift a distressed heart.
In this case, they lift the distressedeyes from the present moment, and
they set before God's people, I likethis phrasing, I read it this week, a
vast lush plain of a fertile future.
That God, in His infinite wisdomand power, will bring to pass.
(02:35):
So you've got to remember, they've justgone back to their homeland, if that's, if
the timing's correct, where they feel likeeverything we had is now gone, but God, in
that moment, speaks into this situation,into this historical moment, and says,
You don't know what I'm about to do.
I have got big plans, big plans indeed.
(02:55):
And so the question here ishow do we look forward when it
comes to the promises of God?
Now the image of Meet the Robinsons, I'vesaid it before, there's this boy, Lewis,
and he lacks confidence concerning hispassion for invention and innovation.
And he declares at earlier in themovie, he declares, I'm no good.
(03:19):
He declares this moment wherehe's just no good at this
invention journey that he's on.
He falls short.
Later in the movie, Lewis suddenlyhas a newfound confidence because he's
discovered what his future looks like.
He's going to be the futureElon Musk of this story.
He's going to become the most influentialinnovator and inventor of his time.
(03:42):
So after he visits this future that he'sexperiencing, suddenly this confidence
arises in him and it points to thequestion, what if you knew that if all
the promises of God that God has givenyou, what if you knew that all the things
God has called you to do as you seek hiskingdom, if they were to come to pass,
(04:06):
how would you feel about that today?
Would you have an air of doubt?
Would you have fear?
I would suggest you wouldactually feel fairly unstoppable.
You would be resolved.
You would be a heightened confidence.
And it reminds me of the scripture inJoshua 21, where the Word of God actually
(04:26):
says there was a moment that The thegod's people historically could feel
that way because it says this in Joshua21 from verse 43, it says to the Lord,
gave Israel all the land he had swornto give their ancestors, and they took
possession of it and settled there.
The Lord gave them rest onevery side, just as he had
sworn to their ancestors to do.
Not one of their enemies withstood them.
(04:48):
The Lord gave all theirenemies into their hands.
Nice report card right there.
And then the last sentence is just kicker.
It says.
not one of the Lord's goodpromises to Israel failed.
Everyone was fulfilled.
That's a staggering scripture, I think.
Can you believe that every good andperfect promise of God will simultaneously
(05:13):
at some point have that same scriptureattached to it in our coming future?
That not one thing that theLord has promised will fail.
He will make it come to pass.
As I say that to you, does that kindof stir you on the inside to go,
Oh man, we're on the winning team.
That's not a very good response.
I know a lot of you are FremantleDockers supporters, but that is useless.
(05:36):
Oh, that is not low.
But when the Fremantle Dockers win, itwill be a very big day, won't it, hey?
Yes, well why don't you walk withthat sort of confidence today?
My goodness, that's becausethere's no guarantees in football.
But in the kingdom, there's guarantees.
There's guarantees.
Guarantees.
What would you How wouldyou How would you feel?
(05:58):
How would you experience that?
Confidence would grow.
You'd be resolved.
And also, the obstacles that youface today, actually, you would
know that these are temporary.
Those minor setbacksare kind of temporary.
And I know we didn't watch that wholeclip about the how the family responds
to failure, but the family's response tofailure was actually celebrating failure.
(06:20):
Like, there's no such thingas failure, just feedback.
Because this is all part of the journey.
All part of the journey.
What would it be like to know thatthat confidence, you would be resolved?
How would you stand?
You would stand resolved.
You would stand unwavering.
And in light of this confidence,how does that change how you
live today into this moment?
(06:44):
Why was, is there room to celebrate?
In the setbacks you've had, in themoments where you felt like you've had
a promise from God and there's beenthings that have come against it, And
you would say, oh, do I feel discouraged?
Why is there still reason to celebrate?
Let's look at this scripture inProverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6.
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Why is there reason?
Because of this fact.
Trust in the Lord with all your heartand lean not into your understandings.
In all your ways submit to Him andHe will make your paths straight.
You know the motto of the Bible?
The Robinson family waskeep moving backwards.
No, it was keep movingforwards, wasn't it?
Keep moving forwards.
And how much of a reason do westill have to keep moving forward?
(07:28):
Because we don't trust our own ability.
We trust the Lord.
Proverbs 4, 25 and 27.
Look your eyes Look, letyour eyes, thank you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead.
Fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for yourfeet and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the left or the right.
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Keep your foot from eviland keep moving forward.
It doesn't say keep moving forward.
Philippians chapter 3 verses 12 and 14.
Oh, I love this.
This is just this picture of why weshould have hope to keep looking forward.
Not that I've already attained this orI've already arrived at my goal, but
I press on to take hold of that whichChrist Jesus has taken hold of me.
(08:10):
Brothers and sisters, I do not considermyself yet having taken hold of it,
but one thing I do, forgetting whatis behind and straining towards what
is ahead, I press on towards thegoal to win the prize for which.
God has called meheavenward in Christ Jesus.
Keep moving forward in Christ Jesus.
(08:31):
Romans 8 28 is true.
What does it say?
We know that God works all things forgood for those who love him and have
been called according to his purposes.
So let God, let him do all the work.
Making all things work forgood, bit, because you can't.
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It's above your pay grade.
Yes, will you do that?
And then what do you do?
Well, you do the loving God.
Well, how do I love God?
Well, newsflash, let Him love youand you'll find yourself loving God.
Yep.
And then what?
Follow the calling of God thatHe has placed in your heart.
Follow after it.
Keep moving forward in it.
(09:12):
You can't fail.
Turn to the person next toyou and say, you can't fail.
That was not emphaticenough for my liking.
You can't fail.
Because if God is working all thingsfor good, and you love Him because
you've received His love, and you'regoing after the calling of God in your
life, you should be resolved to goafter that with a sense of confidence.
(09:35):
Would you agree?
Absolutely!
And this is not about hype, this isabout allowing the truth of God to
penetrate your heart, like if you couldtravel into the future and see the
future that God has planned out foryou, that kind of resolve, if you could,
you would have a fresh confidence.
(09:56):
But we're not going into the future,we have something even better!
Oh man, we have so muchbetter, so much better.
You think time travel is fantastic,but no, there's something better.
It's called the love of Jesus.
Get that into your spirit, and youdon't need no flippin time travel.
You just, you're just marriedto the God who made time.
(10:16):
You understand what I mean, don't you?
Because you've gotten it onthe inside of your heart.
Confidence, man, it builds.
I need to be reminded of this.
I hope you two do, you two do soneed that this morning as well.
Everyone said, Amen.
Very good.
I know how to speak English.
I'm very clever.
So, let me bring up Psalm 85, 10 to13 again, just so it's on the screen.
(10:42):
Because as we look through these verses,like, what does it actually mean?
What are we getting at?
Because this is quite apoetic finish to, Psalm 85.
And verse 10 speaks of fourseparate attributes of God here.
He's got, we've got the steadfastlove, we've got faithfulness,
we've got righteousness and peace.
Um, the King James Version, which I'vegot up here, uses mercy and truth.
(11:04):
And it may seem, to some, like theseattributes, attributes, fit neatly
together, like, you know, like love andmercy, that, that makes sense, love and
mercy, and peace, maybe, peace is sortof in the same group, but then on the
other side, there's this righteousnessand truth group, like, they don't
seem necessarily to go together, Um,they kind of maybe feel a little bit
(11:26):
less congruent, these two things.
And so, but the scripture issaying these very intimate
things, like they met together,they've kissed, everyone say kiss.
There's an intimacy here,they're, they're one.
The psalmist looks and hopes insomething that when the psalmist
wrote and penned these words, I didn'tyet fully understand the totality
(11:49):
of what he was to write becauseprophetically, he's looking forward
to the cross of Jesus in this moment.
The place where God reveals hismercy and his truth, they're
actually not in opposition,they're actually coming together.
He looks forward to the focal point ofall of human history, the cross of Jesus,
to the place where God's attributes kiss.
(12:15):
At the cross simultaneously,truth and love are made visible.
Righteousness and peace, thistruth and righteousness, they kiss
because sin must be atoned for.
Ladies and gentlemen,sin must be atoned for.
All have sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God.
But at the same time, love isrevealed at the cross simultaneously.
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And made visible because itwas not you and I on the cross,
but God himself on the cross.
And so God took the punishment ofour sin on himself in our place.
And so the righteous requirementof the law was fulfilled in Jesus.
And now it's foundinside of us who believe.
And so what flows from this place in thisscripture, what flows from this moment.
(13:02):
This peace and reconciliation with God.
Verse 11 says, Faithfulnesssprings up from the ground.
Righteousness looks down fromthe sky, from the heavens.
Notice how these attributes aren'treserved for one little pocket on
earth, like some little corner.
This is a pervasive promise.
This is all of heaven, all of earth,not just for It's a place called Israel.
(13:25):
It's a place for every single one of us.
The glory will come togetherand dwell among God's people
across the face of the earth.
Do you share the confidence that thepsalmist has as he's penning these words
in the midst of external pressures?
and afflictions, the psalmistsets his hope on the fact that God
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will give what is good and willbring restoration and revival.
His faith was strengthened as herecalled God's former mercies, and
he clung to This is the psalmist,he clung to these future promises.
The psalmist only saw dimly theserealities from a fair distance
(14:07):
off, potentially 500 years off.
But confidence was in him.
He was looking through ablurry lens, so to speak.
But today, in 2024, we're notlooking through no blurry lens, even
though we wish we could see at all.
But we're certainly searing a lot, seeinga lot clearer than the psalmist saw.
(14:27):
The psalmist looked backwards and hesaw the story of the exodus, the story
of God's rescue mission, through theexodus story, through the Old Testament.
But when we lookbackwards, what do we see?
We see the cross.
We see the deliverance.
We see that God, once and forall, defeated sin and death and
saved His people, guaranteeingour position in the family of God.
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We are children of God,defeating sin and death.
When the psalmist looked upwards, helooked at this Old Covenant, this,
this dynamic of prayer in the OldCovenant, actually, He knew something
about there would come a day wherethere would be a better mediator,
that we would be able to pray to Godwith such clarity and such precision,
(15:12):
because a new covenant was coming.
But we look upwards and we see thatJesus is sitting at the right hand of
God, interceding for us even right now.
How much better is that?
When the psalmist looked inward, man,he saw a system of repentance that was
bound up in the sacrifice of animals.
When we look inwards and repent,we have a perfect sacrifice.
(15:32):
His name is Jesus, and he has forgiven allsin for us as we are faithful to repent.
He is faithful to forgivepast, present, and future.
As the psalmist looked forward,he's expecting blessing for
his people, the Israelites.
But when we look forward, man,we know that the kingdom of That
was inaugurated in the victoriousresurrection of Jesus will continue to
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grow throughout human history in itsconsummation at the end of history.
We know that one day the Great Commissionwill actually be fulfilled, that God
will pour out his blessings, not juston one nation, but on every nation.
In Habakkuk 2, I wantedto read Habakkuk 2 to you.
How we'll know is that the earth will befilled with the knowledge of the glory
(16:17):
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Man, what a day.
And so the Psalmist hasreasons to be optimistic.
When he looks backwards, when he looksupwards, when he looks inwards, when he
looks ahead, how much more should we?
That's the question I'mposing to you today.
And the Psalm ends, as we still have iton the screen, in that last line, And
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shall make his footsteps our pathway.
How sure is your footing whenGod constructs the pathway?
Is it like, fragile?
Is it, you know, rickety?
You're gonna twist your ankle?
Man, no, when he makes His footstepsour pathway, we can go with confidence.
(17:06):
So my question to us all today, as weagain look at this coming year, what
has God put before you as you seek,He, He seek the King and His Kingdom?
As you seek first His Kingdom andHis righteousness, what is it that
God has placed you before you today?
Is there a decision thatyou need to make today?
Is there a resolve that you need tohave about something that might feel a
(17:28):
little bit scary right now as you steptowards the things God has for you to do?
Is there something that you'refacing that you're scared to face?
Is there a conversation that you're havingthat you need to You know, you need to
have, will you have resolve today, man?
If the Lord is for you, man,I tell you, he is for you.
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And he's not just for you.
He's with you.
The creator of the cosmosis with you people.
So I want to bring this a littlebit home today by telling you a
little bit of a story on where we'reat as a church, if that's okay.
And there's a little bit of aproject that's unfolding, in
preparation for Easter this year.
And I want to tell you a littlebit about it because it's a
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potentially one of these things.
And the scripture's beautifullyplaced, actually, for this moment.
Because the question wouldcome, Oh, do we believe that
the promises of God are for us?
Or do we believe that weshould just shrink back?
So, what's unfolded over the last bitof time, and probably the last six months,
is, you know, I used to walk through, youknow how we kind of do a large ish event?
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Does that make sense?
Everyone knows what I'm talking about?
No one's putting their hands up, soI'm not visually encouraged right now.
I'm feeling very, like, alone as I stepout with this conversation right now.
Thank you.
Please help your pastorout for crying out loud.
Um, What I'm about to describe to youis something that isn't locked in.
It's not something that, um, isall sorted out and we're doing it.
(18:58):
This is a conversation that I'm havingwith you at the front end to help you,
bring you into the circle of, of prayer,of communication, of this is what we're
going to be aiming for this coming Easter.
And so, um, After a bit of, prodding,I think, with the Spirit of God, we are
going to not do an Easter walkthroughin here at 33 Hammond Road this year.
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We're going to do it inthe city of Fremantle.
And so part of that Easterwalkthrough is going to be better,
better framed in our understandingof the Stations of the Cross.
Does everyone know what Imean by Stations of the Cross?
Essentially, the Easter walkthroughwas the Stations of the Cross.
Yes, in this case, we are going to,um, produce, twelve very large
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format posters that are going to sitwithin walking distance of the centre
of Fremantle on different locations,on different corners, on different
spots around the city of Fremantle.
Everyone say twelve.
Twelve.
Twelve, Lord.
Twelve.
And what happens is, when you go tothat station, you will be encouraged
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to go to the website with the QRcode, and you will download an app.
That app, when you point it up, it's likea camera app, when you point it up to the
poster, it's called augmented reality.
And what happens is, the poster comesalive, and tells you a five minute
story of what that station is all about.
This is where it gets awkward.
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very exciting because the personpresenting is going to be one of
the local pastors in either the cityof Coburn or the city of Fremantle.
And we've already got enoughunity and love for one another
to make this really possible.
So it also is not just a positionof communicating the Easter story.
It's also a position ofcommunicating the unity of the
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body of Christ in this moment.
Does that make sense?
Now, at the end of that littlepresentation on the phone, you'll have
what they call like a little It'lljust be, it'll come up with a letter,
so it'll say password code, and you'llremember that letter, and now you're
going to, um, sort of collect 12 letters.
Does that make sense?
And the 12 letters are going to make aphrase, and in the phrase you go onto the
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website and you put the passcode in, andthen you get your secret invitation to a
communion event in Fremantle, either onthe Thursday night or the Friday night.
Does that make sense?
So that's just fun.
codes and kids and stuff.
Does that make sense?
So that's kind of whatwe're aiming at doing.
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It's exciting because we've alsobeen, given some funding for this.
And so, earlier, the latter partof last year, I put an application
into an organization called Just So.
If you want to look uptheir website, you can.
Just S O W dot org.
It's initially a UK website, but they'verecently just launched in Australia.
(21:53):
And, our application for thisproject was the first Australian
application on their website.
And the 15th of December, theyapproved it to the sum of 20, 000.
So we, so if we take out a 20, 000gift from just so, and by the way,
I don't know who gave it becausethe givers connect with just so,
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and just so is like the middleman.
And there's only one giver, by the way.
One person has just given 20k.
Our budget for the Easterwalkthrough is about 10, 000 a year.
That's what we've spent.
So together we're gonna spend30, 000 on this project.
So the artwork's all done,we're working on a few things.
This is a bit of a mock up of whatpotentially it could look like.
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That's just, that's just thelike the title poster thing.
But the, oh, oh, do you wannasee one of the artworks?
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
So, the artwork isintentionally a little bit edgy.
It's edgy.
Everyone say edgy?
Good.
So what I mean by edgy is like a bitmore on the tattoo side of artwork.
Does that make sense?
Because we're going into where?
Fremantle.
(22:55):
Okay.
Cool.
Next one.
So this is like station numberone called Jesus is Tempted.
And as you get your phone kindof up to this huge poster.
Again, this is a mock up.
This isn't even in Fremantle, by the way.
Your phone comes alive, and it'lltalk to you as well on your phone,
as long as your volume's up.
Does that make sense?
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So, this is a fair, chunky project,where we could have up to ten to twenty
thousand people go through this, inthe course of that week before Easter.
Does that make sense?
And so we're going to be havingsome prayer meetings about this.
We're going to be doing aprayer walk in Fremantle.
I'm currently trying to get endorsementof those churches formally as we
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approach businesses and approachthe local council and we get all
those approvals and so forth.
it's certainly going tobe a battlefield dynamic.
It's not going to be somethingthat is just going to be real easy.
Does that make sense?
Because we're going after the kingdom oflight and attacking kingdoms of darkness.
so I wanted to bring you up to thespeed with that way early this year
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so that you know what's happening.
so there won't be any likegood Friday services here.
I'll be sending you off to Fremantleto go and cause havoc in there.
Does that make sense?
So I just want to pray for that rightnow as we invite the team to come up.
And I've taken way too muchtime today, but that's okay.
Hey, why don't you stand, because thisis something I feel like we're not going
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to, just so you're clear, I'm not talkingabout this because, hey, this is what
Adam's going to do, you know, this issomething that I believe the Lord wants
us to do, and then, He doesn't wantjust us to do it, He wants to actually
activate the churches in our regionto be involved with this in some way.
Everyone's different involvementsgoing to differ, yeah?
Some may be getting their friendsand their church people to come
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along to attend, some may beon the video talking about it.
And so, I'll be quiet and pray.
So, Father, we want to thank you,God, for your leading in this.
And as we've just talked about in Psalm85, Father, you call us to trust that
we're not doing this to gain favor.
We're doing this in response becausemercy and truth, righteousness
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and peace have kissed and we havereceived the kiss of heaven today.
And so everything that flows fromus is not some religious action, but
it is a response to your great love.
And I thank you that you would gobefore us in this very thing, where
your word that clearly says thatyour footsteps would be our pathway.
And I thank you that in this endeavor,Father, it would be very obvious that
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only you could do this, we cannot.
So you would get all the glory.
And that our fragile, failure prone,things that we find so difficult, God,
this would occur not because of ourbest efforts, but because of yours.
So Lord, make it great for your purposes.
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May it have an impact in the cityof Fremantle and beyond, and it
may your kingdom be enriched by ourbringing our yes, our availability,
and plus your ability, Father,we would see your kingdom come.
In Jesus mighty name.
Amen.
So the last three, weeks we'vebeen doing this series called
Behold, we've looked back, we'velooked up, we've looked ahead.
And so in the idea of looking back, Psalm85 is our focus through this series.
And Psalm 85 calls us to look backwardsin remembrance, to look upwards in
prayer, and to look inwards in repentance.
(00:21):
But today we're lookingforward in a resolution.
We have resolved in our hearts to beresolute by what God has promised.
So this is our scripture from verses 10.
Mercy and truth have met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
Truth shall spring out of the earth andrighteousness shall look down from heaven.
(00:45):
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him, andshall make his footsteps our pathway.
Many commentators believe thatPsalm 85 was written just after the
Jews had left Babylon in captivity,returning to their homeland.
(01:07):
And so, it seems that that wouldbe somewhere in the middle of
the 5th century before Jesus.
Which is around the same timeas the last book in the Old
Testament, Malachi was written.
And so knowing what was to come,what was to come after Malachi, the
historical journey suggests, and theyuse this phrase, the silent years.
This period of time between when Malachiwas written in the Old Testament and the
(01:31):
arrival of the Messiah, Jesus, this periodof time, the silent years, it makes a lot
of sense if that's the case, why Psalm 85?
fits perfectly into that timeline picturebecause God's promises are sure and
Psalm 85 is calling his people to haveresolve, God's people to have resolve
(01:52):
and to hold on because God's promisesare sure and they will come through.
And so the psalmist have gone, hasgone through from verses one to three,
basically looking back into the past.
He's looked into the present throughverses four to nine, and now he's
looking into the future in these verses.
(02:12):
And so these promiseslift a distressed heart.
In this case, they lift the distressedeyes from the present moment, and
they set before God's people, I likethis phrasing, I read it this week, a
vast lush plain of a fertile future.
That God, in His infinite wisdomand power, will bring to pass.
(02:35):
So you've got to remember, they've justgone back to their homeland, if that's, if
the timing's correct, where they feel likeeverything we had is now gone, but God, in
that moment, speaks into this situation,into this historical moment, and says,
You don't know what I'm about to do.
I have got big plans, big plans indeed.
(02:55):
And so the question here ishow do we look forward when it
comes to the promises of God?
Now the image of Meet the Robinsons, I'vesaid it before, there's this boy, Lewis,
and he lacks confidence concerning hispassion for invention and innovation.
And he declares at earlier in themovie, he declares, I'm no good.
(03:19):
He declares this moment wherehe's just no good at this
invention journey that he's on.
He falls short.
Later in the movie, Lewis suddenlyhas a newfound confidence because he's
discovered what his future looks like.
He's going to be the futureElon Musk of this story.
He's going to become the most influentialinnovator and inventor of his time.
(03:42):
So after he visits this future that he'sexperiencing, suddenly this confidence
arises in him and it points to thequestion, what if you knew that if all
the promises of God that God has givenyou, what if you knew that all the things
God has called you to do as you seek hiskingdom, if they were to come to pass,
(04:06):
how would you feel about that today?
Would you have an air of doubt?
Would you have fear?
I would suggest you wouldactually feel fairly unstoppable.
You would be resolved.
You would be a heightened confidence.
And it reminds me of the scripture inJoshua 21, where the Word of God actually
(04:26):
says there was a moment that The thegod's people historically could feel
that way because it says this in Joshua21 from verse 43, it says to the Lord,
gave Israel all the land he had swornto give their ancestors, and they took
possession of it and settled there.
The Lord gave them rest onevery side, just as he had
sworn to their ancestors to do.
Not one of their enemies withstood them.
(04:48):
The Lord gave all theirenemies into their hands.
Nice report card right there.
And then the last sentence is just kicker.
It says.
not one of the Lord's goodpromises to Israel failed.
Everyone was fulfilled.
That's a staggering scripture, I think.
Can you believe that every good andperfect promise of God will simultaneously
(05:13):
at some point have that same scriptureattached to it in our coming future?
That not one thing that theLord has promised will fail.
He will make it come to pass.
As I say that to you, does that kindof stir you on the inside to go,
Oh man, we're on the winning team.
That's not a very good response.
I know a lot of you are FremantleDockers supporters, but that is useless.
(05:36):
Oh, that is not low.
But when the Fremantle Dockers win, itwill be a very big day, won't it, hey?
Yes, well why don't you walk withthat sort of confidence today?
My goodness, that's becausethere's no guarantees in football.
But in the kingdom, there's guarantees.
There's guarantees.
Guarantees.
What would you How wouldyou How would you feel?
(05:58):
How would you experience that?
Confidence would grow.
You'd be resolved.
And also, the obstacles that youface today, actually, you would
know that these are temporary.
Those minor setbacksare kind of temporary.
And I know we didn't watch that wholeclip about the how the family responds
to failure, but the family's response tofailure was actually celebrating failure.
(06:20):
Like, there's no such thingas failure, just feedback.
Because this is all part of the journey.
All part of the journey.
What would it be like to know thatthat confidence, you would be resolved?
How would you stand?
You would stand resolved.
You would stand unwavering.
And in light of this confidence,how does that change how you
live today into this moment?
(06:44):
Why was, is there room to celebrate?
In the setbacks you've had, in themoments where you felt like you've had
a promise from God and there's beenthings that have come against it, And
you would say, oh, do I feel discouraged?
Why is there still reason to celebrate?
Let's look at this scripture inProverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6.
(07:05):
Why is there reason?
Because of this fact.
Trust in the Lord with all your heartand lean not into your understandings.
In all your ways submit to Him andHe will make your paths straight.
You know the motto of the Bible?
The Robinson family waskeep moving backwards.
No, it was keep movingforwards, wasn't it?
Keep moving forwards.
And how much of a reason do westill have to keep moving forward?
(07:28):
Because we don't trust our own ability.
We trust the Lord.
Proverbs 4, 25 and 27.
Look your eyes Look, letyour eyes, thank you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead.
Fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for yourfeet and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the left or the right.
(07:49):
Keep your foot from eviland keep moving forward.
It doesn't say keep moving forward.
Philippians chapter 3 verses 12 and 14.
Oh, I love this.
This is just this picture of why weshould have hope to keep looking forward.
Not that I've already attained this orI've already arrived at my goal, but
I press on to take hold of that whichChrist Jesus has taken hold of me.
(08:10):
Brothers and sisters, I do not considermyself yet having taken hold of it,
but one thing I do, forgetting whatis behind and straining towards what
is ahead, I press on towards thegoal to win the prize for which.
God has called meheavenward in Christ Jesus.
Keep moving forward in Christ Jesus.
(08:31):
Romans 8 28 is true.
What does it say?
We know that God works all things forgood for those who love him and have
been called according to his purposes.
So let God, let him do all the work.
Making all things work forgood, bit, because you can't.
(08:52):
It's above your pay grade.
Yes, will you do that?
And then what do you do?
Well, you do the loving God.
Well, how do I love God?
Well, newsflash, let Him love youand you'll find yourself loving God.
Yep.
And then what?
Follow the calling of God thatHe has placed in your heart.
Follow after it.
Keep moving forward in it.
(09:12):
You can't fail.
Turn to the person next toyou and say, you can't fail.
That was not emphaticenough for my liking.
You can't fail.
Because if God is working all thingsfor good, and you love Him because
you've received His love, and you'regoing after the calling of God in your
life, you should be resolved to goafter that with a sense of confidence.
(09:35):
Would you agree?
Absolutely!
And this is not about hype, this isabout allowing the truth of God to
penetrate your heart, like if you couldtravel into the future and see the
future that God has planned out foryou, that kind of resolve, if you could,
you would have a fresh confidence.
(09:56):
But we're not going into the future,we have something even better!
Oh man, we have so muchbetter, so much better.
You think time travel is fantastic,but no, there's something better.
It's called the love of Jesus.
Get that into your spirit, and youdon't need no flippin time travel.
You just, you're just marriedto the God who made time.
(10:16):
You understand what I mean, don't you?
Because you've gotten it onthe inside of your heart.
Confidence, man, it builds.
I need to be reminded of this.
I hope you two do, you two do soneed that this morning as well.
Everyone said, Amen.
Very good.
I know how to speak English.
I'm very clever.
So, let me bring up Psalm 85, 10 to13 again, just so it's on the screen.
(10:42):
Because as we look through these verses,like, what does it actually mean?
What are we getting at?
Because this is quite apoetic finish to, Psalm 85.
And verse 10 speaks of fourseparate attributes of God here.
He's got, we've got the steadfastlove, we've got faithfulness,
we've got righteousness and peace.
Um, the King James Version, which I'vegot up here, uses mercy and truth.
(11:04):
And it may seem, to some, like theseattributes, attributes, fit neatly
together, like, you know, like love andmercy, that, that makes sense, love and
mercy, and peace, maybe, peace is sortof in the same group, but then on the
other side, there's this righteousnessand truth group, like, they don't
seem necessarily to go together, Um,they kind of maybe feel a little bit
(11:26):
less congruent, these two things.
And so, but the scripture issaying these very intimate
things, like they met together,they've kissed, everyone say kiss.
There's an intimacy here,they're, they're one.
The psalmist looks and hopes insomething that when the psalmist
wrote and penned these words, I didn'tyet fully understand the totality
(11:49):
of what he was to write becauseprophetically, he's looking forward
to the cross of Jesus in this moment.
The place where God reveals hismercy and his truth, they're
actually not in opposition,they're actually coming together.
He looks forward to the focal point ofall of human history, the cross of Jesus,
to the place where God's attributes kiss.
(12:15):
At the cross simultaneously,truth and love are made visible.
Righteousness and peace, thistruth and righteousness, they kiss
because sin must be atoned for.
Ladies and gentlemen,sin must be atoned for.
All have sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God.
But at the same time, love isrevealed at the cross simultaneously.
(12:37):
And made visible because itwas not you and I on the cross,
but God himself on the cross.
And so God took the punishment ofour sin on himself in our place.
And so the righteous requirementof the law was fulfilled in Jesus.
And now it's foundinside of us who believe.
And so what flows from this place in thisscripture, what flows from this moment.
(13:02):
This peace and reconciliation with God.
Verse 11 says, Faithfulnesssprings up from the ground.
Righteousness looks down fromthe sky, from the heavens.
Notice how these attributes aren'treserved for one little pocket on
earth, like some little corner.
This is a pervasive promise.
This is all of heaven, all of earth,not just for It's a place called Israel.
(13:25):
It's a place for every single one of us.
The glory will come togetherand dwell among God's people
across the face of the earth.
Do you share the confidence that thepsalmist has as he's penning these words
in the midst of external pressures?
and afflictions, the psalmistsets his hope on the fact that God
(13:46):
will give what is good and willbring restoration and revival.
His faith was strengthened as herecalled God's former mercies, and
he clung to This is the psalmist,he clung to these future promises.
The psalmist only saw dimly theserealities from a fair distance
(14:07):
off, potentially 500 years off.
But confidence was in him.
He was looking through ablurry lens, so to speak.
But today, in 2024, we're notlooking through no blurry lens, even
though we wish we could see at all.
But we're certainly searing a lot, seeinga lot clearer than the psalmist saw.
(14:27):
The psalmist looked backwards and hesaw the story of the exodus, the story
of God's rescue mission, through theexodus story, through the Old Testament.
But when we lookbackwards, what do we see?
We see the cross.
We see the deliverance.
We see that God, once and forall, defeated sin and death and
saved His people, guaranteeingour position in the family of God.
(14:50):
We are children of God,defeating sin and death.
When the psalmist looked upwards, helooked at this Old Covenant, this,
this dynamic of prayer in the OldCovenant, actually, He knew something
about there would come a day wherethere would be a better mediator,
that we would be able to pray to Godwith such clarity and such precision,
(15:12):
because a new covenant was coming.
But we look upwards and we see thatJesus is sitting at the right hand of
God, interceding for us even right now.
How much better is that?
When the psalmist looked inward, man,he saw a system of repentance that was
bound up in the sacrifice of animals.
When we look inwards and repent,we have a perfect sacrifice.
(15:32):
His name is Jesus, and he has forgiven allsin for us as we are faithful to repent.
He is faithful to forgivepast, present, and future.
As the psalmist looked forward,he's expecting blessing for
his people, the Israelites.
But when we look forward, man,we know that the kingdom of That
was inaugurated in the victoriousresurrection of Jesus will continue to
(15:56):
grow throughout human history in itsconsummation at the end of history.
We know that one day the Great Commissionwill actually be fulfilled, that God
will pour out his blessings, not juston one nation, but on every nation.
In Habakkuk 2, I wantedto read Habakkuk 2 to you.
How we'll know is that the earth will befilled with the knowledge of the glory
(16:17):
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Man, what a day.
And so the Psalmist hasreasons to be optimistic.
When he looks backwards, when he looksupwards, when he looks inwards, when he
looks ahead, how much more should we?
That's the question I'mposing to you today.
And the Psalm ends, as we still have iton the screen, in that last line, And
(16:41):
shall make his footsteps our pathway.
How sure is your footing whenGod constructs the pathway?
Is it like, fragile?
Is it, you know, rickety?
You're gonna twist your ankle?
Man, no, when he makes His footstepsour pathway, we can go with confidence.
(17:06):
So my question to us all today, as weagain look at this coming year, what
has God put before you as you seek,He, He seek the King and His Kingdom?
As you seek first His Kingdom andHis righteousness, what is it that
God has placed you before you today?
Is there a decision thatyou need to make today?
Is there a resolve that you need tohave about something that might feel a
(17:28):
little bit scary right now as you steptowards the things God has for you to do?
Is there something that you'refacing that you're scared to face?
Is there a conversation that you're havingthat you need to You know, you need to
have, will you have resolve today, man?
If the Lord is for you, man,I tell you, he is for you.
(17:49):
And he's not just for you.
He's with you.
The creator of the cosmosis with you people.
So I want to bring this a littlebit home today by telling you a
little bit of a story on where we'reat as a church, if that's okay.
And there's a little bit of aproject that's unfolding, in
preparation for Easter this year.
And I want to tell you a littlebit about it because it's a
(18:11):
potentially one of these things.
And the scripture's beautifullyplaced, actually, for this moment.
Because the question wouldcome, Oh, do we believe that
the promises of God are for us?
Or do we believe that weshould just shrink back?
So, what's unfolded over the last bitof time, and probably the last six months,
is, you know, I used to walk through, youknow how we kind of do a large ish event?
(18:36):
Does that make sense?
Everyone knows what I'm talking about?
No one's putting their hands up, soI'm not visually encouraged right now.
I'm feeling very, like, alone as I stepout with this conversation right now.
Thank you.
Please help your pastorout for crying out loud.
Um, What I'm about to describe to youis something that isn't locked in.
It's not something that, um, isall sorted out and we're doing it.
(18:58):
This is a conversation that I'm havingwith you at the front end to help you,
bring you into the circle of, of prayer,of communication, of this is what we're
going to be aiming for this coming Easter.
And so, um, After a bit of, prodding,I think, with the Spirit of God, we are
going to not do an Easter walkthroughin here at 33 Hammond Road this year.
(19:20):
We're going to do it inthe city of Fremantle.
And so part of that Easterwalkthrough is going to be better,
better framed in our understandingof the Stations of the Cross.
Does everyone know what Imean by Stations of the Cross?
Essentially, the Easter walkthroughwas the Stations of the Cross.
Yes, in this case, we are going to,um, produce, twelve very large
(19:42):
format posters that are going to sitwithin walking distance of the centre
of Fremantle on different locations,on different corners, on different
spots around the city of Fremantle.
Everyone say twelve.
Twelve.
Twelve, Lord.
Twelve.
And what happens is, when you go tothat station, you will be encouraged
(20:04):
to go to the website with the QRcode, and you will download an app.
That app, when you point it up, it's likea camera app, when you point it up to the
poster, it's called augmented reality.
And what happens is, the poster comesalive, and tells you a five minute
story of what that station is all about.
This is where it gets awkward.
(20:25):
very exciting because the personpresenting is going to be one of
the local pastors in either the cityof Coburn or the city of Fremantle.
And we've already got enoughunity and love for one another
to make this really possible.
So it also is not just a positionof communicating the Easter story.
It's also a position ofcommunicating the unity of the
(20:46):
body of Christ in this moment.
Does that make sense?
Now, at the end of that littlepresentation on the phone, you'll have
what they call like a little It'lljust be, it'll come up with a letter,
so it'll say password code, and you'llremember that letter, and now you're
going to, um, sort of collect 12 letters.
Does that make sense?
And the 12 letters are going to make aphrase, and in the phrase you go onto the
(21:09):
website and you put the passcode in, andthen you get your secret invitation to a
communion event in Fremantle, either onthe Thursday night or the Friday night.
Does that make sense?
So that's just fun.
codes and kids and stuff.
Does that make sense?
So that's kind of whatwe're aiming at doing.
(21:32):
It's exciting because we've alsobeen, given some funding for this.
And so, earlier, the latter partof last year, I put an application
into an organization called Just So.
If you want to look uptheir website, you can.
Just S O W dot org.
It's initially a UK website, but they'verecently just launched in Australia.
(21:53):
And, our application for thisproject was the first Australian
application on their website.
And the 15th of December, theyapproved it to the sum of 20, 000.
So we, so if we take out a 20, 000gift from just so, and by the way,
I don't know who gave it becausethe givers connect with just so,
(22:13):
and just so is like the middleman.
And there's only one giver, by the way.
One person has just given 20k.
Our budget for the Easterwalkthrough is about 10, 000 a year.
That's what we've spent.
So together we're gonna spend30, 000 on this project.
So the artwork's all done,we're working on a few things.
This is a bit of a mock up of whatpotentially it could look like.
(22:34):
That's just, that's just thelike the title poster thing.
But the, oh, oh, do you wannasee one of the artworks?
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
So, the artwork isintentionally a little bit edgy.
It's edgy.
Everyone say edgy?
Good.
So what I mean by edgy is like a bitmore on the tattoo side of artwork.
Does that make sense?
Because we're going into where?
Fremantle.
(22:55):
Okay.
Cool.
Next one.
So this is like station numberone called Jesus is Tempted.
And as you get your phone kindof up to this huge poster.
Again, this is a mock up.
This isn't even in Fremantle, by the way.
Your phone comes alive, and it'lltalk to you as well on your phone,
as long as your volume's up.
Does that make sense?
(23:16):
So, this is a fair, chunky project,where we could have up to ten to twenty
thousand people go through this, inthe course of that week before Easter.
Does that make sense?
And so we're going to be havingsome prayer meetings about this.
We're going to be doing aprayer walk in Fremantle.
I'm currently trying to get endorsementof those churches formally as we
(23:37):
approach businesses and approachthe local council and we get all
those approvals and so forth.
it's certainly going tobe a battlefield dynamic.
It's not going to be somethingthat is just going to be real easy.
Does that make sense?
Because we're going after the kingdom oflight and attacking kingdoms of darkness.
so I wanted to bring you up to thespeed with that way early this year
(23:58):
so that you know what's happening.
so there won't be any likegood Friday services here.
I'll be sending you off to Fremantleto go and cause havoc in there.
Does that make sense?
So I just want to pray for that rightnow as we invite the team to come up.
And I've taken way too muchtime today, but that's okay.
Hey, why don't you stand, because thisis something I feel like we're not going
(24:20):
to, just so you're clear, I'm not talkingabout this because, hey, this is what
Adam's going to do, you know, this issomething that I believe the Lord wants
us to do, and then, He doesn't wantjust us to do it, He wants to actually
activate the churches in our regionto be involved with this in some way.
Everyone's different involvementsgoing to differ, yeah?
Some may be getting their friendsand their church people to come
(24:41):
along to attend, some may beon the video talking about it.
And so, I'll be quiet and pray.
So, Father, we want to thank you,God, for your leading in this.
And as we've just talked about in Psalm85, Father, you call us to trust that
we're not doing this to gain favor.
We're doing this in response becausemercy and truth, righteousness
(25:05):
and peace have kissed and we havereceived the kiss of heaven today.
And so everything that flows fromus is not some religious action, but
it is a response to your great love.
And I thank you that you would gobefore us in this very thing, where
your word that clearly says thatyour footsteps would be our pathway.
And I thank you that in this endeavor,Father, it would be very obvious that
(25:27):
only you could do this, we cannot.
So you would get all the glory.
And that our fragile, failure prone,things that we find so difficult, God,
this would occur not because of ourbest efforts, but because of yours.
So Lord, make it great for your purposes.
(25:48):
May it have an impact in the cityof Fremantle and beyond, and it
may your kingdom be enriched by ourbringing our yes, our availability,
and plus your ability, Father,we would see your kingdom come.
In Jesus mighty name.
Amen.
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