Seeking the Spirit
Message Moments & Highlights
You Become Sensitive to the Holy Spirit
You Experience Solidarity with God’s People
You Step into God’s Plan
You Start Something Lasting
Seeking The Spirit
Prayer and fasting serve as powerful tools for deepening our spiritual connection and understanding God's divine plan. When we intentionally seek God through these practices, we become more sensitive to His guidance, whether through impressions, feelings of love, or gentle spiritual nudges. This heightened awareness isn't limited to spiritual leaders - it's available to all believers who earnestly seek God's presence.Through this dedicated seeking, we experience increased unity with fellow believers and gain clarity about God's perfect timing in our lives. Rather than forcing our own plans, we learn to wait for divine orchestration. This process often leads to initiatives that impact multiple generations, similar to how early church leaders' ministry resulted in worldwide church growth. God has designed specific work for each person, and through committed seeking, He reveals and empowers us to fulfill these unique callings.
Key Insights From The Message
Related Bible Verses
Acts 13:2-3 (NLT):
https://www.bible.com/bible/59/ACT.13.2-3
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
-
Seeking the Holy Spirit: A Guide to Hearing God's Voice and Following His Plan
When we truly seek God through prayer and fasting, remarkable things happen in our spiritual lives. This powerful combination opens doors to hearing God's voice more clearly and understanding His divine plan for our lives.
What Happens When You Fast and Pray?
1. You Become Sensitive to the Holy Spirit
While God may not always speak in an audible voice, He communicates through impressions, feelings of love, and gentle nudges in our spirits. When we fast and pray, we become more attuned to recognizing these divine promptings. Everyone is born with the ability to hear God's voice - it's not reserved only for pastors or spiritual leaders.
2. You Experience Solidarity with God's People
Seeking God together creates unity among believers that transcends differences in opinions or preferences. This solidarity helps us maintain focus on what truly matters - our spiritual lives and relationship with God. When conflicts arise, bringing them before God in prayer helps maintain unity and love.
3. You Step into God's Plan
Through fasting and prayer, God reveals His perfect timing and plan for your life. Rather than forcing our own plans, seeking God allows us to wait for His divine orchestration. While God's plan may look different than expected, it's always better than what we could devise ourselves.
4. You Start Something Lasting
When we seek God wholeheartedly, He often uses us to initiate works that impact generations. Just as Paul and Barnabas' ministry led to churches being planted across the world, God wants to use each person to start something that will last for eternity.
Life Application
This week, consider making a fresh commitment to seek God through prayer and fasting. Ask yourself:
Am I truly allowing God to direct my life, or am I trying to control everything myself?
What areas of my life need more unity and solidarity with other believers?
What might God be calling me to start that could impact future generations?
How can I become more sensitive to hearing the Holy Spirit's voice?
The key is not just fasting for fasting's sake, but genuinely seeking God's presence and direction. As you do, expect Him to speak, guide, and use you in ways beyond what you could imagine.
Remember: God has a special work designed specifically for you. Through dedicated seeking, He will reveal it and empower you to walk in it.
-
A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
-
I want to welcome. Thank you. You've been watching for a few minutes already, I believe. But I want to welcome Hastings. Congregation Hastings, and also we want to welcome Bass Coast Connect.
Bass coast is joining with us live this morning. Why don't we give them a hand? Church, it's good to have you with us. And God is doing great things in Bass coast. They're seeing over 40 people at the moment every week, and brand new people coming into the life of the church.
And Hastings. God's doing great things. Pastor Len Crone is down there, and thank you for all the help. Who knows? Pastor Len is a great man of God, and he was in this church for many years, pastored at Hastings and been in our church, just serving behind the scenes and training his daughters to serve behind the scenes and in the sound desk and in kids and.
And so Len's gonna be helping us at Hastings a little bit, as you can see. And he's gonna be preaching the word at Hastings next week. And God's doing good things at Hastings Church. The kitchen's almost ready, almost finished. And we're gonna be reaching more people with the gospel because of that.
All right. I said we were gonna get on with the Word, so we better do it. Hey. All right. Acts, chapter 13.
Acts, chapter 13. Acts 13. 2. There it is.
So we come to this passage, and a few weeks ago, I preached about the apostle Paul and Saul and having his encounter with God on the road to Damascus. And that happened early on. And then we see this gap of years and years where you don't hear about Paul or Saul, as he used to be called. And suddenly he comes back on the picture in Acts chapter 13. And basically it just says, there was a group of these men praying together.
Barnabas is one, Saul was one, There was a number of others. And they're there praying in Antioch. And it says this in verse 2. One day, as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them. So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.
I want to talk to you today about this topic. Seeking the Holy Spirit. Seeking the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about why fasting is so important and what happens when you fast and pray. What happens when you choose to seek after God.
Here we have a group of men, and we have the benefit of hindsight that we know if you've done some study, if you've been in Church a while. You know that. What happened is Barnabas and Saul went on some missionary journeys across the known world, and they changed the world. This encounter, this time where they were praying, they sent Barnabas and Saul and some others, and they started traveling around. They went on ships, they got shipwrecked, but they planted churches everywhere they went.
And then we see some of those churches are named in Philippi, Ephesus, Colossae. We see these books of the Bible. They planted these churches. And Christianity went across the world. And it went from Jewish people, predominantly just Jewish people within Israel.
It went to all the Gentiles, all the non Jewish people. And we're here today because of this passage. We're here today because God said, send them out to the work I've called them to do because they sought God. What can happen when you seek God? What can God do?
I want to ask you this question. Who is directing your life? Who's directing your life? And someone was in church last night, and as I asked that question, they looked at me, and then they looked at their wife, and they just pointed to her, and I said, yes. Sometimes it can feel like that.
Sometimes someone in our family's directing us. I say this saying, happy wife, happy life. And it is true. And sometimes kids and teenagers, you know, we can feel like our parents are directing our lives, our teachers are directing our lives. Sometimes we feel like our employer is directing our lives, and it's all.
They're choosing what I have to do. Some of us, and we get caught up in this, we think the government's directing us and saying, oh, this is what you do, and this is how you live. For some people, you know, who's directing your life? The influences on social media that you've never met and their opinions and what they're saying affects how you feel and what you think's important. Who's directing your life?
Most people who live in Australia, we have this idea. No, no one else is directing my life. I'm directing my life. I'm in charge. I'll make my own decision, and I think that's good.
We should be making our own decisions. And, yes, you do have the right to do that. But here's what I've learned about my decision making. It's not always that good. It's subjective.
Sometimes I get things. Narelle, can you just leave the room for a second? Because you're not supposed to hear this. Sometimes I get things wrong. I do.
I get things wrong. And we do, don't we, when we're Directing our own lives. We get things wrong, and it gets confusing. Who gets confused sometimes about decisions to make? I remember this church.
I go. I like to. I think I'm pretty good at making decisions. I can make decisions. Well, a couple of years ago, we decided to change the color in the foyer.
We said, we're gonna paint the foyer a different color. And I thought I just said to someone, I said, hey, just work out. We'll just paint it. Let's get it a bit lighter. We had some charcoal there.
Let's paint it lighter. And I was like, easy. And then the person came back to me with the color choices. Here are the choices of white. Who's painted their house or somewhere before?
Here are your choices of white. I'm like, white is white. Just paint it white. Well, you've got the cream whites. You've got the gray whites.
You've got the blue whites. I mean, do you know how many whites there are in painting colors? And then you can mix and match, and you can actually create your own white that you can never replicate in 100 years. And I go, so we got them. And I said, okay, will you just choose three.
Three options and then present them? And I looked at them, and they did. We painted them on the wall. Three options. And I looked and I said, I like that one.
Done. And then Narelle walked by and was like, no, I like that one. And then Margaret walked by, and she was like, well, I like that one. And who chose that one? I was like, well, I thought that one was good, but that one's terrible, Adrian.
That one is not good. And then basically, I said, well, I better get some opinions. And so I asked for. I did the worst thing on earth. I asked for opinions from our staff team about the choice of white.
And every person had different opinions, or some of them actually lined up, and they were like, we're right. So you had this group of three people that said, we know this is the right one. Then you had this group of two. Then you had this person, and I got so confused. We couldn't make a decision for months.
Cause I was like, I don't know the right decision. And then we did make a decision. And then I came in looking at the color, and I was like, this is the wrong color. Who picked this color? And then I realized it was me.
And then I was like, but you made me do that. You confused me. Who knows that being directed is confusing? Some of you are trying to make up decisions about your future. My daughter, she's trying to year 11, year 12.
What do I do? She's like, well, you could do this. You could do this. I'm getting career emails to parents. Who gets those career emails every week there's like 50 choices and all the unis going, you could do this.
You could come here, you could study this, you could do that. Okay, you could do anything. I'll go. Who's directing you when you're in charge? It's confusing.
Here's the point. You know this. We want God to direct our lives. I need God. I need the Holy Spirit of God to direct me, and so do you.
And I believe this with all my heart, that God will direct you and he will show you the way, and he will lead you, and he will help you make the right decisions about who you're gonna marry and the kind of career that you're gonna have and the church you're gon in and the relationships you're going to speak into and how you're going to get involved and what God's going to do in your life. He will lead you and guide you. Maybe not in picking your socks every day and picking out what you're going to wear and all of that, but God wants to help you with the big decisions. And so what's our part in that? Our part in that is to say, God, I want you to direct me.
I'm coming to you. And that's up to you. That's up to you. That's up to your decision. You can't rely on your pastor.
You can't rely on your parents. You can't rely on your spouse. You can't rely on your friends. You can't rely on the person that you're listening to online. You have to make those choices.
And so for me and my house and my life, I've said, God, I want you to direct my life. And here's one of the ways you do that. You come to God in different seasons and you say, God, I'm going to pray and I'm gonna seek you, God, and I'm gonna fast and pray. And here's what we discover in this passage. This big decision was made that set the path for our lives, for their lives, for the future.
How did it happen? Because they says one day, as these men were worshipping the Lord and fasting, they were fasting and worshipping and praying. How does God direct your life when you come to him and you seek him? And one of the ways is through fasting. I want to talk to you about what happens when you Fast and pray.
What will happen in your life when you fast and pray? And I know we're going to get. It's a challenge, but I believe with all my heart that you're here today because you want to seek after God, that you want to know him, that you want him directing your life. And I promise you, he's got a great life for you. He's got a great future for you.
He wants to direct it. But we need to not listen to the other voices of direction and even our own. We need to listen to the voice, voice of the Holy Spirit. So what happens when you fast and pray? Here's four things for you.
The first one is this. You become sensitive to the Holy Spirit of God. You become sensitive to the Spirit. One day, as I was fasting and praying, the Holy Spirit said, appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I've called them. Isn't that interesting?
You see that? And some people go, well, the Holy Spirit, how did he speak? Because it just says, the Holy Spirit said, have you ever heard pastors sometimes I've done it. God spoke to me. Have you ever gone, whoa, that's incredible, Adrian.
What's his voice sound like? What's the tone of his voice? Audibly. Have you heard the audible voice of God? And the answer is, no, I haven't.
I haven't heard God. Some people I know have heard an audible voice at different times, but it's very rare. What does it mean that God spoke? The Holy Spirit just said to them, and this is what I believe. When you come in and you bring yourself and you seek after God and you say, God, I'm open.
I'm surrendered. I'm gonna put aside time. What happens is you gain a sensitivity to the movements and the voice of the Holy Spirit of God. Because here's the thing. The Holy Spirit's everywhere, and he's with you everywhere you go.
And. And you were born, and you were made to communicate with him, and he wants to speak to you, and he wants to speak. It's not an audible voice that I hear. There are often impressions that I get. There's a sense or some.
It's just the love. You don't even have words to it. It's just the love of God that flows. Who knows? I love hearing stories in this church of people who come in and they just.
They encounter God and they go, I just felt God's love. Or I felt an impression that maybe I should do this. And it didn't seem to. Wasn't me. And they're like, I'm not sure, is that God or not?
And oftentimes I go, yeah, that's God. Brand new people come into this church and they haven't been used to that. And they go, I've felt like this. I go, that's the Holy Spirit speaking to you. And they sort of already know it.
They're like, yeah, that's why I came here, because I felt this leading. I felt this. You get what I mean? Have you felt that? This, that God wants to speak to you?
When you come to him and you're hungry for him and you seek him, you gain a sensitivity and then you can get guidance from others and go, is that God? Is that God? But I want to tell you, you were born to hear the voice of God, just not the pastors. Sometimes, you know, sometimes we can think in our style of church. We can think that, you know, it's the man or woman of God that hears from God and then they speak it out and then they come and impart something.
And sometimes that's powerful. I've been prayed for by great men and women of God or pastors that come and we do. If you need prayer, if you want prayer, we will pray for you. Sometimes you get a prophetic word, we'll leave God with you. Right?
That's important. It's biblical. But sometimes we become over reliant on that, and we're waiting for the man or woman of God to come and impart something and speak on God's behalf. And I'll go, I grew up with some of that word wait. You know, as a kid growing up, I'd wait and they'd have altar calls, and I'd go to the altar call and they'd line us all up.
And then you just wait in line while the pastor would come down all the lines and pray for people. And some people would fall over. We called it this weird term, slain in the spirit. That freaks kids out. Now I'm slain in the Spirit.
I don't want to be slain. I don't want to die. It was like they just fall over under the power of God. But sometimes people would like, feel pressure and go, well, that's how I have to receive from God. Then they do something that we have a little term for in house Pentecostals.
It's called the courtesy drop.
We did the courtesy drop. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you going, adrian, this is crazy stuff. But some people. Cause you really wanted to hear from God and other People were falling as the pastor's praying for them, and they're falling over, and they're falling over.
And you get to you and you'd be like, what do I do? What if I don't feel the presence of God? What if nothing happens? And then they sort of pray for you and you feel a little bit of force and you go, I'm just going down. I'm going down.
I'm hoping for the best. And some people would do that. Yeah. And hope there's someone behind you to catch you. And you know what?
I've seen people have great encounters with God in those moments. I've been one of them where God's really. I've been on my face before God, just crying and seeking God, because the presence of God has just grabbed a hold of me. But you know what? I've also known people who felt this pressure to go, oh, well, if it didn't happen, if I didn't feel anything, that means I can't hear from God.
That means I'm not good enough. And you go, you know what? That's a lie. And I go, in this church. This is what we try and do in our church.
We'll pray for you, we'll believe. Some people get powerfully impacted. But you know what? We try and take a gentle approach here to say, this is what I believe. Yes, you can hear from God in that kind of moment, but you can hear from God right where you are in the middle of worship, in the middle of preaching, right this very second, the Holy Spirit of God can speak to you.
And that can be just as powerful. That can be life changing. Not just in church, but in your home, in your car, while you're on the train. That's why I encourage people. Listen to worship and get yourself into the presence of God, because you never know when the Holy Spirit of God's gonna speak to you.
Get sensitive to the Spirit and trust that he will speak to you. Do you believe that? That God can speak to you? I've heard so many wonderful stories. I just believe it with all my heart.
And here's the main reason I believe it. Cause I go, if God's been speaking to me since I was a kid and speaking into my heart, then there's nothing special about me. I go, if he wants to speak to me, he definitely wants to speak to you about your life, about your future. If God wanted to speak to Samuel, who was a boy growing up in the temple, and he just calls out his name. And Samuel didn't even Know who it was then he wants to speak to you.
And the more you attune yourself, when you fast and pray, what you're saying is, God, I want to get sensitive to hear your voice. Do you want to hear the voice of God? Then you got to do something about it. Don't just wait for someone else to hear it. You go seek him yourself.
Every person I've known who's gone to seek after God has heard him and felt him moving in their life and felt his direction, whether it's a love being poured out. I was talking to Mark the other day, came into this church and got saved. And he just started. He didn't even know how to describe it. He goes, I just felt this, like, love being poured out.
And it was just like. I just knew it wasn't for me, but it was like life. And it was like. It helped my marriage and it helped our lives. And it's like.
It's amazing what God does. He wants to do it in you. You get sensitive to the spirit of God. What does God want? To speak into your heart and life today?
The second thing is this. You experience solidarity with God's people. Solidarity. We're using S words today. Solidarity.
I could have used the word unity. It means agreement. It means unity with people that you're in one. Accord. Solidarity.
We're together on this. We're together on this. You know, I love being together with God's people and believing that God's got great things in store. I saw Frank before, and Frank has had a new haircut. He looks younger now.
And Frank and I, we got great solidarity because God's moving in Frank's life and he's doing stuff, and it's awesome. We celebrate that together. And Frank shared some very terrible news with me. He said, adrian, I went to the S and N Crows game yesterday, and suddenly the unity and the solidarity died. And I looked at him and I smiled and I said, we got ya.
We got you. He goes, yeah, that's the last game I'm going to for the season. Okay? We don't have solidarity with the afl, and Richmond lost as well. So I'm going to tell the other Frank, Frank Geer bad luck because he was loving it against Carlton the other day.
We can have disagreements on a bunch of things, but you know what? When you seek God and fast and pray, God gives you solidarity with the things that matter, the things that matter. And I'll tell you what matters are spiritual lives, our relationship with God. We can have disagreements on politics, on a Whole bunch of things we can argue about. What show's better.
Narelle and I, we do not like the same TV show. So we've just said we're gonna watch different shows and we're not gonna do it together. But you know what? We're unified when it comes to following Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you why.
Because we seek God, and we come and we spend time in the presence of God. My wife the other day, I teased her. I said, what have you been? She was getting ready late. I said, what have you been doing?
She goes, I've been reading the Word and doing my devotions. Thank you very much. I was like, oh, I stand corrected. I stand corrected. You know what?
When you seek after God, he brings a solidarity and a unity together. And I'll tell you what, we need to watch out for, brothers and sisters, because when we don't seek God, do you know what happens? Disunity and the little foxes. The little things that spoil the vine, the little issues. You know, I'm not immune to the fact that when you come to a church that's growing, what, 6?
And people got all these wonderful, amazing people coming to the life of our church, that means we have, like, hundreds and thousands of different opinions about how church should be run and how we feel and all of these things. And do you know the only thing that keeps us together ultimately is our love for one another, our solidarity, our unity. And do you know what that means for you? It means that you need to make sure that you're in the presence of God, seeking after God. It means I have to do the same thing.
Cause I've realized when I don't what happens, I get negative, and I start seeing all these issues, and they become bigger issues. It happens in marriages. It happens in friendship groups, and it happens in churches. And I'm not saying that because we got a problem. I'm saying that because that's the reality.
And I want to tell you this, friend, before you get fired up, people leave churches, people do a bunch of things. Before you get all fired up and do that, I want to encourage you. Bring that to God. Bring it to God. And sometimes there are issues that need to be discussed.
I'm not saying we just have to throw everything under the carpet and not care about it. No, no. But we need to do it in unity and love. There's ways to approach these things. And I go, can I encourage us all?
I have to do the same thing. You know, sometimes people, I'm sure you'll be Shocked by this. Sometimes people have heard me preach and go like it. And you might be one of those people, and that's all right. Some of those people have told me they don't like it.
I don't like your preaching. And for this, this, and this reason, and I'm like, well, thank you. I appreciate that. No, I don't always react as nicely as that. Well, I try to.
But you know what I've realized when people have said that to me, I've heard that kind of sentiment or even online or whatever, I realized, you know, sometimes I've done that to others. I've sat in a conference. I've sat in a thing, and I've sat there and just been negative about what's being said and how terrible it is and this, that, and the other, and I've gone, maybe there was a better way to approach that. Maybe actually, if I was seeking God, I'd realize that actually being negative and critical of all that wasn't as important as saying, God, what do you want? And trying to understand others.
And can I just encourage us in our relationships, in our friendship groups, in church, in our friendships, among youth and young adults. God wants to do a mighty work in us, but the devil wants to separate us, and he wants to find the little issues that go, I don't like that you've rejected me. You know what we need? Seek after God and bring solidarity. You know what solidarity does?
It says, I'm gonna forgive you even though you wronged me, even though you misunderstood, even though you weren't there for me, even though I don't like what you just said, Adrian, I'm gonna say, I love you anyway, and I'm gonna try and see your heart. And I need to do the same thing. If we all do that, I tell you that we will be a mighty church, and we already are. But God wants us to be even mightier and even stronger. And where we see differences, we say, God, bind us together in unity.
Is that all right? I want to tell us, across all of our churches, God's doing a mighty work, and we need to. We can do better. We can love each other more. But your part is, God, help me to love the people that are in my life.
Help me to forgive. Help me to be in solidarity with them in what your vision is. And sometimes that's calling you to correct someone if they're being negative and they're not in the. They're not flowing with the Holy Spirit, and they're just caught up in it, sometimes in love you come alongside and you say, you know what? God's got better for you than that.
Let's not get focused on that stuff. Cause I know God's got a greater plan for you, and you can actually help someone. See? And I love that when I see that people have done that in my life. Narelle's done that to me sometimes.
She said, you are going on and on about this thing like no tomorrow. Just be quiet, all right? It doesn't matter. I'm like, I'm offended by that. And then I realize sometimes I'm offended because it's true.
And who knows? God puts people in our lives to help us and guide us. Solidarity with God's people. When you seek him, you'll find it more and more and more. Number three.
You step into God's plan. You step into his plan for your life. It says this one day, as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them. We don't realize this because we are so used to knowing the stories. If you know the Bible and you've been hearing about it for a while, you go, we already know what happens.
Barnabas and Saul went on these amazing missionary journeys. They went over three, four missionary journal. Paul went on for and went across the known world and changed the world. They planted churches wherever they went. And we're the result of that, that Christianity went across the known world and changed everything.
What we don't realize is, back when this happened, they were basically nobodies. You know what Saul was. Saul was a bit of a. He was a problem because Saul was the guy who tried to persecute the church. And he was the troublemaker.
And he was the guy that would say, hey, Peter, you're wrong. And what about this? And they were worried. They were like, oh, he's a loose cannon. We don't know what Saul's gonna say, you know?
And I go, who feels like that? Sometimes you're a bit of a loose cannon. That's been me in my life. Some people are like, oh, Adrian, what's he gonna say? What's gonna happen?
I go, that was Saul. He. People were like, he wasn't just the accepted, great man of God. But then they sought God. Saul was someone who sought the face of God.
And when God said, now's the time to step into my plan, Saul already knew that he was going to change the world. Saul already knew that God had called him to go to the non Jewish People and plant churches and speak. But he was waiting for God's timing. And as he sought God, then God said, now's the time. Barnabas was another one.
He was just a great supporter. Barnabas is known as the encourager. He was the son of encouragement, Right son of encouragement. He'd come alongside, a bit like Steve, come alongside, going, you're doing a great job. You're a champion.
I don't know if they thought Barnabas was gonna be the great evangelist. And God goes out and plants churches across the world. But then God said, the special work. What's the special work God's got for you? What's the special work?
When you seek God, he will show you, and then he will open the door at the right time. I've had to rely on this. I do rely on this in my life. I'm not relying on any man or woman to open the door for me. I'm not relying on any person to tell me who God's called me to be.
Yes, people have encouraged me. They've told me different things. But at the end of the day, I say, God, I'm seeking you. What have you called me to do? Who have you called me to be?
And then I look for those confirmations, and then I say, God, I'm not trying to force my way through doors. I'm not trying to do different things. God, I'm going to step into it. When you speak, I'm going to step into it. And God has done that.
Different opportunities. The reason Narelle and I are here, because God spoke into our hearts so clearly. We had no intention of coming to Frankston0ever. We didn't even come to the beach down here because we were dumb. So I didn't.
We were living in Berwick. I was like, there's a beautiful beach down the peninsula. And that. We never came too far to travel. And then someone rang me and said, I want you to.
I feel like God said, you're supposed to apply. And I went. You know what I did? I went and prayed. And I'd been fasting and praying and seeking God.
And I went into my room. I still remember I went into the lounge room and I got on my face before God, and God showed me a picture, and he spoke these words into my heart. Sensitive to the spirit, he spoke these words. He said, everything I've called you to do will happen through this church. And I rang Narelle straight away, and I said, honey, I think God's spoken to us.
And that's why we came it wasn't because man opened a door and because then I was happy where I was. But God said, I want to tell you when you seek after God, he will open the right door at the right time, and you step into his plan. I'm watching too many people try and step into their own plans. Put your plan aside. You know what that takes?
Humility. It takes humility. It takes trust in God. Do you trust God enough to put your plan aside and say, God, what your plan for my life is? I'll follow in your timing.
I've watched people in church trying to make their plan for their life happen. Almost fell off the stage then. Good save. Good save. That was not God's plan.
Could have been step into.
I've watched people trying to make their plan happen. It doesn't work out well. I've watched people trying to make a plan happen for the right partner to have. You know what we should all do with our partners, our future partners. Right?
If you're with your partner already, then that's God's plan. All right. But if you're wondering about a partner, just got to clarify. Ask God what his plan is and then step into it. When it's God opening the door and saying yes, be sensitive to the spirit.
That's what I've tried to do. I believe with all my heart that God drew Narelle and I together. And I prayed about it and sought God. And I said, I'm not making a move. I didn't know how to make a move anyway.
But to pray and ask God, how do I make a move? How do I ask her out on a date without, like, stammering and not knowing what to say? But I said, I'm not making a move until God, you speak to me. And he did. In the quiet of my own room, when I was seeking God, I can promise you guys this works.
These men of God went and they sought God. And then the Holy Spirit spoke and said, now's the time to step into the plan that I have for you. God has a plan for your life, and it is greater than you know. It's better than I promise you it's better and it's more impactful than the plan that you've got for your own life. It's more impacting for the world than you have.
But you gotta ask God and say, God, I'm gonna seek you, and I'm gonna follow you, and I'm gonna be patient. I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna follow what you have. Sometimes our plans God will show you. And then you gotta wait like Joseph, God showed him the plan and then said, ah, that's years away.
I've got to do a work in you yet. Do you trust God to do a work in you while he's opening? And then the time will come when he'll say, now's the time to step. You step into his plan when you seek God.
That's why I love the stories in our church. We've got Trevor and Tracy Henderson, who are now the lead pastors at our Peninsula at Connect Peninsula. And some of you, many of you would know them, been in our church for over two years here. You know what they were doing, Just serving God. And Tracy was helping Narelle with the women's connect group, and then she took that group over.
Trevor was helping with Alpha course. He was welcoming people. Not Trevor Watkins here, Trevor Henderson. He was just serving as a volunteer, and they were saying, God's doing a work, but we don't know what it is. I'd meet with him and say, I don't know what it is, but I know God's stirring.
He's doing something. And then one day I was praying, and I said, God, I said, we need to find the right people for lead pastors at Peninsula. And I've been trying, and I just hadn't found the right people yet. And then I said, okay, God, I'm gonna. I felt prompted to go through our list of leaders, just go through all the names.
And I said, okay, Holy Spirit, you speak. Said, you show me. Because I said, I've done this. I said, I don't know. And then God spoke and said, do it again.
And I went through that list, and holy Spirit, suddenly the names Trevor and Tracy Henderson just popped out of that list at me. And I was like, they could be awesome. Maybe this is what God's calling them to do. And I felt this prompting going, do you have faith to go and ask them? I was like, I don't think they want to be pastors.
This is crazy, God. And he's like, do it anyway. So I did what Adrian does sometimes. I just went up to him in the foyer after church on a Sunday. I said, hey, Trevor, how's it going?
He goes, yeah, I'm just looking at what the next role is for me, and I've got a couple of options. And he was a builder, building manager, been in church. And I said, have you thought about being a pastor? Trevor's like, no, no, I haven't. I said, well, would you like to Think about it.
Cause I said, I was praying the other day, and we've got a position that we need someone that I think you and Tracey could be grateful. And he said, well, I didn't really think about that. But he goes, you know what? I'll go pray about it. And I was like, okay, well, that's the end of that.
You know, that's the night. You know, when you say, I'll pray about it, it just means no, Right?
And if someone asks you out on a date and they say they're gonna go pray about it, they've said no to you. Okay.
Except my wife. No. She told me she has to go pray about it. And then she came back and said, yes, thank you, Lord, for changing and helping her make up her mind. Anyway, so they went away.
And then I met with them a few weeks later, and we were sitting and talking about different things. And you know what? I looked at Trevor and he brought it up. He said, adrian, he goes, I don't know what you've done. He goes, I haven't been able to sleep because I can't stop thinking about this opportunity.
And he goes, God's grabbed my heart, and we've got. And Tracy said, adrian, I've just got excited about it. And I was like, this could be. I feel like this could be the thing, and this could be what God's calling us to do. And in the end, it was obvious that God had been stirring them because they were seeking him.
And we sent them down there, and you know what's happening there? We're seeing growth. We're seeing people's lives changed, right? They're redoing the different bits and pieces, and people are giving into it and modernizing that building. And people are being loved.
They've moved to the area, and I went, this is what they were called to do. They've stepped into God's plan. Now I look at it, I go, it was easy. It was obvious to see that's what was happening. But it wasn't until we sought God that he showed us the way.
What's the plan he's got for your life? Seek him and you will. I promise you, you'll step into it. It'll look different. It'll look like a windy road.
But when you get there, it's the right way. Here's the last one.
You step into God's plan. When you seek after God, when you seek the Holy Spirit, when you fast and pray, I promise you this. You will start something. You will start something that will Last forever.
Who wants to make their lives count for eternity? You will start something. Look at these guys. A group of men that we never heard of, would never have heard of. They fasted and prayed and then said, right, you go.
Do you know what they did? They went and pioneered. They got on ships and Paul got shipwrecked multiple times. He almost died many times. They tried to kill him in the towns he went into.
He had to run and escape these towns because the people were trying to kill him. He got arrested. He went through ups and downs. But you know what he did? He went to Ephesus and he went and preached the gospel and he went and witnessed to people and people got saved and they started a church.
And then he went to Colossae and then he went to other places and he started. Wherever he went, he preached the gospel and people got saved and their lives got transformed. And he started churches. They didn't even have leaders for the churches. The churches just started because people were giving their lives to Christ.
He started something that today we're here. They didn't know that Australia even existed back then. Do you know why we're here? Because Paul started something. Barnabas started something.
And it went from here, here. And then God ignited something in that person's heart. And then Timothy and then others in those churches and the elders rose up and others and they went and witnessed and it kept going and growing and expanding. And someone, someday they came and they preached the gospel in Australia. And we're here today.
Some of us are from all over countries, all over the world. I was talking to someone who's doing Bible college at Alpha Crucis, and they come from Ethiopia. Ethiopia has one of the oldest Christian churches in history. Why? Because someone went and started something and it's still going today.
Some people went to the Cook Islands, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, to America. They started something. And we're here today because they sought God. And I want to ask you, what does God want to start through you? What does God want to start through you?
We're talking about building our building. And I'm challenged by that because someone said before, 39 years ago, there was a group of people that came from Springvale. Some of them are still in this church. They came from Springvale and they said, we're going to go start something in Frankston. We're going to start a church to reach people with the love of Christ.
They didn't have money. They had a pastor, Ian and Laurie Kruthoff. I don't know if they knew exactly what they were doing, they didn't have land. They didn't have a building. They started meeting in a tafe.
They met in the George Jenkins Theatre. And then they did something crazy. They bought some swamp land.
I mean, that's crazy stuff. And some people sold houses and they gave money, and then they said, you know what? We're going to build on this land. And they somehow got a permit for it. And they filled the swamp and the mud with dirt, packed it down.
Then they designed this building. Then people came in. Some of them are right here. And they did the plastering and they did the brickwork. And someone was here last night.
And she said to me, Phyllis said. She said, I remember sanding that door.
I just went, you know what? I want to say thank you to the people that did that. I want to say thank you because we are here today because you started something. You started something. I don't know if you saw.
I think you did. I think you did see with eyes of faith what God could do. If you would start. If you would seek after God and say, God, we're just. We're just little old group of people that have a vision and a heart to do something that will last for eternity.
And we built this place. And almost 40 years later, we're here today. You're here today. I'm here today because they started something. Lives have been changed and transformed.
And God got a hold of me the other day because I was like, we got a good building. We're gonna go plant churches. We're good. I was listening in a meeting, and the pastor came here, and he said to me, he said, adrian, the biggest thing stopping your growth is the size of this building. Because if this building was bigger, you'd see hundreds more people come into this place and reach more people.
I was like, yeah, but that costs money. And I'm a saver, not a spender. And I'm gonna find another way. Cause we're not gonna do that. And people had brought it up with me and some of the board, and I was like, what's your vision, Adrian?
I said, well, I reckon we can just do what we're doing. We can just go plant more and more smaller churches, and it'll all work. And they were like, okay, no worries. And then God got ahold of me, and he said, adrian, he goes, you're here today because of what they did for almost 40 years ago. And they had faith and they sacrificed.
Are you gonna leave this place? Exactly. Basically the same way, the same size, the same building. For the next generation and the next group of people, and they're gonna be the ones that are gonna have to have the faith to step out. And I remember it was internally, this conversation, I just remember saying, holy Spirit, I said, I can't do that.
I. And the Holy Spirit was like, I know I've asked you to have the faith. I've asked you and your people in this generation to step out and start something. So the next generations and the generation after that and the generation after that, and I don't want to hold back. Can I say this to you?
The last thing I ever want to do with my life is hold back what God wants to do in this world, in other people's lives, because I don't have faith and because I won't seek him and because I won't step out and I won't sacrifice. And I want to tell you that the same should be true of you. God wants to change lives through you. He wants to change your family, your kids, your workplace, your school. He wants to change the schools around us.
He wants you to have a mighty impact. And I'm not asking you to be some mighty man or woman of faith. What I'm asking you to be someone that seeks God wholeheartedly and says God, I'm gonna ask you, what is my part in this? And, Lord, I'm gonna believe that you're gonna start something in my life that no one else can start. Come on.
We're trying to get into the unis right now, and we're trying to reach people with the love of Christ there because they need Jesus Christ. And we'd have barrier after barrier after barrier, but who knows? We've got some people who have started something. There's a group happening in the uni just up the road and going. We're gonna support them and be there and say, come on, we're in this together because God wants to do a mighty work through the uni.
We're not giving up. What's God called you to do and you to start. As for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. And so I'm going to be. I'm challenged to be a person of greater faith.
I'm going to seek God. God, give us the faith. Give us the finances, Lord, give us the open doors. We need to start something that'll last forever. So we're going to pray today.
And I want to ask you, what has God called you to start? What has God called you to be a part of? That's Going to last in your kids lives, in others. Do you know where it starts? It starts in the seeking.
It starts in the seeking. I promise you that God will give you dreams and visions. He will stir your heart. Some of you, God needs to break down. The fact that you feel not good enough.
The barriers that stop you stepping out, the barriers that make you feel like you're not going to be consequential. You're not special. There's nothing about you. Well, he said to Barnabas and Saul, set them apart for the special work that I've called them to do. It was a unique work that no one else can do.
Do you know what, Delilah? God's got a special work for you to do. Mark and Imogen, a special work. John, a special. The two Johns, a special work.
Carl and Helga, you've done some special work. You're still here. You were part of this group. There's still a special work that God has for you to do and be a part of. In your family, in your church, in your community.
Clarissa, special work. Moses is special work. But we've got to seek him. Every single one of you. I can't go through everyone's names because I don't know everyone's names.
But God does. He doesn't care. It's not about me. It's about you and him and saying, God, here I am, I'm gonna seek you. And you watch what he does.
And I don't care how old you are. Avalon, wherever you are, God wants to do a special work through your life. Year 7 this year, the call of God's on your life and you're applying yourself. But God wants to do a greater work. He wants to grab a hold of you and say, hey, I can speak to you right now about your future, about what he wants to do in your heart and life.
There you are.
Do you believe it? You believe it? Hastings, Bass coast in Grantville. A special work to start something. You've done some good.
But God says, I've got a new thing, that I want to do a new thing. So we're going to pray together. And I want you to say, God, I'm getting serious right now. Tuesday, I'm getting real serious. I know some of it's the first time you could just walk out and say, whatever, Adrian, I'm just going to eat to my heart's content, mate.
You go do that. No props, but I'm talking to the people who are getting serious and saying, God, I'm gonna seek you. Not so I look Good. Not so I look good. Not so I get everything I want so that I get directed by the Holy Spirit of God.
And he grabs a hold of my life. He's gonna give you confidence that you didn't have before. He's gonna give you direction you didn't know before. He's gonna open doors that were closed before. Sometimes it's going to happen while the fast is on.
But I want to tell you this. Some of it's not going to happen till way after the fast has happened because he's building perseverance in you. I hate the fast time because I feel grumpy and bleh. But I tell you what, every time I've come out of a fast, God's done a different work. And I go, God, I'm doing this for the future.
I'm doing this because I need to get myself in line with where you are. And I'm believing you. You're gonna do a mighty work. Everything that I've seen happen in my life, I believe has happened because I've sought the face of God. And I'm going doing it again, brothers and sisters.
I'm seeking him again because we need him. We need Him, Hastings. We need him. Bass Coast. We need Him, Frankston.
So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna pray, and I'm gonna invite you.
Close your eyes and bow our heads. And I'm gonna invite you to lift out your hands before the Lord. If you're comfortable with that, we're gonna say, lord, I'm gonna make a commitment, a fresh commitment. I'm gonna seek your face, God. I'm gonna seek after the Holy Spirit.
I'm gonna ask for your direction, God. I'm gonna bring myself in surrender and submission to you and say, lord, you direct my paths.
I don't know all the answers, but you do. Lord, I'm not trusting someone else with my life. I'm trusting you. And I'm getting serious, lord. This next 21 days, I'm going to fast, I'm going to pray, I'm going to get help.
If I need help in that, Lord, I'm going to get support in that. But, Lord, I'm going to do it.
What does God want to do through you? It's a beautiful question. What does the Lord want to do through you? If you asked him that, God, what do you want to do through me? What do you want to do in me?
He's got an answer for you.
Yes.
He's going to draw you closer to him, some of you, he just, he goes, I'm going to show you myself in a beautiful way and it's going to heal hurts because I love you and my love is going to be so real to you. Some of you, God's going to build trust. You didn't even know why that you weren't trusting God. But he's saying, you're going to. As you seek me, you're going to trust me again like you haven't before.
He's going to change you. That's the best thing that can happen. He's going to change you, make you more like Christ. He's going to set you free and he's going to stir you up and give you greater faith and hope and love and joy and peace. And it's going to flow out of you like a river of life as we seek him.
Why does that person have something and I don't? The Lord says, you can have the same things. Seek me and I will fill you with my presence and my life.
So I pray for your people right now, Lord, as we enter into this season of prayer and fasting, it's time to seek the Lord. It's time to get sensitive to the voice of the Spirit. It's time to have unity and solidarity together as we go forward in the process plans you have for each one of us in our church and our communities. It's time to step in to the call, the plan of God for our lives. And it's time to start something anew.
God, that is going to last for the generations and for eternity.
Come again, come again, Let your glory.
I'm open.
I'm open.
Come again, let your glory. I'm open.
Make us your prayer as we finish up today. Come again, let your glory. I'm open.
Come again, let your glory.
Before we finish, we're going to say a prayer. Maybe you've been far from Jesus, maybe you've never given your life to him. But you say, lord, I want to seek you. And it starts by surrendering your heart, love, life to Jesus and saying, be my Lord and Saviour. I'm going to follow you for the rest of my life.
So we're going to say a prayer all across our churches. If you want to say this prayer before the Lord, we're going to repeat it together. But you say this from your heart to the Lord. Dear Lord Jesus, I want to follow you. I believe you're the Son of God, that you died on the cross for my sin and you rose again from the dead.
So forgive me, Jesus. Be my Lord and my Savior for the rest of my life. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen.
Yeah, God's good. Hey.
So Lord, I pray for your people. These are your chosen people, Lord. And I pray, Holy Spirit that you'd grab a hold of each one of us, Lord and you would draw us to seek after you with all our hearts, our minds, our souls, our spirits, Lord God. For when we seek you, we shall find you. When we search for you with all of our heart.
So Lord, let us be conscientious, let us be passionate, let us be committed to that task. And Lord, I thank you that we shall find you, God. And you're going to do a mighty work in every single person as we do. In Jesus name we pray. All God's people said amen.
God bless you Church. Thank you. Hastings. Bass coast we love.