Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Hello. Happy Mother's Day. I was like this morning, happy Mother's Day. Have an hour less sleep. What is up with that?
[00:00:12] But I'm assuredly. I've been told that doesn't normally happen, like the fall of daylight savings on Mother's Day. I'm like, if it does, we need to change that. Like, truly, you know, in New Zealand, Mother's Day is maybe. And so I said to our kids this morning, I'm gonna celebrate today and in May. And they were like, mom, you can't do that. Like, you're not allowed to do that. I'm totally gonna do that.
[00:00:41] Well, good morning. Good morning to everyone who's watching online too. It's really lovely to have you here and watching. Thank you for spending a portion of your Mother's Day with us. You know, Mother's Day is not always an easy day. You know, my journey knows that well. And I always like to start every Mother's Day message with this quote. I don't know where I got it from, but to the one who has lost a mother, to the mother who has lost a child, to the mum flying solo today, to the one that longs to be a mum, and to the spiritual mums, to many, we just want to say, you're not forgotten. You are not forgotten. You are not forgotten this Mother's Day. You're in our thoughts and in our prayers. Amen. I love what was brought out this morning. So good. Well, has anyone ever seen any of the Lego movies? Any of the Lego movies in particular? Lego Movie 2. Now, kids movies, honestly, I think they're written for adults because they're brilliant. And we took our kids about five years ago to Lego Movie 2 and we took them. They were obviously quite a lot younger. We took them to the cinema in New Zealand. And there's a part at the start of the movie, the main characters are Emmett and Lucy. And Emmett comes to Lucy and he says, hey, Lucy, I've brought you coffee. And she says, coffee, the bitter liquid that provides the only semblance of delight in these dark times. And I'm like, brilliant. I'm gonna love this movie. And he says, lucy, did I interrupt you brooding?
[00:02:23] And he says, no one can brood quite like you.
[00:02:28] And it got me thinking, are there any other brooders out there? Maybe you are more on the melancholic side. Glass half empty people. You're probably not going to put your hand up. So I'm going to put my hand up to represent us all. Yes, that would be me. I'm Definitely more like Lucy. Maybe you're more like Emmett. Immensely positive.
[00:02:54] Would it surprise you or it won't surprise you that I am married to an Emmet and I love him dearly? He's positive and optimistic, and he's often saying, everything is awesome, everything's going to be awesome. But in the movie, Lucy says to Emmett, she says, you've got to stop pretending everything is awesome, because it's not.
[00:03:18] And I laughed and I thought, you know what? It got me thinking. What do we do? And we know when life is not awesome, when life is hard, when things maybe don't go our way. And I thought I'd written this part in this message and I thought, I'm going to be tested on this this week. Sure enough, sure enough, we were. Our car broke down. Not a good thing.
[00:03:43] We can brood, can't we? We can dwell on the negative, or we can make a different choice. We can choose joy. We can choose to dwell on the hope that we have in Jesus.
[00:03:57] I woke up this morning and I was going over my message, and I'm like, oh, my goodness, I need glasses. Then they make me feel a bit. I do need glasses. A bit funny. But one of my favorite speakers is David Peters. Pastor David Peters with his wife Greta are going to be with us in May, which is amazing. And David was a teaching pastor when Mike and I were children's pastors. And I used to make sure I never missed one of his messages because it was always amazing. And he has, he said, a definition of hope that has stayed with me for years. Probably heard this like 20 years ago. And he says, biblical hope is a patient, confident, joyful expectation of good. And I love that. Biblical hope is a patient. It's a confident. It's a joyful expectation of good.
[00:04:50] You know, today our theme this Mother's Day is dwell. It's dwell. And to dwell means to live in a specific place. You know, the word dwell, it can carry some negative connotations to it, especially in our English language. We often say, don't dwell on the negative. Don't dwell on your regrets.
[00:05:12] And we can so easily do that, can't we? Dwell on our unhappiness, our anxieties, and our dissatisfaction. And this morning, I want to just. In the few minutes we've got reclaim this word dwell and explore. Explore the places where God intends us to dwell. And it is our hope. It's my hope that your prayer would be, lord, make me your dwelling place. You know, Psalm 91:1 says, whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Such a beautiful psalm. Would you pray with me just as we start this morning, Father God, I thank you. I thank you for who you are. I thank you that you're such an amazing God. And Lord, as we just spend a few moments in your word, I just pray that you would speak to us, Lord, that you would tailor this message to every heart that is listening this morning. In Jesus name, Amen. I feel like I need my glasses. Like it's better, it's better down here. And then I look up and I get. I need glasses, don't I? I need to get some and, you know, dwell. In the Old Testament is a translation of nine Hebrew words. The most common is yeshav, which basically means to sit down.
[00:06:33] Now, in Jewish culture, no one stood when it was possible to sit. And I'm like, I really like the sound of that, don't you?
[00:06:43] To sit down, like, come on all you mums of preschoolers, to sit down and finish a hot cup of tea or coffee, like that is a miracle. When our children were little, I used to wander around with my coffee and they would find my coffee cup all around the house to sit down and finish some breakfast.
[00:07:03] I have coffee for breakfast. Anyone else? Rosie's always telling me, mum, that's so bad, to sit down and still my heart with my heavenly Father.
[00:07:18] No one stood when it was possible to sit. And someone in the Bible who really knew what it meant to make God her dwelling place was the prophetess Anna. Her story is told in Luke chapter two and it's as I've studied this story, it's become absolutely one of my favorites. And so we're just going to read that this morning. It's going to be on the screen. Screen, or you can read it in your Bible. I'm just picking up from verse 38, reading in the Christian Standard Bible and it says there was a prophetess Anna, a daughter of Fanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and she was a widow for 84 years.
[00:08:00] She did not leave the temple, serving God day and night with fasting and prayers. And at that very moment she came up and began to thank God and to speak about him who were all looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Now, I love this story. You know much about what we know about Anna is implication rather than direct knowledge. You know, Anna, it was likely that she was married young, maybe even as young as 15 or 16, and the Bible doesn't say, say she had any children. And I got our son Josiah to help me because unlike me, he's very good at maths. Like, I'm not very good at maths, but he is. In fact, he's just chosen his subjects for gcse and one of his subjects is further maths. I'm like, why would you do that? Why would you take further maths? It's like algebra and calculus. But he has, he's chosen further maths. My kind of maths is like girl math. Have you heard of girl math? That's when you get. Yes, some of you have. That's when you get a dress. It was £50, but you only paid £30. That's like a 20 pound saving bargain. I love sales. And Mike is like, no, no, that doesn't work because I am now £30 less off because. Because you bought that dress. He goes, no, Amy, I don't agree with your girl math, but I'm like, I like girl math. And it's really funny. One of our gifts to you ladies is a beautiful bunch of spring daffodils. And Zoe and some girls this morning were just tying yellow ribbons and she's like, mum, you've got a lot of daffodils. She said, are you sure you calculated this right? And I'm like, well, we all know I'm not very good at mess, so if we have lots left over, you know, we're just going to go and give some away. We're going to go and give some away. But Josiah, back to my story. Josiah calculated that Anna likely would have been about 105, 106 years old. And so it says, for 84 years she never left the temple. Like she was there day and night. And she came along at just the moment that simply Simeon was speaking to Mary and Joseph. They brought Jesus to the temple to be dedicated and she proceeded to tell everybody. I love that. From Anna's story. I believe there's three places we can learn to dwell. My first thought this morning is that we need to dwell in God's house. We need to dwell in God's house. You know, Psalm 84. 4 says, how blessed are those who dwell in God's house, for they are ever praising you. I love that. The church of Jesus Christ, it's the hope of the world and it is our heart that rediscover. Church becomes home for people. Mike shared the scripture this morning in Psalm 68 that says, God sets the lonely in families. You know, for Anna, the temple was where she literally lived. Like she lived on site at church.
[00:11:08] Can you imagine living here? I'm like, no, thank you. I am not living here in the winter.
[00:11:15] No, no, no. But Anna was not like most women of her time. She chose a different path. And I can imagine that maybe Anna was encouraged to get married again, to have children. But it says in the Passion translation of Luke 2. 37 that Anna chose to worship God in the temple continually. Like she made a decision to dwell in God's house. And from my reading, it would say to me that Anna was a woman of impeccable character. Like, she was amazing. She was a woman of faith. Prayer was a part of her lifestyle. Like she was given an apartment to live in at church. That's such a compliment, I think, to a widow, especially in that time.
[00:12:04] I think they really valued what Ana had to offer. And some of you here are like, you don't think you have a lot to offer? Well, you do. You all have something to offer. And, you know, if you have made a choice to dwell in the house of God, then you are in his will. You know, Anna bought her worship and she received something so precious in return.
[00:12:26] Anna discovered her purpose. Where did she discover her purpose? Dwelling in the house of. Of God. You know, she discovered that she was an intercessor, that she was a prayer warrior. I was thinking this week, if Anna did the apest test, she probably would have come out as a prophetic evangelist. How good is that? There's an incredible promise. Psalm 92:13. It's really, I guess it's a life scripture for me. And it says, planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
[00:13:04] And that's our gift to you. As I've got some spring daffodils. Hopefully they'll last the week at home for you all. But just to remind you that planted in the house of the Lord, you will flourish. Amen. In the courts of our God. And that is my story. I have been in Elim in New Zealand since I was 7 years old when I just started high school. We moved from our largest city in New Zealand, in the North Island, Auckland, and we moved north to Whangarei and we found such an amazing Elim church there. Like, the praise and worship was amazing. Much like here, it was like, I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait every week just to come and to be in God's presence. And my pastor at the time, Pastor Dave Beaumont, he was hilarious. Like, such a funny man. And I was like, what story is he going to share this week that is going to help me grow in my relationship with God. But it's where I got opportunities to serve. It's where I got opportunities to serve and it's actually where I got my first opportunity to speak was in Ilim Whangarei. And I am who I am today. And I'm here today because someone believed that and a little 12 year old girl called Amy.
[00:14:24] You know, our church Rediscover is 97 years old, I believe, and he is so faithful. God is not finished yet. And I absolutely believe that there are generations to follow us who will discover what it means to truly dwell in God's house. People from every nation, people from every generation getting planted in the house of the Lord. So that's my first thought, is that we can dwell in God's house. Second thought this morning is that we need to dwell in God's word. We need to be men and women who know what it means to dwell in God's word. And I know I'm speaking to the ladies today, but that's everybody, but especially on my heart ladies, that we would be women of the word every day. And I know that that is not always easy. When our kids were really little, probably preschoolers, that was such a challenge for me. But even now there's so much distraction just to really sit and spend quality time with God. You know, in God's word, he has a problem, an answer. Sorry for every problem that we would face. Psalm 91:4 sees his face. Faithful promises are our armour and protection. And you know, insomnia has been something that I've really struggled with probably since I had children, but probably over the last decade. Last week one of our team brought a word specifically for people struggling with insomnia. And so if you weren't here and you didn't get prayer, please make sure you do.
[00:16:03] But there have been seasons in my life, I'm like, I have memorized Psalm 48 seasons where I've written that scripture out and it sits underneath my pillow. When we first moved here, insomnia was really read its head again for me. But Psalm 48 says, in peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone make me dwell in safety. So we've got to make time to dwell in God's word. You know, I think Anna, she knew the word of promise for herself. She knew that the Messiah was coming. There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament about the promised Messiah, about Jesus coming. And I also think that anna knew Psalm 68. Five that says, God is a father to the fatherless. Fatherless. He is a champion of widows. Is God in his holy house? Last time I spoke, I coughed my way through. I'm like, this time I am not going to cry because whenever I speak about my grandma, I get a little bit emotional. You know, my Grandma Rosalie has been a widow since the age of 58. And I was talking to my mum this week and I'm like, that is so young.
[00:17:20] That doesn't feel that far away.
[00:17:23] And so she has been a widow. She is still alive. She's 95.
[00:17:28] I know she. Yeah. And one of the hardest things I did was saying goodbye to my grandma before we moved here.
[00:17:37] She's such an amazing lady. And someone was saying, she's probably going to live to 100. And I'm like, I really, really hope she does. We've promised our kids a trip back home to New Zealand, so I pray that I can still go and see her when we go back home. But my Grandma Rosalie, she loves the Lord. She is a woman of faith. She is filled with the Holy Spirit and she prayed for us for years to have children.
[00:18:09] Our eldest daughter, Rosie, is named in her honor.
[00:18:14] And she's just a very special lady. And I just really fast, I was putting this message together that I just really want to honor the widows and honour the widowers, those maybe who have lost a spouse, because there's such an amazing promise. And we honour you and we love you and God champions you.
[00:18:35] I pray you would know that this morning. And so could we just honour. Just give them a hand.
[00:18:50] We needed to dwell in God's word. Colossians 3:16 says, Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you.
[00:18:59] And the last place I believe we can dwell is God's presence. You know, Psalm 16:11 says, you have made known to me the path of life, and you fill me with joy in your presence.
[00:19:13] I wonder if on that day that Anna met Jesus, like in her apartment in the temple every day, she might have asked this. She said, lord, is today gonna be the day? Imagine her surprise when he replied, yes, Anna, today is gonna be the day. You are gonna meet my son, Jesus. You are gonna meet the promised Messiah. He's gonna be with his mum, Mary, and his dad, Joseph, and Simeon is gonna be blessing him. Imagine, imagine her delight. And you know what? Anna was led by the Holy Spirit. She was led by the Holy Spirit. And the reason I can say that is Luke 2. 28 says, at that very moment, Anna came up at that Very moment. And she began to praise God. Like she didn't dwell on her past, on her regrets, on her disappointments. And I can only imagine that Anna had some.
[00:20:11] But she made a choice to dwell in God's house.
[00:20:16] And she was a true evangelist. I'm like, I need a little bit of help in that area. Cause it's quite low on my list. That's okay, we can all improve. But she began to tell everybody she was never the same and she'd met Jesus. Thank you, Dan.
[00:20:35] You know, the key to a fruitful life is not doing more.
[00:20:40] It's not doing more. There was a lovely retired pastor at our church in New Zealand. He was so lovely. Pastor Paul. He wasn't retired because honestly, the man was busy, much like our retired pastor's here. But he would often say to me, amy, God doesn't love you for what you do.
[00:21:00] He loves you for who you are.
[00:21:03] And I was like, I obviously needed to hear that a lot because he would often say it to me. God doesn't love you for who you. For what you do. He loves you for who you are.
[00:21:15] John 15:4 says, Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. You know, to dwell for me means to remain.
[00:21:36] It means that I'm not going to run off and get distracted, but I'm going to remain.
[00:21:42] I'm not going to depart, I'm going to dwell. I'm going to make a choice, like Anna, to live in your word, in his word and his presence.
[00:21:54] There's incredible benefits, incredible promises dwelling in God, but they are conditional. And the reason I say that is in Psalm 91, it says, because you have made the Lord my refuge, the most high, your dwelling place. Listen to these amazing benefits. You're going to receive rest.
[00:22:17] So Psalm 91:1. You're going to receive refuge.
[00:22:22] You're going to find a safe place. Psalm 91:2 and 4. You're going to receive protection.
[00:22:30] Psalm 91. Multiple, 9, 10, 13. You're going to receive truth, verse 4. You're going to receive peace. We all need peace in our lives.
[00:22:44] You're going to receive help. Verse 14 and 15. But this is my favourite. You're going to receive number seven, God's salvation. Psalm 91:16 says, with long life I will satisfy you and show you my salvation. You know, salvation is the greatest benefit of dwelling in God. And maybe you're here today and you don't know this Jesus that we speak about. You can know him. You can know him today. Mike often says we're only one prayer away from getting our life right with God.
[00:23:20] You know, Jesus. He came to this earth as gift, as God's salvation plan to humanity. And he was perfect.
[00:23:31] He lived a perfect life without sin.
[00:23:35] And he gave his life on the cross so that we could be forgiven. He gave his life so that we could be made right with our Heavenly Father.
[00:23:48] Because we've all sinned. We've all messed up. We have, as the Bible says, we've fallen short of God's, of God's plan.
[00:23:56] And it's our sin that separates us from God. But we're so thankful for Jesus. And you can know him. You can know him. And by surrendering your life to Jesus, three things are going to happen. Your past is going to be forgiven your past sin. You are going to receive a new life in Christ this day.
[00:24:17] And you are going to receive a hope for your future that is eternal.
[00:24:23] John 1:12 says, to all who believed him, to all who received him, he gave the right to, to become children of God. And we're just gonna pray a prayer. We do this every week. You can pray it out loud with us. You can pray it in your heart. And I absolutely believe that God will hear you and he will save you from your sin. So we're just gonna do that right now, if that's okay. We're just gonna pray and you can pray with me. Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour of this world.
[00:24:59] And today I make you Jesus, the Lord of my life.
[00:25:05] I believe you died for me to forgive me. I believe you rose again to give me life.
[00:25:14] And I receive this new life.
[00:25:17] Please forgive me.
[00:25:19] Be my Lord and Saviour.
[00:25:23] Help me to dwell in you.
[00:25:25] In Jesus name.
