WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:12.240 Tonight I want to talk to you about something that if you're anything a little like me as a human being, it's easy to lose, and that is the topic of expectation. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.199 I want to talk to you at the beginning of this new year. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:22.079 Here we begin another season, 2009, about how we can enlarge our expectation. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:32.079 It's been great in the service to hear some of the desires that people have in their hearts about what they need God to do and be a part of this year. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.600 And I want to get straight into it. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:34.479 Is that cool? 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:36.320 Can you understand me? 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.359 All right, you just nod, even if you can't, give me a wave just to encourage me, all right? 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:44.320 But we're gonna go to the Old Testament and I want you to take your Bible. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.920 We're gonna go to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:58.399 And for some of you, this will be a well-known chapter, but it's my prayer that God will use it to really encourage us to lift our expectation into this new season. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:04.319 Ezekiel chapter 37, and we're gonna pick it up in verse 1. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:19.439 The word of God says, the hand of the Lord, Ezekiel says, the hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out in the spirit of the Lord, and he set me down in the midst of a valley, and it was full of bones. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:29.680 Then he caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in this open valley, and indeed they were very dry. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:37.439 Then he said to me in verse three, Son of Man, can these bones live? 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:41.200 So I answered, God, you know. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:53.680 Again, he said to me, Then prophesy to these bones and say to them, bones or dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:02:01.920 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, surely I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:03.920 How many are thankful for this chapter? 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:16.400 You see, it doesn't matter, really, where we are positioned tonight, where we have come to, whatever season we've been through, we have a God who is able. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.879 And God takes Ezekiel and he says, I want to teach you something. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:29.360 And tonight I believe that God the Holy Spirit is here and he's moving in our world in a way that we have not seen him move before. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:33.840 You know, there are a lot of Christians I talk to and they say, What do you think about the economic crisis? 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.479 What do you think about what's happening right now in Israel? 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:40.879 What do you think in the destabilization of a lot of what's taking place? 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:43.759 And I shock them because I often say, you know what? 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:46.319 I think God's doing what he wants to do. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.520 And they say, Yeah, but it's infecting or it's impacting who we are. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:52.800 And I'm saying, you know what? 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:54.080 We've been praying for years. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:56.319 God, change our world. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:00.400 Well, what do you think God's gonna do? 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.599 God's gonna pick it up and shake it and blow it a little. 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:12.159 And tonight, whether you're watching this as I said at home or you're over on the NRH campus or here at Gateway, it's a message to my own heart. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:31.039 If I feel like my world has been shaken, if actually I end 2008 and say, God, I had a whole lot of expectations on the table, and to be honest, I'm wondering what you're doing with who I am, then I reckon this chapter could be the word of God for you tonight. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:41.439 Because God takes Ezekiel, and the first thing he says is, I want to show you something, and that's how dry it is around you. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:45.520 And then I'm gonna ask you something, and this is what I'm gonna ask you. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.919 Hey, son of man, can these bones live? 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:51.199 Do you notice answer? 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:52.240 What did he say? 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:57.439 He said, Lord, you know that's not what God was asking. 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:04.879 He said, Can these son, can these bones, son of man, live? 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:16.720 You know, with the church, and maybe many of us tonight, and I know I've been in this place, there are many times I've had a crisis, I've had a part or a period in my life where I wonder what God's doing. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:22.720 And I've known that God could do it, but I haven't known that God could do it through me. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:30.000 And it's like God needs to take us and cause us to be stunned by how much we need him. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:36.240 But then he asks us, Son of man, can these bones live? 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:57.120 And we respond, God, you need to take hold of my circumstance, you need to take hold of my year, you need to take hold of what's around me, and you need to do something, and God says, No, I want you to learn something that you need to take hold of your circumstances, and you need to take hold of me, and you need to begin to prophesy. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:17.920 You need to now begin to apply what you know is right, and begin to take the wonder of the experience of the Holy Spirit and release the Holy Spirit through your dryness and begin to call on the name of the Lord and proclaim what you have never seen before. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.519 Not just believe what God can do, but proclaim what you've never seen before. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:34.079 You see, tonight I'm talking about enlarging our expectation, not just kind of waiting to see what God will do, but enlarging our expectation. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:44.000 We had Rana Hud Bonke come and speak for us at the beginning of last year, and I loved what he said, and it kind of took me by surprise when he actually said it. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:52.240 He said, You know that the word of God in your mouth is as powerful as the word of God in Christ's mouth. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:54.240 Wow. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:56.800 Did you get that? 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:05.360 You see, even the creation of our great world, remember, the Holy Spirit hovered. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:10.879 He was awaiting the instruction of the word. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:16.639 And when God said, Let there be, he was released to bring the miracle. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:18.560 I hope you're capturing something tonight. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.600 Because it's like God saying this year could be a repeat of every other year you've had. 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:25.040 You believe God can? 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:36.480 You're faithful in your worship, but actually God wants to take us to a place where we understand that expectation is the seed of the miraculous. 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:42.560 And we need to learn how to enlarge that expectation rather than waiting to see what will happen. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:49.120 God has given us an authority to take his word and not just kind of say, Well, God, if it's your will, I hope it happens. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:55.519 No, you know, we're positioned in New Zealand in a nation that actually doesn't even believe God exists, by and large. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:01.759 Do you know that many people that come to Christ in our services have not even heard about who Jesus is? 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:08.959 And when we went there 17 years ago, I was amazed by how many pastors said, Well, you're coming back to New Zealand. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:17.680 You know, New Zealand's not like it was in Australia for you, and New Zealand's not like America, and you can't expect to see what you're believing in your heart to see. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:29.120 And I'm saying, hey, listen, it's not the circumstance that matter, it's the word of God, active by the Holy Spirit in us, that we can speak into being the creative, wonderful power of God. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:32.959 And by God's grace, today we're seeing what's never happened before in our history. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:34.959 What about you? 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:40.720 I wonder if God's got a hold of you. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:49.199 You see, expectation, no matter who we are, has a number of enemies, and I want to touch on these briefly, and then I want to talk about keys to expectation. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:56.000 But you know, one of the enemies of expectation is very simply a devil that wants to dominate. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:02.240 See, we get so spiritual sometimes that we don't realize we are in a war. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:08.319 When Paul finished his life, he said, you know what, I've had to fight for things. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:10.160 I've got scars on me. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.519 It's kind of like, well, if we're really walking with God, it's gonna be easy. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:15.360 It's not gonna be easy. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:18.160 Come on, somebody say amen. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:24.800 It's kind of like, well, God, you know, if I'm really in the will of God, it's just gonna be like angels floating through the sky. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:27.759 No, friend, if you're in the will of God, you're at the front line. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:30.800 He comes to what? 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:31.519 Kill? 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.559 Steal and destroy. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:36.159 You think about that for a moment. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:41.759 Not only does he come to kill us, separate us from God, if he can't kill us, he'll steal from us. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:47.519 So much of the church has been stolen from because of what they've gone through. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:51.679 And now instead of building God's kingdom, they're actually pulling it down. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:57.360 Still in church, still know that God exists, but not breaking through. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:03.759 And the devil's quite happy for you to have an easy life as long as you don't understand the authority you've got in Christ. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:10.240 And tonight I want to encourage you that it's time for us to stand and lift our expectation. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:13.919 You know, Isaiah 56 and verse 90 has been a great verse for me. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:20.879 This is what it says it says, when the enemy comes in, and that's the pause in the original. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:27.919 When the enemy comes in, then like a flood, the Spirit of God raises a standard against it. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:31.039 I thought I would have had a hallelujah in Texas. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:38.559 Now, just because the Dallas Cowboys didn't have a good year, you gotta lift your expectation. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:40.000 We're in church tonight. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.120 Isn't that right? 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:42.080 Come on. 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:46.480 But how does the Bible teach it? 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:49.440 You say, yeah, but Pastor, it's you know, things aren't going. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.720 Hey, you give me your list, I'll show you mine. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:57.200 But when the enemy comes in, this is how God responds. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.399 Well, it's all no, like a flood. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:02.159 The spirit of God. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.519 You say, Yeah, but you know, I'm not that kind of person. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:07.279 We'll change who you are. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:18.480 Because the spirit, the creative power of God lives in you, and we've got to realize there is an enemy that seeks to dominate who we are. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:24.080 Here's another thing that will dampen and weaken your expectation. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:27.360 It's an attitude, number two, of simply enough. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.519 Having an attitude of simply enough. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:32.799 How are you doing? 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:34.480 I'm doing pretty good. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:35.600 What does that mean? 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:38.159 Ah, well, I got more than most. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:39.200 God's good. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:40.799 We'll have another good year. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:42.080 Are you expanding? 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:43.919 Ah, I'm happy. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:51.039 You might not understand that, but if you come across my path, I want permission to slap you. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:55.200 You say, what do you mean? 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:58.080 Because that's not Bible theology. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:16.399 God had to take me out of New Zealand for 10 years, plant me in the Hillsong Church, so I could get a bigger mindset and a bigger spirit and a bigger understanding because New Zealand is a small nation, four million people, worth 60 million sheep. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:21.600 So that's why we all bah talk funny, you know. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:30.639 And it was like, I didn't know, but at 21 years of age, God took me out, put me in the big environment because he wanted to take me back. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.080 I didn't know, with a bigger spirit, believing for more. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:41.120 And when I got back there, it was amazing how much of the church is saying, well, you know, as I said, we're not Australia, we're not America, we're doing okay for who we are. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:43.039 And I'm going, no, no, no, no, no. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:51.440 Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above everything that we ask or think according to his power that works in us. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:56.480 Now listen, his power that works in you is surrounded by your power. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:06.960 Because the soul, our thinking, can keep contained the potential of God that's on the inside of us, and God says, You know what? 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:11.759 When you have an attitude of, man, I just want to get through, it's not my attitude. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:13.519 Let me put this before you. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:21.200 If you have an attitude of saying, you know, I got enough, we're happy, our family are at peace, could be the most selfish attitude anybody could have. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.120 Because all you're thinking about is you. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:26.399 You know what? 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:31.039 God wants to use you, He wants to use me, He wants to use churches all over this nation, all over the world. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.360 He wants to use people in houses to touch their streets where you work. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:42.480 He wants to use you not just to have enough to do what you need to do, but to begin to be a resource to help others do what God's called them to do. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:48.879 And if your expectation is not high, I tell you, it's because you don't realize you're in a fight. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:13:00.159 And when you are in a fight, there will be times when things happen that the enemy brings that you just give up on and you just live in the sh- No, you can't give up no matter what comes your way, and don't settle with just enough. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:11.679 A guy by the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson said this people seem not to understand that their outlook on life is a confession of their own character. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:13.200 Wow. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:17.279 Think about the way you pray. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.759 Think about the expectations you've set for 2009. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.159 Is it all around you and your family? 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:29.120 Is it all around the benefits that you need, or is it about God's heart? 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:33.840 Which includes you and your family, but it's about all those people that are yet to come to Christ. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:38.000 It's about all the churches that are different to us that are still his church. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:42.960 It's about having a kingdom spirit, something that's bigger than what we've been through. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.559 But see, an attitude of simply enough is gonna rob you from expectation. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:54.320 The third thing that's gonna rob expectation is a what I call a failure to fund enlargement. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:57.360 A failure to fund enlargement. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:58.399 You say, What do you mean by that? 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:09.759 I mean, you know, we come to God with some pretty grandiose prayers sometimes, and we don't realize that to step up in God it's gonna cost us something more. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.399 If you want more seed from the field, you're gonna put more seed into it. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:25.519 We have a leadership conference in New Zealand every May, and we have around 2,000 pastors and leaders that come from New Zealand now and Australia, and some from around the world. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:31.759 And a few years back, Pastor Casey Treat was speaking, and he stood up before all the pastors and he says, You know what I reckon? 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:35.279 Most of you pastors don't want your churches to grow. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.000 You could have heard a pin drop. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:40.639 It was quieter than Gateway. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:44.320 I'm just playing with you. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.759 I know you're with us over there at NRH. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:48.639 I appreciate that. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.480 You guys are on the team. 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:56.240 And even in the lounge room, I can see you're rolling off the chair right now, clapping, that's fantastic. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:57.919 But this is what he said. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.480 You don't want your churches to grow, and everybody goes, What do you mean? 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:01.759 We wouldn't be at a conference. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:07.360 No, he said, the thing is, if you want to grow to a new level, it's gonna cost you more. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:15.840 So we pray big prayers, and then God says, Okay, then are you gonna step a little higher, stretch a little more? 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:22.240 See, one of the big mistakes we make is that we hit a new season, and I thank God for seasons. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:23.519 2009 is a good season. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:25.120 I'm thankful we've got a new year. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:31.200 But listen to this new seasons still require seed. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:37.360 Just because you move into a new season doesn't guarantee any change because you've got a seed, a harvest of change. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:44.879 Even then, the Bible says that God said to Abraham, In your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:48.159 It's what you're prepared to lay down. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:51.600 The fourth thing that will rob our expectation. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:52.960 Are you getting something out of this? 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:57.600 Is what I call a loss-centered experience. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.840 We just don't have a devil that's trying to dominate. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:10.480 That's not the only thing we contend with, or an attitude that really is more about us or just getting through, or we don't fund enlargement. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:16.159 We go through things in life which are what I call loss-centered experiences. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:21.360 And this room would be filled in the lounge room all over the world. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:25.840 There are many of us that are saying, you know what, I didn't expect to go through what I went through. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:33.679 And so now I am really just asking God to help me to get through rather than having an expectation that is founded in the heart of God. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:38.240 Wherever the Holy Spirit moves, he's calling us to prophesy more life. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:47.279 And when you go through stuff, sometimes you don't know how that stuff happened, and you don't know what to do with that stuff, and you don't know how to respond. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:53.759 You know, earlier last year, the beginning of 2008, my son went on a school trip. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:17:07.839 He was 16 years at that age at that time, and went with his whole school class, and they broke into activities, and a whole group of his classmates went to a river expedition, and there was a flash flood. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:13.599 And in half an hour, six students and one teacher was drowned. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:27.039 And he awakened to the fact as the news began to break, as though we were a long way away from home, in fact, five hours in a bus, that he had lost his four best friends and a teacher that he loved the most. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:32.400 And I can't begin to explain the tragedy of what he went through. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:34.559 In two days, he went to six funerals. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:39.920 Now you need to understand when you lose someone you know is gonna die, it's hard to recover. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:45.599 When you lose someone you never expected to die, it's far harder to recover. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:50.799 When you lose four of your best friends, and a teacher you're closest to is 16. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:53.599 How dark is that night? 00:17:54.720 --> 00:18:01.119 And understandably, he had some of the hardest months that anybody could have. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:11.039 And in fact, it's only been the last six weeks that we've had Daniel begin to surface again because there were so many questions and there was so much darkness. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:18.079 There were many things that just didn't turn out the way they should have turned out because it was a Christian school. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:32.880 And there were a lot of things that we didn't understand, and you know, we didn't try to say, Well, Daniel, you know, it's all okay, it's kind of like Dan, we don't have all the answers, but we need to find God when we go through something we didn't expect to lose. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:42.400 And as he's begun to come out, I said to him not that long ago, I said, Daniel, the thing is, if you can get through this, you'll have something in life that I never had. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:51.279 And I'd like to suggest that if you're hurting at the end of 2008, and whatever you've gone through in life, God knows who you are. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:56.240 And God's not trying to cause you to turn away from the dead bones. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:59.519 He wants to take you and face the dead bones. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:09.599 And he wants to take you on a journey where not only will you believe that God can turn it, but he wants you to begin to realize you are a key in him turning it. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:18.400 Because the thing is, I reckon we learn more in darkness than we do in light. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:25.920 Now we may see more in day or see more in light, but we learn more in darkness. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:32.160 Because we develop senses we wouldn't have had before, and I just want to bring encouragement to you tonight. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:33.519 I hope you're getting this. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:53.519 That no matter what you go through, God is able to do something in that, and it may not happen in one meeting or in one season of your life, but if you begin to speak the word of the Lord over, those dead bones begin to rattle, sinew begins to join them, and there is the emergence of something with power and strength no matter what you go through. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:00.000 You see, failure is only fatal if we see it as final. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:10.319 And to see Daniel emerge, and the church has had a pretty bad rap in New Zealand, I've got to say that, because there's been a lot of crazy people that have got before the camera. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:22.079 But out of this Christian school tragedy, there has never in the history of New Zealand, to my knowledge, been such a great representation of what it is to live with a trust in God. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:27.039 Parents have got before the camera and said, you know, we are distraught, but our trust is in God. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:32.319 And the nation has been moved by the fact that God exists. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:47.599 And I want to say to everybody here tonight, I want to say to everybody listening to this message tonight, doesn't matter what you've gone through, how deep the hole, how dark the night, a lost-centered experience will try with the enemy to crush your expectation. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:53.039 But we've got to do what James says, count it all joy when we fall into various trials. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.880 Knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:05.759 And when patience has, in process, completed its perfect work, we become complete mature, lacking nothing. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:08.799 We win in the end and we don't give up. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.559 You know, we all go through so many things. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:19.119 But I want to turn this around in the next few moments that we have, and I want to give to you just four thoughts. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:20.160 Is that okay? 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:22.960 About how we can develop that expectation. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.200 As we move into a new says season, how we can develop that expectation. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:31.279 Here's the first thing that I believe we as God's people need to develop. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:35.279 It's what I call a living inner revelation. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:40.000 A living inner revelation. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:55.039 See, without the Holy Spirit, we can be people that believe the wonder of the word, but the Holy Spirit has been given to us to teach us that God's word becomes flesh in us. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.680 And this next season, if you can capture this, I found. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:08.480 It will change you completely because we need to be men and women of conviction, of revelation that we know God has given us something. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:14.799 Because some of you that are listening have had something from God in the past. 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:21.680 But the enemy has waited and waited and attacked you, and you lost that expectation. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:28.480 Then you began to live a life that's saying, as long as I'll get through, we'll be okay. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:35.759 And then you didn't realize that actually you were missing out on what God wants to take you through. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:40.319 Whereas we're going to be men and women that carry the word of God in our heart. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:45.839 In New Zealand, Marie and I and our boys and our team that are so faithful. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:48.319 We started 17 years ago. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.920 And over the years, people have said, How long are you going to be here? 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:53.599 I said, We're here. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:56.799 That's it. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:02.559 We're here to see the church change the city. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:07.440 We're here to see the church influence a nation. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:12.079 We're here to see a church touch a world. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:12.640 What? 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:13.920 In Little New Zealand? 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:19.039 Yeah, because before we started 17 years ago, when God said, Would you go back to New Zealand? 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:20.079 I said, No. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:27.759 And God said, But would you go to do something that's never been seen before? 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:29.119 I said, yes. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:32.799 So we didn't go to start just a church. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:37.200 We want to start something that transforms a nation by God's grace. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:40.480 But over the 17 years, the devil's come. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:44.799 Dark nights have arrived that I never expected to arrive. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:49.599 I've settled at times, but you know what's kept me strong is I've got a revelation. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:54.559 And that revelation is that God has spoken to me. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:01.359 If I could get this out just in a few minutes, Christians live mostly by understandings. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:11.119 So we hear somebody preach, we read the Bible, we read a book, we watch a movie, we do something that stirs us with an understanding. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:12.880 We say, that's cool. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:18.160 You know, maybe shaking the hands as people walk out of the church and say, Pastor, a great message today. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.279 You know what my heart says? 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.519 I hope it's more than a great message. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:25.839 Because you've got an understanding, but an understanding's not going to change you. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:31.759 Because you'll get an under another understanding when you get into the car and have a fight with your wife. 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:34.880 You know what I'm saying? 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:38.640 And there are a lot of Christians that give up and they don't have high expectations. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:38.960 Why? 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:40.880 Because they don't live by revelation. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:42.400 This is what happens. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:47.440 You've got to take your understandings and allow them to mature into revelations. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.640 How does that happen? 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:54.960 When you get an understanding in your mind, you've got to marinate, meditate, listen to it. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:59.359 If you hear a word and say that word was for me, don't ever not listen to that again. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:00.640 Get the C D. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:04.160 Listen to it a dozen times so it goes from here to here. 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:10.000 Because what happens in here changes, doesn't matter which conversation you're in. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:14.400 So as soon as something else fills your head, the understanding moves around. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:17.680 But when it becomes a revelation, it goes from your head to your heart. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:23.440 And your heart holds that revelation, keeps you, and lifts your expectation. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:28.720 That's why God said to Ezekiel, can these bones live? 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:30.319 God, you know. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.079 And God's saying, No, I want to go here. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:35.920 You prophesy. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.559 Well, I can't prophesy when I don't carry a revelation about. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:41.920 So what do you know? 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:43.119 That you know. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:47.039 That you really know, you know, that you know, you know. 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:55.359 Because I tell you what, we wouldn't be still in New Zealand 17 years on if it was just about another church. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:56.559 But we know. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:58.240 This is what happens. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:00.480 Understandings become revelations. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:03.039 Revelations become convictions. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:05.440 What's a conviction? 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:07.839 It's an activated revelation. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:12.000 And as most of the church don't live by convictions. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:13.680 We go, okay, it's another year. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:16.079 As I'm saying, we hope it's going to be different. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.559 You still with me on the other campus? 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:21.279 Good, we can hear you from here. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.119 It's fantastic. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:26.799 And those in the lounge room that have gone for a coffee, get back real quick. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:27.680 We're here. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:31.039 Listen, understanding revelation. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:33.359 It's something now that you carry in your spirit. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:34.640 It's being birthed. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:37.759 And then you've got to activate that revelation somewhere. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:40.880 Somebody's got to get up and say, This is the word of the Lord. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:42.319 Your time is now. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:45.039 Bones live. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:46.960 Somebody say amen to that. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.759 I mean, here's a revelation I just got recently. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:52.720 How many know Romans 10, 17? 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:56.880 Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:58.079 This is what I've always been taught. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:00.400 Faith comes by hearing the word of God. 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:03.119 That's not what it says. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:05.200 What does it say? 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:08.559 Faith comes by hearing. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:10.000 This is literally what it means. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:12.400 Hearing comes by the word of God. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:18.880 So as I read the Bible, I'm reading, I'm hearing the word. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:24.720 The more I read the word, the more I get attuned to the language. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:33.519 When I went to Holland, the birthplace of my parents when I was 19, I didn't understand Dutch. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:40.640 The longer I sat in front of the news, listening to what I didn't understand, the more I got to understand it. 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:43.440 Faith comes by hearing. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:50.880 The more you take the word and hear the word, the more you understand the language, the more you get the revelation. 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:53.440 Revelation brings faith. 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:55.519 Hearing. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:57.839 Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:00.400 So as I soak myself in the word, I get a revelation. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:04.400 Faith is based on revelation, not just a generic belief. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:06.079 Wow. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:09.440 See, some of you aren't getting the breakthrough because you don't have faith on it yet. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:10.640 You've just got an understanding. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:11.759 It's got to become a revelation. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:13.519 Revelations push us into conviction. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:15.839 Then we start doing what we have here. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:22.319 See, I can't but do some of the things we're doing because they're a word in my spirit. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:31.440 See, even in New Zealand, it's like we can't get the finances to do what we need to do in church. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:34.960 So 17 years ago, I knew that would be the case because we don't have a lot of wealthy people. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:40.960 So I said, God, if we're going to have a church that's going to change a city, influence a nation, and touch a world, how will we do that? 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:42.960 God said, You'll do it through business. 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:46.240 So now we've started all kinds of church businesses. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:50.799 We've got the largest privately owned car park for Auckland Airport. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.319 We've got two childcare centers. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:55.519 We're working on other business. 00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:58.160 In the end, I think we might go for Walmart. 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:02.960 You say, why? 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:06.240 Because then we can get Americans to pay for the vision we have. 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:14.000 Honestly, whether that's the case or not, we have been called to start businesses, and people say, well, that could go wrong. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:14.960 But God told us to do it. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:17.119 It's a revelation here, so that's the way we're doing it. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:20.799 And now people are beginning to say, people are beginning to say, man, you're making a lot of money of that. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:22.960 I said, nothing compared to what we will. 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:24.720 Why? 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:26.400 Because God's given us the revelation. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:30.880 If you're not called to do it, then it's not your revelation, and it will only screw you up. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:32.400 Are you allowed to say that? 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:33.759 Okay, well, I'll just do it. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:40.559 So what you gotta do to really, are you getting something? 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:43.759 You gotta have a living inner revelation. 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:46.720 Secondly, you need a personal investment of seed. 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:50.240 You wanna build your expectation, start sowing the water. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:54.960 See, it's easy to sow somebody else's seed. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:02.400 But when you start sowing what costs you, there are pastors all over the nations that sow church seed. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:08.079 And they wonder why they don't get financial breakthrough, because you've got to sow personal seed to get your breakthrough. 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:09.519 As I said, we're at a new season. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:13.519 The new season doesn't guarantee change unless you put fresh seed into it. 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:17.200 So wherever you need the breakthrough, you start putting the seed into it. 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:21.359 You say, Oh, yeah, but our marriage has lost its expectation because you're not putting seed into it. 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:24.000 Yeah, that's all right for you. 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:25.200 You married the right person. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:25.759 No. 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:30.000 That's why we're having a break on her birthday. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:31.279 No, no, no, no. 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:38.720 We've been married for 26 years, and it's getting better. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:40.240 And people say you're lucky. 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:42.960 I say, you don't see what happens behind the scenes. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:48.000 Because she commits herself, I commit myself, and we sow personal seed. 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:49.440 You know what's personal seed? 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:50.400 It costs you. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:53.119 I thought marriage would be just all nice. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:59.440 Come on, some of you aren't being really real with what you're going through. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:01.039 Just help me a little bit. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:04.000 1 Corinthians 3. 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:06.079 I planted, Apollos watered. 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:08.960 God gave the increase. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:15.839 Then we say, verse 7, yeah, so neither he who plants is anything, or he who waters is anything, but God who gives the increase. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:17.759 No, stop and read verse 8, the next verse. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:22.880 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:29.920 Your life, by the way, is a reflection of the seed you've sown. 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:32.960 Wow. 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:38.319 I've only got one shot, so I thought I'd give it everything. 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:44.799 Number three, to increase your expectation, there needs to be an understanding of seasons. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:47.359 We don't teach this. 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:49.519 We think God's got one season. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:55.279 See, sometimes we want God to do what it's not the season for. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:57.599