"Invading the Impossible 2" - 20th January 2008 - Part 1

I am going to try a different form of transcribing Rob's sermons. Up until now I have favoured publishing the entire sermon in one long post (for example this one), but I realise that some people may not read quite as quickly as C H Spurgeon and so when faced with a long sermon in one post, you may just switch off. I would hate you to miss the glory of what Rob is preaching on at present and so I am going to try publishing this sermon in sections over a few days. Let me know if you prefer this format.

City Church International, Hong Kong

I've got a very short message - how many of you have got faith for a short message?! Open your Bibles to Philippians 2 - Part 2 of "Invading the Impossible". Now friends this is going to be a 6 part series and the excitement for me is that when it is on the MP3 and on our website, people around the world will be able to download all six and listen in a row and in that they will get the sequence in proximity to one another in a short space of time and they will see the bigger picture and the bigger pattern.

I, in my minds eye, in the Spirit of God can see weeks and weeks ahead where we are going on this. Glenda and I have made a decision to cut back on travel this year. We were away from this church for 4 months last year - a lot of ministry out there and we had a great time. We were able to literally touch 10's and 10's of thousands of face to face ministry. But this year we have already cancelled some things and we want to be on the ground here and give attention to this church and see momentum increase. I want to pastor this church well - we do with those that are coming through.

But in this sequence you are going to see little by little God opening up insights into how to invade the impossible and force impossibilities to bow their knee to you and bow their knees to the Name of Jesus. We will get more and more into practical equipping on how to do miracles. About a year and a half ago I did a series on healing but I didn't get into the practical stuff.

This sequence we are going to get into the practical stuff and we will see - we are contending for the miraculous. We are not just going to talk and pray about it and dabble in it. We have seen some great miracles and this church is a statement of the miraculous. But we are going to another level - we are going to contend for it with intention. We are going to give it focus because I am committed to a culture of revival.

I am committed to not being a charismatic church or a Pentecostal church or a Word of Faith church but a Book of Acts church which is the only church Jesus birthed. The first church in Acts 2 is the church Jesus birthed and they immediately were birthed when Jesus went back to heaven. That is the Church He gave us at the blueprint for what we are to build on. Everything else becomes deviations from the original.

If I want to know what the state of a river should be, I do not look at it as it is about to flow into the sea. I go back to the origins - the source of that river before pollutions and additives were brought in and introduced. I go up to that place in the mountains - it is the source of what is called the Umgami River - the source is up there. And it is crystal clear water. You drink it and it is like drinking champagne. You drink that water 50 miles down and you could die! Sometimes the church has become toxic and dangerous for human relationships.

We are looking at a church 100-300 years ago and we think that is the church! No! Go back to the source! The origin! Acts 2, 3, 4, 5 and you will see a church full of the miracle power of God. You will see a people that met daily and they all devoted themselves to the apostles doctrine, to fellowship, prayer and the breaking of bread and there was 3 thousand of them in the first few weeks of that church. They went from 120 to 3, 000 and it says ALL of that 3, 000 devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the breaking of bread, to prayer and to fellowship, prayer and to fellowship.

There wasn't a committed core and then a big peripheral of people looking in and being casual about the Kingdom. It was a people united in heart and mind together loving each other and introducing a heavenly society in the earth as a sign and a wonder for an age to come called heaven on earth as in heaven.

To be continued ...