Thank you so much for joining us for this service! Stay up to date with all things Hillsong Church at https://hillsong.dk

​​​​Welcome to our online service ? (the optional subtitles are auto-generated)

thank you so much for having me i can’t

even begin to tell you how grateful

i am my family is anytime we have the

opportunity to be a part of hillsong

church it just feels like a gift to us

to be able to connect with you

being in an at color conference and now

being a part of your church services

listen wherever in the world you are

joining us from i love that god is

giving me an opportunity to hopefully

encourage you today challenge you that’s

what god’s word does he speaks to us he

convicts us and the fact that he can do

this virtually that the holy spirit is

as much here with me where i’m standing

as he is with you wherever you are

sitting or standing god is with you and

i’ve prayed and i’ve asked the lord to

open up all of our eyes so that we can

see him clearly so that we can hear him

personally and intimately today at

hillsong church let’s pray together

lord i thank you i thank you that your

word is living and active and sharper

than any two-edged sword

i thank you father for a church like

this where we can know that we have

leaders with integrity that we can know

we have leaders who honor the word of

god i thank you for this church father

and i thank you for what even right now

in the midst of everything you were

doing to cultivate and to cause your

church to flourish and to thrive i honor

you father today for how you were going

to use your word to spur us on to

spiritual victory in jesus name i pray

amen

it was in september of 2008

that something happened that marked

history

there was a category 2 hurricane named

ike

that caused extensive damage

in the u.s but particularly in the state

of texas there were 110 mile per hour

winds they ripped through texas but

particularly a little small ocean

community in texas on the shoreline it

was devastated

by this incredible hurricane that swept

through the beachside town is known as

gill crest and gilchrist was the worst

hit

that little serene peaceful community

boasted about 200 homes or so

they had beautiful landscaping and

walkways and sidewalks and it was just a

serene little ocean setting where people

would go mostly in their retirement age

where they wanted to just sit and have a

little peaceful season of life and yet

in 2008

the unexpected happened

ike swept through

the aftermath of this storm this

hurricane was absolutely devastating

in fact people said that when they went

to visit the site the day after the

hurricane it was nearly completely

unrecognizable

in fact

it was once populated by

brightly colored homes and detailed

landscaping and green lawns and friendly

sidewalks but where 200 homes had been

now

only one house remained

just one

other than that it looked like no more

than a muddied swamp a wasteland there

was nothing left except fragments of

what once was and the only thing that

gave a little bit of a hint that there

used to be a community there was this

one house that was still standing

it’s actually odd

and quite shocking to see the images of

this town the day after the storm

to see one house standing where there

used to be many

and honestly

it caused me when i saw the image to beg

the question

what was it about this house that kept

it standing through a storm that others

could not stand through

what was it about this house that gave

it the fortification to be able to

remain steadfast no matter what storm

came

the interesting thing though is that

when i look at that landscape

it reminds me of some of the landscape

of our lives because the truth is when

we look around us at the relationships

at the people that were supposed to go

the distance with us that were committed

and covenanted they said to walking with

the lord or to their calling in ministry

or to

friendship or relationship with us the

reality is that the older and older you

get if you’ll notice there are very few

people who have actually built a house a

life

that has stayed standing

because the storms of life come have you

noticed

if you’ve lived through the past two

years you’ve noticed that the storms of

life come

because the reality is y’all we haven’t

just been through one pandemic i mean no

matter where on the globe you live where

i live in texas in the u.s or where you

live in different continents and

different cultures listen we’ve all been

through multiple pandemics the medical

one yes but political ones and racial

ones layer on top of layer of storms and

hurricane and if we want any chance of

being able to have a life that is

steadfast unmovable and always abounding

in the work of the lord then we’re going

to make sure we build houses lives

that have a cornerstone that keep us

steady no matter the winds and the hail

and the rain that may fall

and they are going to fall

you don’t have to go looking for the

storms just keep living and the storm at

some point is going to come and find you

so i’ve been thinking about

how do we build a life that stands

how do we remain over the course of time

where are the saints who will remain

the ones who will still be standing come

hell or high water the ones who are

making a decision that as for me and my

house what we’re going to do is we’re

going to serve the lord the political

landscape may change and the cultural

landscape may shift the stock market may

plummet but no matter what i’ve made my

decision my feet are firmly planted and

i will remain where are the saints who

have chosen to remain and to be

steadfast how is it that so many who

were once strong were noticing them

beginning to lose their strength or the

community of faith that we used to be

able to count on for some longevity and

consistency how is it that those virtues

are becoming now more and more hard to

come by people are drifting away

spouses are leaving

parents are giving up

dreamers are throwing in the towel on

the dream they say god gave them

ministers are quitting what they said

wasn’t a job it was a calling

why is it that finding someone who has

weathered the storms and is still

standing such a rarity instead of a

common occurrence

can i tell you that the older and older

i get the more

impressed i am

with people who have just plain old flat

out

remained

they’ve just been

faithful

they may not be famous

but they’ve remained

they may not be rich but they have

remained they may not be applauded or

noticed or have a lot of followers on

facebook or on instagram or a lot of

likes on every tweet that they post but

they’re not interested in that they’re

trying to be steadfast and unmovable and

always abounding in the work of the lord

the older and older i get the less

impressed i am with the easily

instagramable or the easily famous

uninterested and attracted to and

endeared to

the saints who have

remained

and so i want to encourage you and us on

this sunday about remaining

about being steadfast oh i know it’s

hard i know that the storms have crashed

down upon your house and upon mine i

know that it has been difficult to

remain upright and to keep ourselves

steady in the midst of such uncertain

times but the holy spirit himself will

undergird us and support us so that we

can have longevity and be faithful to

our god

to the end

john writes to us about that

john he’s the one who gave us his gospel

the book of john but then he also wrote

to us a trio of letters

first second and third john

scholars call this the remaining

trifecta

the remaining trio

because over and over and over again

this brother keeps writing about

remaining the word he uses most commonly

throughout his writing to allude to this

idea of being steadfast and remaining

the word he uses is

abide that’s the word you might

recognize you remember in john the

gospel he writes about abiding in christ

and allowing christ to abide in you over

and over and over again he writes about

abiding and the main theme the main

thrust of the word abide

is to stay

it’s to hang out

it’s to chill

it’s to be steadfast

i’m a tea drinker i like hot tea a lot i

probably drink at least one cup a day

before i go to bed it’s just kind of a

thing that helps me to wind down a

little bit i like green tea jasmine

green tea to be specific and i’m the

kind that i put my tea bag in even

before i put the hot water in the mug so

i have the tea bag sitting there then i

put the hot water in and i allow the tea

bag to just

abide

it just sits there

it just hangs out in the hot water the

hot water going through the tea bag the

tea bag meshing in with the hot water

it’s becoming one with the other i’m the

kind of person that just leaves the tea

bag in there the entire time that i’m

drinking the tea the the tea bag is just

remaining

i was with a friend and we were sitting

across from each other having tea and i

noticed she wasn’t an abider

she was a dipper

she was taking that tea bag and just

dipping it in and out as we’re talking

she’s just dipping it in and out and i

was a little irritated by the whole

dipping situation going on across the

table and i said to her girl you realize

you can just leave the bag in there

right you realize you could just leave

it sitting there it’ll be fine

and she said well i don’t like to let it

sit there too long because if it sits

there too long if it remains in the

water too long

the tea will get too strong

there is a strength that comes with

abiding

with remaining

you know if you like dip in on sunday

but dip out on monday

if you dip into spiritual things when

stuff is tough in life and that’s when

you pray but when everything is steady

and calm you actually don’t connect with

god if you dip in and out you will not

have the strength that you need to have

the scaffolding that you need the

foundation that you need the rooftop

that you need to have a house that can

weather

any storm that comes your way

so john he writes to us about the

importance of remaining about abiding

i’m going to read to you from his first

letter it’s first john

i’m going to read chapter 2

verse 12

and then i’m going to read to you 13 14

and 28.

let’s start first john chapter 2 verse

12.

john says

i am writing to you little children

because your sins are forgiven you for

his name’s sake verse 13 says i am

writing to you fathers because you know

him who has been from the beginning i am

writing to you young men because you

have overcome the evil one

i have written to you children because

you know the father

that verse was so important he almost

repeats the exact same thing in verse

14.

i have written to you fathers

because you know him who has been from

the beginning

i’ve written to you young men because

you are strong and the word of god

abides in you and you have overcome the

evil one

and then verse 28

and now little children

here’s our word

remain in him

some of your versions may say abide in

him

here’s why

so that when he appears

we may have confidence and not shrink

away from him in shame at his coming

john starts right off the bat and says

in verse 28 i’m going to tell you why

remaining why abiding why being faithful

not perfect but purposeful and

intentional the overarching theme of a

lifespan is consistency in honoring god

he’s going to tell you why that matters

and why it’s important he says in verse

28

because

jesus is coming

jesus is coming

i don’t mean in theory

i mean he’s coming

i mean the sky is going to split and the

trump is going to sound and jesus is

going to appear he’s coming back and i

don’t know about you but when i see my

savior face to face i am looking for

well done

i want to hear him say well done i won’t

be perfect but i can be purposeful and

intentional and remain in my lifestyle

my walk with him over the course of life

i don’t want to just be faithful in one

season of life or in one decade of life

but over the span of the time that he

gives me and the time that he gives you

i want to be consistent in honoring him

because

he is coming

when you and i keep in our view and in

our mind

that jesus is coming back it causes us

to look at everything that is happening

in our daily life everything happening

in the course of time and history as an

opportunity to honor god because he’s

coming we we see things through an

eternal lens when we remember that the

reason why we remain is because he is

coming back

and so john writes to us about remaining

and he says the the overarching reason

why we want to make sure that we do that

is because jesus is coming but then he

does acknowledge progression

did you notice in the verses that i read

to you he speaks to little children

then he speaks to young men or

adolescents and then he speaks to

fathers he recognizes progression and

growth in remaining he acknowledges that

you’re going to go through different

seasons and different stages of growth

that it is a journey this process of

remaining

and honoring god throughout a lifetime

and so i thought for just a few moments

we could walk through each of those

stages together you could see where you

are in the journey and i can see where i

am

he started off in verse 12 by saying i’m

writing to you little children because

your sins are forgiven for his namesake

little children is a phrase that he uses

all throughout his writing and yet while

it’s translated into one word little

children or to those two words in

english

there are two different original words

that are used for little children

translated the same in english but from

two different original words

that first original word is translated

little children in verse 12 but it has

nothing to do this original word has

nothing to do with age

it has nothing to do with maturity level

it’s only a term that denotes

relationship meaning it doesn’t matter

what success level you are doesn’t

matter how long you’ve been a christian

doesn’t matter your age your

achievements or your lack thereof he

says i’m just writing to all y’all who

have a need for a father

so he says i want you to know that just

in case you think this message might be

for the person that’s sitting beside you

or behind you or in front of you but not

for you he says i want to clear the

playing field right now i want to level

it all out and let you know that i’m

writing to all y’all little children

because all of you are in need of a

father if we want to have any chance of

having a life that remains over the

course of time and history weathering

the storms and the difficulties that

we’re going to traverse through you’ve

got to have a relationship with a father

and i love so much that

john goes out of his way to make sure he

uses that word that levels the playing

field because what that does is make

sure that the proud among us recognize

oh no you need a father it also helps

the lowly among us the ones who feel

like we’re too weak or we haven’t

achieved enough or we haven’t done

enough we feel lowly in some way it

helps us to know that that our

relationship with god elevates us to

sons and to daughters we’ve been adopted

into the family of god at the cross all

of us come level in need of the same

grace and the same mercy and the same

relationship with god the father through

jesus christ and so john levels the

playing field right off the bat and he

says i want you to know this message is

for you

for all y’all because he was from texas

probably for all y’all little children

then he says in verse 13.

i’m writing to you fathers because you

have known him who has been from the

beginning i’m writing to you young men

because you have overcome the evil one

and i have written to you children

because you know the father

i figure if we start at the bottom of

verse 13

we can just speak to the children

the young men

and then the fathers

in verse 13 the word that he uses for

little children

is the opposite word from verse 12.

this one

actually means

an infant

a baby

he says i am writing to any of you who

are in an infant stage in some season of

your life a fledgling stage meaning

you’re just starting out in that

marriage you’re just starting out in

that entrepreneurial endeavor you’re

just starting out in that ministry you

are young an infant a fledgling in some

area of your life maybe you just came to

know the lord or you just sort of

committed yourself to actually having

being a disciple and growing and

achieving some spiritual maturity you’re

just recommitting yourself to that he

says i am writing to any of you in that

stage and he says here’s what i want you

to know about that stage little children

the end of verse 13. i am writing to you

little children here’s why

because you have come

to know

the

father he says i’m writing to you in

this stage to make sure you know that

the goal and the point of this stage of

your growth and the development if you

want any

possibility of being able to remain over

the course of time in history then

you’ve got to utilize this stage for

coming to know

the father

we had the privilege to go

to hillsong south africa this was quite

a few years ago now but we were there it

was the time of our lives we brought our

three sons with us when we went we knew

about a year in advance that we were

going to be able to to visit the

beautiful church there in cape town

south africa and participate in color

conference that was being hosted there

that year and church services we loved

it so much love all the beautiful people

there

in that church

and um we we loved being able to bring

our boys it was exciting and because we

knew we were going in advance we kind of

saved up money to be able to take the

kids i was homeschooling them at the

time and i thought in advance hey why

don’t we study geography of cape town

and study some of the things that are

unique to that area nelson mandela

apartheid so that when we get there i

can take them to robben island to see

where nelson mandela was imprisoned i

could take them to the museums and we

can see the geography of cape town not

just online but be able then to take

them to table mountain and lion’s head

and all of that and so i was so excited

to bring the boys and i thought you know

they’re going to think this is vacation

for them they’re going to want to like

hang out in the hotel and all that stuff

oh no we’re waking up every morning

you’re going to every museum you’re

going to see the top of this mountain

you’re going to see this every morning

they were waking up going mom do we have

to see something else

yes you do and you’re going to be happy

about it you’re going to love it and one

day you will rise up and call me blessed

is what you’re going to do you’re going

to enjoy this

and so we went to all the museums we did

all the things

and one of the things i got to take the

boys to do was to drive outside of cape

town a couple of hours to have a little

safari just a few hours on an open-faced

jeep with this very

lively learned guide that sat at the

front of the jeep and he turned around

and he would talk to us about the

animals we were seeing

we saw some animals we’d only seen in

books we also saw some animals that

we’ve seen before in

in the states

in the zoo or something we’ve seen some

of those animals and i remember when we

passed familiar animals i thought to

myself we don’t need to know about these

animals let’s move on to the other

animals

but i was so glad when he stopped at the

zebra

there was a little herd of zebra and

there was a baby zebra and he paused

there for a moment and he said you know

i know you guys have seen a zebra before

but i’ve got to tell you

this is the first time i’ve actually

seen that baby back with the herd in

about three weeks

after that foal was born we hadn’t seen

him for three weeks or so now and he

said let me tell you why

when a new baby is born the mother will

take that baby zebra away from the herd

for a little while and the reason why is

because the stripes on every single

zebra are as unique as human beings

fingerprints

you can’t see it with the naked eye but

particularly particularly the

configuration that’s right there in the

middle of the forehead is unique one

zebra to the next

and he said so when a baby is born the

mother will take that zebra away from

the herd so that all the baby is doing

is zeroing in on the configuration of

stripes on his mother’s head

that way the first two weeks or three

weeks of that baby’s life he has come to

know his mother

come to know the one who loves him the

most

so when she brings that baby back to the

herd with all those other stripes that

baby will never ever be confused about

the configuration of stripes that

belongs to the one who gave birth to him

the reason why when you’re in a

fledgling stage it’s not the time to go

away from the father it’s time to cuddle

up close and just get to know who your

father is it’s so that you will know

that it is by his stripes that you have

been healed so that when you are coming

face to face out there in the world with

all the other configurations that are

trying to be presented to you you will

never ever be confused about who your

father is

the one who gave birth to you the one

who adopted you into the family the one

who gave you rights and inheritance as a

son or daughter grafted into the family

of god you need to know who your daddy

is

and i

sadly think

that there are a whole generation of us

as believers that oftentimes we try to

skip this phase

we to try to jump right to adulthood

skipping this foundation of our houses

the strength of a good house is that its

foundation of knowing who your father is

is solid you have a

clarity on who god is the i’m talking

about the god of abraham isaac and jacob

you have come to cultivate a

relationship and we have a generation of

christians who are growing up too fast

they haven’t valued the season this

stage of just doing what a baby does

cuddling up to his parent

knowing what his voice or her voice

sounds like trusting and depending like

infants do on that father that mother to

provide for you to love you to feed you

that baby can offer nothing in return

all it can do is depend learn to depend

the one who loves them the most

any of you that have had children or you

got nieces and nephews then i remember

when i had my kids and i’d take them to

their checkups at the pediatrician one

of the things that those doctors will

often say is be careful about taking a

baby and bouncing them up and down on

his or her own legs too soon it’s always

tempting to sort of stand them up on

their legs and bounce them up and down

but

sometimes if you do it too soon those

bones are still soft and still malleable

and too much weight too much pressure on

their legs too soon

could cause their spine to just be

slightly malformed or twisted so that

they might walk with a limp for the rest

of their lives if they put too much

weight

on their little bodies too quickly

don’t grow up too fast

remain here getting to know the one who

loves you

stay there build a firm foundation

remain there until he releases you

the reason why you’re going to need a

steady foundation john says is because

you are going to grow up

and become

young men

young women

the word there in the original language

is adolescence it’s puberty it’s being a

teenager

he says i’m writing to all of you who

are little children but i’m also writing

to you who are teenagers

adolescents you’ve grown up a little bit

and he says here’s why i’m writing to

you verse 13. i’m writing to you young

men or adolescents because you have

overcome the evil one he reiterates it

in verse 14 and he says i am writing to

you young men because you are

strong

because you’re getting some muscle on

you

so these three boys that i have

they are

giants

they’ve always been big boys now i’m

looking at one getting red turned 20 and

then i got the 17 year old and the 14

year 13 year old he’s already taller

than me

they’re they’re like six foot two inches

tall my older two boys they wear a size

14 men’s u.s shoe i mean these boys are

giant somebody come help you feed these

people they just eat all the time got

these big old boys

they’ve got all these muscles all over

them their chest sticking all out they

walk around their house with their shirt

off it’s nasty it’s gross i’m like put

your clothes on boy

they’re just walking around showing off

all their strength

now when they were younger like nine and

ten years old they already had a lot of

strength i remember around 13 or so they

could literally pick me up and throw me

on the couch and we’d be wrestling and i

couldn’t win against them anymore now

this was before their bodies had fully

developed so there wasn’t a lot of

muscle on the outside of them but they

still had a whole lot of strength

inside and and they were able to kind of

pick me up and throw me around and we’d

wrestle together and i realized that

that stage i remember it happening where

i really couldn’t fight back that well

anymore they had me

they are athletes and my husband has

been really detailed with their coaches

and trainers and stuff about making sure

that there was not too much weight put

on those boys too early he didn’t want

them lifting weights when they were

younger and their bodies were still

developing he would tell their coaches

they can do push-ups and resistance

things using their own body weight but

let’s hang off on adding actual weights

and dumbbells to their workout regiments

too early

so it’s only in the past two or three

years that these boys have actually

started lifting

weights

and i’m telling you once they started

actually lifting weights once the

resistance was added to their workout

regimen

all of a sudden all of that power and

strength that was always in them

started taking shape on the outside of

them

now you could see the muscle that was in

there but now it was developed and it

was cultivated and you could start to

catch sight of it on the outside of them

it’s why i’ve got big grown men walking

around my house now with all this muscle

on the outside of them the power was in

them

but adding the resistance allowed you to

see the muscle on the outside of them

john says i’m writing to you and your

little children so that you’re coming to

know the father but i’m going to write

to you when you’re teenagers and

adolescents because you’ll know you’re

there when the resistance of life is

added when you feel like this is weighty

in my ministry or in my marriage or in

my parenting or in my finances or my

entrepreneurial endeavor i feel like

there’s been weight added on to me if

the lord has loud weight something you

feel like man emotionally i can’t carry

this financially i can’t carry this

mentally i feel like i can’t carry this

spiritually relationally i feel like i

can’t carry this the reason why he is

adding weight is so that finally

the power that is in you

can begin to take shape on the outside

of you

this is the time when people will start

looking at you on your job or in your

church or in your house or in your

neighborhood and they will notice a

faith that is powerful and palatable

it’ll be heard in the way that you pray

it’ll be heard and seen in the way that

you serve in the resilience that you

have there’s spiritual muscle coming to

you in that stage

so remain

through the infancy because infancy is

for intimacy

but remain through adolescence because

adolescence

that’s where you accrue power

that’s where spiritual muscle starts

taking shape in your life and it changes

the landscape of your entire spiritual

life and walk with god the dynamic

completely shifts because of spiritual

muscle that begins to take shape

in your life

and then he says finally

i am writing to you fathers

because you know him who has been

from

the beginning

please notice that he doesn’t say i am

writing to you adults

he says i’m writing to you fathers

or mothers

he uses a term that denotes spiritual

parenting

spiritual legacy

the handing off of a baton one person to

the other he says i am writing to you

who are in a season of life where you

have lived long enough where now you

have the opportunity to pass on the

baton of faith to someone who is coming

up after you mentoring he’s talking

about here

so he’s speaking to men and to women

whether you have biological children or

not is not his reference here he’s

talking to people who have walked with

god long enough that they have a

testimony a story to tell where they can

encourage someone who is coming along

after them he says i’m writing to you

fathers spiritual parents and here’s why

i’m writing to you because you know him

who has come from the beginning

he says i’m writing to those of you who

have come to know who jesus is

not a program not a platform not a

religion not a routine i’m writing to

some people who have a house that’s

still standing over the course of time

and you can fling wide open the doors of

your house and invite some people to

come in and take a seat so that you can

tell them and show them the one who was

from the beginning he’s talking about

jesus y’all this is john here who wrote

at the beginning of his gospel john

chapter one verse one in the beginning

was the word and the word was with god

and the word was god he was talking

about jesus then and he’s talking about

jesus here he says we need some people

who know who jesus is not just in theory

not just in a christmas nativity scene

not just through the testimony of other

people no they have lived long enough

and remained with him long enough and

walked with him long enough that they

have a story to tell

and in a world that is beginning to

water down the gospel in a culture that

is generalizing god so that he is one of

many gods and not just a singular

unmatched entity without comparison and

with no counterparts we need some

christians who’ve walked the road long

enough and who have enough years under

their belt who have tried him and have

seen for themselves that there is a one

true god who still has a specific name

an eternal name a name that they are not

afraid to stand and say a name at which

every knee will bow and every tongue

will confess his name is jesus christ he

still is the chief cornerstone

he still is the lily of the valley he is

still a bright morning star he is the

one of whom the prophet spoke he is the

one who was born of a virgin so that he

knew might become the light to all

mankind he is the one who laid down his

life so that we would not have to pay

the wages for our own sins he was the

one who was resurrected from the dead by

the power of the holy spirit the same

power that lives on the inside of us he

is the one at whose name demons tremble

he is the one who will return to judge

the living and the dead john says we

need some people who will tell us about

that jesus

and so he says we need some saints who

have remained whose house is still

standing who haven’t been perfect but

they’ve been purposeful intentional

about making sure that despite the

cracks or the wounds or the scars or the

scuffs that their house may have because

of the hail and the rain and the winds

that have blown their house still

stands

they have a firm foundation they have

firm scaffolding they have a roof over

their heads a father named uh god who is

the one true and living god and they

have a house that is still standing and

they fling open the front doors of that

house and they say come on in and let me

tell you about jesus

he says remain

remain over the course of time a

lifetime of growth

because y’all it’s not about arriving

it’s about remaining

each wobbly step that we take is

building our strength and our resilience

and our fortitude and if you skip any

part of the process if you skip over

infancy or skip over adolescence you

will have missed some formative stages

of your spiritual life that are required

for you to have the assurance and the

strength that you need to stay steady

over the course of time so he encourages

you and i encourage you and me and us to

remain

why

verse 28

because jesus is coming

he’s coming

be steadfast

be immovable

and by the power of the holy spirit be

always abounding in the work of the lord

lord jesus i thank you that by your

spirit you give us the strength to

remain

for those of us who feel like right now

we’re particularly exhausted and weak

and feeble and faltering in some area of

our life because the storm we’ve just

been through has been more difficult

than we ever imagined imagined it would

be i pray for fresh wind and fresh fire

fresh encouragement and fresh strength

by your spirit today

in jesus name i pray

amen

you