The Kindness Project

0:00 I'm going to read to you today from Psalm 133, Psalm 133.

0:16 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when God's people dwell together in unity.

0:25 For unity is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head, running down his beard and onto the edges of his priestly robe.

0:36 Unity is as refreshing as the dew on Mount Hermon and the mountains of Israel.

0:45 And God has commanded His blessing and life eternal forevermore.

0:50 I don't know if you've ever had the chance to hear this psalm, but it's a profound psalm and it speaks very much about God's heartbeat for His church, God's intention for humanity to be united.

1:02 And if there's anywhere that we need unity for God's promises to be outworked in a broken world, it is through the church.

1:10 And so I love Psalm 133 for many reasons, but it gives you a picture.

1:15 And I believe if you get the right picture, you can get the right life.

1:18 Often we say, if you believe right, then you will behave right.

1:22 And I believe it is about believing the right things because our behavior does come from our believing.

1:27 If you believe the wrong things, you will end up behaving the wrong way.

1:31 So getting your believing right is so important.

1:34 But I also believe that getting the right picture of God actually helps you to receive from God.

1:40 If you think He's an angry God, then you're not going to be in a position to receive from Him.

1:44 You'll be fearful, hiding from Him.

1:46 But if your picture of God is a smiling Jesus, oh, I love the picture of Jesus.

1:51 I see Him smiling.

1:53 There's one film clip in the film that I don't know which film director did this.

1:58 I love this film clip about this picture of Jesus, and it's the favorite one for me personally, because it's the film bit where His mother is calling their family in for dinner.

2:08 And there's a picture of Jesus who's already grown up, and He's a carpenter.

2:12 He's working with His hands.

2:14 He's a man's man, if you can say it that way.

2:17 In other words, He's not some white glowing... He's a Middle Eastern man, rugged and definitely not white.

2:26 I hate them pictures where Jesus is white.

2:31 He's dark-skinned and olive-skinned and from the Middle East, and He's literally there washing His hands, as they often did, and His mother comes out to Him and He flicks the water into His mother's face.

2:42 Now that's a bit cheeky, isn't it?

2:44 But I love that.

2:46 I tell you there's something about getting the right picture.

2:48 I want you to know if you've got any picture for Jesus over your life, could you please pick up the picture that He is smiling?

2:56 When He looks at you, I'm telling you, He doesn't frown.

3:00 He's not fawn-looking.

3:01 He's not angry-looking.

3:03 He is smiling because He knows what you do not know.

3:07 He knows things that we have not yet seen.

3:10 And if you're going to get the right picture, you have to get the right picture of a smiling Jesus.

3:15 The world has painted a picture, and sometimes we are addicted to the picture instead of the person.

3:22 And I just trust that you and I will go on a journey where we are going to move from the picture to the person.

3:27 The person is much better than the picture.

3:30 The picture is subject to interpretation.

3:33 The picture can take on the filter and the understanding of the season and the time the person is in.

3:39 But often, if we'll allow the personal relationship to start becoming real, the person is way better than the picture.

3:47 I know some of you don't like pictures of yourself.

3:49 When you're on Instagram, you always look to yourself straight away.

3:52 Before you look at anyone else, you always look,

3:55 because we are more prone to seeing what we're not that good at.

3:59 And I just want you to know, when you get a picture of Jesus, He knows everything and He's still crazy about you.

4:05 And it might sound so simple, but trust me, it will take you a long, long way.

4:09 But what I love about this psalm, it says, it's speaking of unity from the head to the toe.

4:15 It's like the precious anointing oil.

4:17 What is the anointing oil?

4:18 In the Bible, it speaks of the presence of God.

4:21 If there's anything you could want for your life, is that I could have His presence.

4:25 No matter what season I'm in, His presence, may it never be away from me.

4:29 I want His presence more than I want air itself.

4:32 Hunger for His presence, because it's His presence that will sustain you.

4:35 It's His presence that can heal you.

4:37 It's His presence that can lift you.

4:39 It's His presence that will protect you.

4:42 Go for the presence of God.

4:43 So the anointing oil is often a physical thing in the Old Testament, but it represents the presence of God and the tangible presence of God.

4:52 So I believe this scripture is talking about the unity from head to toe.

4:57 Not just the head anointed, but the whole body.

5:00 Not just the head anointed, but the whole body.

5:02 Not just the pastor anointed, but the whole body.

5:06 Not just the pastor and the staff anointed, but the whole body.

5:11 Not just the head and the staff and the volunteers and the team captains and the super eco beavers and the holy Christians and the fired up Christians and the volunteer Christians and the single, not yet married Christians, the whole body anointed.

5:25 It's a picture of what God wants is the whole body, not just the head.

5:30 Amen.

5:31 I don't know who's the beard, but let's move on with that one.

5:35 But it's a picture of a continual flow.

5:38 It's a picture of a continual flow of His presence.

5:42 And I believe it's important that we understand that for many of you, maybe you know the story of the woman with the issue of blood.

5:48 She never gets a name, but she's defined by her issues.

5:51 Anyone else feel like that's your story of your life?

5:54 You know, people don't know your name.

5:56 They just know your issues.

5:57 Well, you know, the truth is the truth is this woman has an issue of blood.

6:01 She spends all her money on it.

6:02 She goes to the best of the best and she has no progress with her own condition.

6:07 Maybe there's people here today and maybe there is a condition in your life.

6:11 Maybe you've struggled with addictions and maybe you've struggled with inferiority or you've struggled with anger or there's been internal things that you do your very best to let no one see.

6:21 And maybe it bothers you, but you put on a brave face and we're very good at doing that.

6:25 But this woman has a very big issue.

6:28 It is an issue that keeps her away from community.

6:31 She is scared to go out and be with other people because it's an issue of blood.

6:35 In her culture, blood and illness and sickness was basically you were like a leper.

6:43 You were excluded.

6:44 You were not included.

6:45 And so it's a very lonely place.

6:47 It was a very and I don't know about you, but you can have issues in your life and be with people, but still be incredibly lonely on the inside.

6:54 And I don't want to live that kind of life.

6:56 I don't want to live a life where I'm one thing on the inside, but I'm everything else everyone else because the outward thing that we give to people, that's what everyone loves.

7:06 And the thing that sometimes is inside of us is we want to keep that under under cover because if they really saw what I was like, maybe they wouldn't like me as much.

7:14 But maybe they wouldn't include me as much.

7:16 Well, this is what the story is doing is giving you a picture of what God does for people who feel like they're worthless.

7:22 They're rejected.

7:23 They're going nowhere.

7:24 So this woman, she has an issue of blood.

7:27 She hears about Jesus and she makes a decision.

7:31 The doctors can't help me.

7:33 My money hasn't helped me.

7:35 My connections haven't helped me.

7:36 My network hasn't helped me.

7:38 My credentials haven't helped me.

7:40 My bachelor hasn't helped me.

7:41 My PhD hasn't helped me.

7:43 Come on somebody.

7:44 I'm trying to make it a little bit more interesting.

7:46 My letters after my name, all that I think is going to open doors for me has still not stopped the bleeding issue in my life.

7:54 And so she does something which is insane.

7:58 She responds to the message that Jesus is

8:03 a healer.

8:05 And so she takes a risk.

8:09 Now paint the picture.

8:11 She can't approach a group of men in her culture.

8:14 If she does, they have a legal obligation, religious legal obligation to stone her, to kill her, to execute her because that's the kind of tension of the day.

8:25 Thank God we live in a better day.

8:27 Amen.

8:27 But this is what she would have had to have done.

8:30 She would have literally had to come in crawling, crawling, crawling, crawling.

8:36 She didn't walk in there like, hello,

8:40 get the right picture.

8:41 This is a desperate situation.

8:43 Maybe you feel like that's exactly your situation.

8:46 And she crawled in into a crowd that was pressing on Jesus.

8:51 This woman literally, she couldn't get access to the crowd because they would have literally stoned her.

8:57 They would have taken her out.

8:59 And she literally, literally got in, got in, and she touched the hem of his garment.

9:07 She touched the hem of his garment and she was healed.

9:19 Jesus says, who touched me?

9:22 Who touched me?

9:23 And everyone around him said, everybody's touching you.

9:34 Yeah, not like this touch.

9:35 This was a touch of desperation.

9:38 This was a touch like no other touch.

9:42 And Jesus felt power go out of him.

9:45 And this woman stood up, fearful, shaking, trembling.

9:54 He said, daughter, he didn't say woman, female,

10:02 lesser person, daughter.

10:07 See, when God gets a hold of your life, he will bring more dignity to you.

10:10 He will bring more purpose to you.

10:13 And he will bring more meaning to your life than anybody else can come close.

10:16 He will always lift you to the highest place.

10:20 He said, daughter, your faith has healed you.

10:24 You see, when you see his grace, he will see your faith.

10:28 And so she took a massive risk to get into the hem of his garment.

10:31 But this is what I need you to see from the head to the toe.

10:38 God wants the anointing, not just at the head, but he wants it through the whole body.

10:44 Because there are people that are not going to hit the head.

10:47 They're going to literally come in and touch the edge of the garments.

10:50 And the edge of the garments for us is the church.

10:55 It's the community.

10:56 Wherever you go, you're the church.

10:58 The kingdom is advancing because the church is expanding.

11:01 So wherever you are, can someone touch the hem of his garment?

11:04 Because they come close to you.

11:06 See, this is what God is trying to say.

11:08 How blessed.

11:10 He commands a blessing when the anointing oil is allowed to flow from the head to the toe.

11:15 In other words, there is a blessing to the church being united.

11:21 And I think it's so important that we get the picture of unity and the power of unity.

11:25 And I need you to understand this.

11:26 This is not just another message for a Sunday.

11:28 It's not a pastor doing his job.

11:30 I honestly believe it's a word in season for whosoever hears this.

11:34 And so what I love about this, it's a picture of a continual flow.

11:38 And unity also means harmony.

11:40 Is the harmony in the church or is the divisions in the church?

11:43 I'm not talking about nations being divided.

11:46 I'm talking about is the church divided?

11:48 Well, I believe it's not the blessing that God commands when the church is divided.

11:52 And I can't talk about the global church.

11:54 I can only talk about who we are being a part of Hillsong.

11:58 Bobby always says it so profoundly.

12:00 One house, many rooms.

12:02 And I believe it's important.

12:03 So unity means harmony.

12:05 It's about creating a flow.

12:06 Jesus has asked us to follow him and to flow with him and to flow with each other.

12:11 And so I love this because come up here.

12:14 Now you're going to be a picture of Aaron.

12:15 You're the high priest wearing garments.

12:18 And so this is the picture he wants.

12:21 Is that the head comes down the beard in faith in Jesus name.

12:26 And it flows down.

12:29 It flows down.

12:30 It flows down to every part.

12:36 And this is the picture that Psalm 133 gives us.

12:40 It's not just about the head being anointed.

12:42 It's about the body being anointed.

12:44 God wants the flow to continue.

12:47 The today's message title is called Don't Stop the Flow.

12:51 Don't Stop the Flow.

12:54 It's about the anointing.

12:56 And I'll tell you what, that's what unity is.

12:58 It's the flow of the oil of God.

13:00 It's the flow of the presence of God.

13:03 It's not just on me.

13:04 It's on you.

13:05 It's not just in me.

13:06 It's on us.

13:08 Don't Stop the Flow.

13:10 So let me give you some perspective what the Bible says about the anointing.

13:15 Deuteronomy 32 verse 30 says this is a great picture of unity.

13:19 It says, why were a thousand Israeli soldiers defeated by one and 10 ,000 only by two?

13:27 Maybe you've heard it before.

13:28 One can put 1 ,000 to flight, but two can put 10 ,000 to flight.

13:32 How is it that two people can accomplish more than one?

13:35 Because when they're united, they can do much, much more.

13:44 If any two of you agree, I am there in the midst.

13:51 If we can just get unity, united hearts, it's incredible what can be accomplished.

13:58 Now, yes, this works for the evil.

14:00 Of course it does because history shows it.

14:02 It works for bad.

14:04 We see it in history, but don't ever allow what is evil and bad to determine ultimately what God has created for good.

14:12 It is still God's interest and God's wisdom that humanity has blessing on it through unity of heart and purpose.

14:22 And it's about God's heart for humanity.

14:25 And that should be always reflected through the church.

14:28 The Tarot Babel is a picture of unity, but man's unity.

14:32 And man can do a lot when they unite around certain things.

14:36 The Pentecost last weekend was the birthday of the church.

14:39 Most of you don't even know what Pentecost is.

14:41 What a great, beautiful opportunity for the church to educate and to help people understand.

14:46 But it's the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

14:48 It's where the church gets the power, the power to be like Christ on earth.

14:54 And so we see a great picture of unity.

14:57 Unity causes acceleration.

14:58 So it makes sense that we need unity in the church.

15:00 Why?

15:01 Because it accelerates everything.

15:04 Unity causes growth.

15:06 Unity provides resources for what's ahead.

15:09 So what did Jesus pray in John 17?

15:11 This is again a great picture of unity.

15:14 I pray, just as Jesus speaking, John 17, I pray that all believers may be united with us, that the world will believe that you have sent me.

15:24 I have given them the glory that you have given me, Father.

15:28 I did this so that they are united in the same we are.

15:31 See, God, Jesus himself, when he prayed a prayer, he said, let them be one, let them be united.

15:39 In other words, it is God's intention that the church is united.

15:43 How did the church get started?

15:45 Acts chapter two.

15:46 The church started in one location and was in one accord.

15:51 One location is simply logistics.

15:54 One accord is literally the power of unity.

15:57 The growth was the fruit of unity, not of logistics and location.

16:03 See, we can be here today in one location, but are we united?

16:09 We could have a hundred locations and have one heart, one house, many rooms, the miracle of what God is doing with Hillsong Church globally.

16:16 But we could listen, have one location and hundreds of hearts.

16:21 And I tell you which one I want to be a part of.

16:23 I don't want to be a part of a church in one location with hundreds of opinions and hundreds of this and hundreds of that.

16:29 And well, we did this back in Columbia and we did this back in Argentina and we did this back in in Stuttgart and we did this back in India and we did this back in whatever.

16:37 I don't care where you've come from.

16:38 It's about where we're going to.

16:44 I just think it's so important.

16:45 That's why I want to speak to you today about what God sees, what God wants, what God desires.

16:50 Not what I think and what I want.

16:52 Obviously, I want to line up with what God says and what he does.

16:55 But more importantly, do we want what he wants?

17:01 A lack of unity limits what God wants to do.

17:03 And I believe Berlin has had its fair share of limitations because I believe there's been a whole lot of lack of unity.

17:11 A lack of unity limits God what he wants to do.

17:13 The oil wants to keep flowing.

17:15 Second Kings chapter four gives us a great picture of a woman desperate and the oil, it literally continues to pour into vessels and vessels and she runs out of vessels and the oil stops.

17:26 Wouldn't it be tragic if our church this year just decides to basically say, I'm not the vessel.

17:33 I'm not going to make myself available and the oil has to stop.

17:37 I think it's an incredibly sad picture but it's not what God says for the church.

17:40 It's not what he wants.

17:41 So what is unity?

17:42 I believe unity is an internal conviction with an outward commitment.

17:46 It's a commitment to something bigger.

17:48 It's a call to action.

17:50 It's about accepting your part in the body of Christ.

17:53 Ephesians chapter four says it so profoundly.

17:56 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church.

17:58 Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers.

18:00 By the way, they're not gifts that they have.

18:03 The apostle is the gift.

18:04 The person that has the gift is the gift.

18:07 And if I can even take it even further, the person you sit next to doesn't have a gift.

18:12 They are the gift.

18:14 Yes, we have gifts but don't underestimate God doesn't send material gifts.

18:18 He sends people.

18:20 For God so loved the world that he sent a gift.

18:23 The gift is a person.

18:25 Maybe we've forgotten that we are a gift to each other.

18:30 Friendship is a gift.

18:31 How does God take care of me?

18:32 Friends, your friends are one of God's ways of taking care of you.

18:39 Well, my friend takes care of me but I'm not sure if God's interested.

18:43 That's how God works because he works through these profound things.

18:49 By the way, it says this that they are prepared to prepare God's people to do the work and to build up the church, the body of Christ.

18:57 So what does unity do?

18:58 It builds up.

18:59 What does unity do?

19:00 It builds up.

19:00 What does unity do?

19:01 It builds up.

19:03 It builds up.

19:06 Can you see how important it is for the church in Western culture to understand the power of unity?

19:11 This is what I love about this one.

19:13 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

19:15 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church.

19:19 Every part dependent on every other part.

19:21 You are Christ's body.

19:23 That's who you are.

19:24 You must never forget this.

19:26 Only as you accept your part of that body does your part mean anything.

19:34 You get your part and the meaning of your part by accepting your part.

19:41 Everybody's needed in the body.

19:43 This picture of unity is from the head down the face, down the garments to the edge of the garments.

19:49 It's a picture of God's anointing flow.

19:53 And I tell you now wherever people come in in life and into connection with you and I is people have got to be able to touch the edge of the garment and still get the power.

20:05 Often we see the power and we think, well, the head's got the power but not according to God.

20:09 God says it, no, no, no. I want the power from the head down the face, on the shoulders, through the body, down to the edges of the garment.

20:18 Please get the picture of God's picture of power.

20:21 Amen.

20:21 Don't underestimate your part.

20:23 Don't underestimate your voice, your platform, the things that God has given you.

20:28 And it's not going to happen independently.

20:30 It's going to happen because the flow, the unity was around what they were teaching.

20:34 What was the teaching?

20:35 Christ crucified, Christ alone.

20:39 They were united around what they were teaching which was Christ.

20:43 What are we going to unite around?

20:47 Well, the first thing I would love to present to you is let's build unity from a commitment to our future, not our past.

20:55 Could we do that?

20:56 It's easy said but I think it needs to be presented because the truth is, too many of us allow the past to hinder the future.

21:06 I believe it's about where we're going, not where we've been.

21:09 Where are we going?

21:11 We're going forward.

21:13 We're going upwards.

21:14 We're going into the territory that is being taken by the enemy for too, too long.

21:20 We're going after the lost sons and daughters.

21:22 We're going after a dying generation.

21:24 We're going after our young people.

21:26 We're going after the youth.

21:28 We're going after those that have been hijacked by everything else that really is damaging them instead of liberating them.

21:36 I believe our message is a healthy message.

21:38 It's not a message of legalism.

21:39 God help us.

21:40 I'll be the first to say no, no, no.

21:43 It's not more rules we need.

21:45 God doesn't govern us by rules.

21:47 Yes, the laws of the universe, we understand that but He's the one that created them.

21:51 He governs us through the powerful thing called love.

21:55 Love is the liberator.

21:56 Love is the builder.

21:57 Love is the transformer.

21:58 It's the love of God that heals us.

22:00 It's the love of God that transforms us and it's the love of God that will unite us.

22:09 Would you let God remove the past in the sense of as far as the east is from the west, I have removed your sins.

22:16 I remember your sins no longer.

22:18 He's trying to tell you when you move forward.

22:20 He's trying to tell you it's all about forward, forward, forward, future, future, future.

22:26 That's what God wants for us.

22:29 If you don't believe me, every day it's a new day.

22:33 He's a new God.

22:35 He's the God of the new.

22:37 Could we be united around the new things He wants to do?

22:40 We're all aware of the old but it's not going to define.

22:44 That's where I believe we can build our unity.

22:46 So you need to understand what are we going to be united on?

22:48 Obviously united around who He is and united around what He does.

22:54 But let's be united around a commitment because I believe unity is a commitment.

22:59 Acts chapter two, they were devoted to the apostles teaching principle, not the apostles personality, preferences.

23:07 So I can't encourage you enough to ask you the question, are we going to build our unity around our preferences?

23:11 Because I tell you there will be no unity in our preferences.

23:14 It's going to be on our principles.

23:16 And what is the principles that we need?

23:18 Well, the principles that I believe govern all of us, that unite all of us.

23:22 You see, God will work in any culture, in any language, in anything.

23:25 But when we make our culture above God's principle and God's kingdom, I believe it's actually really hard for God to command a blessing.

23:33 All I'm trying to say to you is this, oh, Berlin's so hard.

23:36 It's not hard if God's people determine it's not.

23:39 If God's people just say nothing's impossible for God, God can do it in Berlin.

23:43 He can do it in New York.

23:44 He can do it in Los Angeles.

23:46 He can do it anywhere.

23:47 He can do it in Singapore.

23:49 He can do it in any city, in any culture, in any tribe.

23:53 He can do it in the city.

23:54 And He can do it in the forest.

23:56 And He can do it in the Amazon.

23:58 And He can do it in this city.

23:59 He can do it in the villages, in the towns.

24:03 If God's people decide that God is God,

24:07 unity is where He commands His blessing.

24:12 Number three, and the final one, could we build that unity around relationship, not just roles?

24:19 Let's build that unity around the future, not the past.

24:23 Let's build a unity around principles, not preferences.

24:26 Could we build a unity around relationships, not roles?

24:30 Why?

24:31 Because roles can change, but relationships shouldn't.

24:35 My unity is built around my relationship, not my role.

24:39 Relationship needs to be primary.

24:41 Roles need to be secondary.

24:42 Jesus wants us, not our role for Him.

24:46 Your role can change, but your relationship shouldn't.

24:52 You've got to accept that roles will change.

24:54 Why?

24:55 If the church grows, roles will change.

24:58 Roles will change.

25:00 But don't ever allow your relationship be defined by your role.

25:03 No, Jesus says, I want not what you do for me.

25:05 I want you.

25:07 I want you.

25:08 What you do for me is a fruit of we have a relationship.

25:13 We have a relationship.

25:15 We have a relationship.

25:17 Are you good with Jesus?

25:20 Are you tight with Him?

25:23 I hope you are, because I'm telling you, there is no one, no one should get in the way of your incredible relationship with Jesus, because no one's good enough.

25:33 No one measures up enough.

25:37 I just need you to understand that if we're going to build our unity, let's build our unity around our relationship,

25:44 not our roles, and just accept that roles do change.

25:49 Your role will change.

25:50 You'll have multiple roles over your life.

25:53 How you start is not how you finish.

25:56 You can start here and end up here, and that's okay.

25:59 And I'm not just talking about the church.

26:01 I'm talking about wherever God puts you and positions you.

26:03 You can be in government.

26:04 You can be in politics.

26:06 You can be in business.

26:07 You can be in education, academia.

26:09 You can be in entertainment.

26:10 You can be in so many aspects of life.

26:12 But I'm telling you, that's not who you are.

26:15 You're a son of God.

26:16 You're a daughter of the King.

26:18 You're not defined by your role.

26:20 You're defined by what He says, what He thinks.

26:23 And I'm telling you, you need to hear that.

26:25 Not once in a blue moon, but you need to hear it over and over.

26:29 Why?

26:29 Because your role, if you allow it, can become a heavy burden.

26:35 If you're successful, it'll go to your head.

26:37 If you're a failure, it'll go to your heart.

26:39 But if you define your life by a relationship, it will help you no matter what comes your way, good or bad.

26:47 I don't know where you're from or what you're going on or what's going on, but I need you to know, let's build our unity around the relationship we have, not the roles that we have.

26:56 All of us have different roles.

26:58 You know, my role predominantly is easy.

26:59 You can see it.

27:01 But I tell you, the power of our church is not what I do.

27:03 I tell you, the power of our church is by far what you do.

27:07 That's where unity has its strength.

27:09 And I really want to encourage you, a team that is united, listen to me, a team that is united but lacks talent can do way more than a team of superstars or very talented people who are not united.

27:25 Where there's unity, hands go up

27:29 and a trust in God is greater.

Don't Stop The Flow.

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