Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction - 90 sec

I am Jacob Murphy, and I plant churches.

I have helped plant churches in Toronto, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Greensboro.

All told I have been on the team, or been the lead Pastor of 8 church plants in 14 years, and of those eight 4 are still going strong.

In Church Planting world, that is a great number.

One of those is this church.

Born again in Toronto when a friend brought me to Catch the Fire Toronto on New Year’s eve in 1997/98.

-funny details

I saw God’s glory on display and it changed my life forever.

I was 19, and I am 39 now, so that’s more than half a life ago.

I came to learn that our church was a “river” church, that we were “in the river” and I have learned over the years that that’s exactly where I want to be.

Being in the river is incredibly fun, and can also have times that are challenging.

Sometimes the river will lead us to places where we have to trust Him in ways we didn’t expect.

But God is with us through the whole thing.

Growing in the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord is after all the school you never graduate from.

Freebies-

-pressing in vs pressing out, Stretching vs Growing

I have a few stories to tell you about some of the fun we’ve have had along the journey and then we will talk about the stages of Surrender in the River of God.

Our main scripture that illuminates what this looks like is , for those of you who like to skip ahead.

Stories

Hamish - First time I got truly sloppy in the Holy Spirit, New year’s eve One year on.

The Syracuse Story -

Harold was not happy, he went through two nights of a three day immersion with a sour look on his face.

He informed me that God could forgive anyone, and Harold could forgive anyone, but he would “never” forgive himself for the ways his life had gone, causing pain to his loved ones, especially his kids.

Harold carried a lot of shame, and guilt, and agreed with the accuser that he was beyond forgiving.

On the last and greatest day of the Immersion retreat I grabbed another member of the team and we approached Harold.

Let us pray for you.

If you can’t forgive on your own, maybe Jesus can help you?

We laid hands on Harold and he crumpled on the floor like he had died.

He was down there a while.

We didn’t pray a single word out loud, but Holy Spirit hit him hard.

When we finally noticed him stirring, I went to check on him.

A completely different person got up off that floor.

Harold had encountered the presence of God and the river had washed him clean.

He was grinning, with tears in his eyes.

“I didn’t know!

I didn’t know” was all he could say for the first minute.

“I didn’t know how much He really loves me.”

In the presence of Love, Harold let go of his stuff, and accepted God’s forgiveness.

It changed his life.

Harold brought his kids to church the next sunday morning to meet us, and he still had that smile.

The Money stories

We got to Raleigh with $10 dollars

We got to Greensboro with $1 dollar.

The England/Germany story

-Jake I screwed up.

I accidentally agreed to speak for a whole week at a German Youth Conference.

-I was slated to go to Niger with Duncan, but my friend needed me, so I cancelled.

We booked two events in England, which I would lead, so then when we got to Germany my friend could take the lead role, having had a few cracks at it.

In England the first church informed us that we would not be able to advertise, because no-one would be interested in Holy Spirit stuff.

By the end of the two days we spent with them, their Youth were weeping, shaking, and shouting Revival out into the streets of their city.

The second church hosted four OTHER churches’ youth groups so more people could get in the river.

We ended up losing control of the last meeting.

A girl’s shattered knee was snap-crackle popped back into complete healing right in front of all these kids.

Then we gave a few kids permission to try out praying for each other.

When they saw with their own eyes that THEY could give away the anointing, we couldn’t stop them.

Louis tried to dismiss the meeting and no-one paid attention.

Parents started peeking in.

In Germany my friend led more than half the sessions, and by the end of the week the very stoic germans were laughing, rolling in the river, and getting set free.

The Healed heart story

Not just the healed heart, but the scars too.

When I met God in Toronto I never dreamed of English Youth getting blasted, or of hearts being literally healed in Greensboro.

But after 20 years of God’s river, I am ruined for anything else.

I never dreamed when I was standing in the back of the church in Toronto that God would have

Ezekial 47:1-12

Surrender

Stages of Surrender:

The more we lay down our own lives, our worldly agendas, our fleshly attempts to justify ourselves, the more we can experience His life pumping through our veins.

Encounter - The Altar.

Surrender - The too deep to cross.

Calling - Fishing.

Abiding - The roots.

Encounter - The Altar is the place of encounter.

Encounter leads to surrender.

When you come face to face with Love Himself at the altar, what kinds of prayers do you feel welling up in your heart?

“AAAAAHHHHH My life is yours!

Do whatever you want with me! Change my heart Lord”

We make our offerings, we lay down our stuff.

Then Jesus leads us through a life where we can begin to manifest and grow what we sowed at that altar.

So our offerings and sacrifices are no longer about pleasing or appeasing God.

Really they never were.

They are about UNBURDENING

Jesus said “Abide in me, and I in You.”

He promises that the Father and the Son will come and make their home is us.

There is a caveat, this is a promise for those who hear His words and OBEY His commands.

The Father hears our prayers and utterly believes every word, every time.

Have you noticed that

The Altar is also the place that starts a flow, a river that Jesus lets us know actually wells up from the depths of our innermost being.

Surrender - Too Deep to Cross

The Banks story

Right at the moment that Carolyn began to pray for people to come who would truly jump in and carry our mission like it was their own, I was going through some amazing heart healing and forgiving of all sorts of leaders and people in my life who I had worked with through difficult times.

A river that is ankle deep is like a refreshing trickle

The Banks story

When there is pain in relationships, we often judge, resent, or become bitter, and we need to forgive.

I had an opportunity to forgive, and furthermore to identify an ungodly belief that leaders would not support me.

I broke agreement with that ungodly belief, and then that SAME DAY Duncan and Kate were meeting a couple in Texas who needed to know what they were doing next.

D&K connected them to us, and fore-saw that WE needed people just like them, and THEY needed people just like us.

Literally the next opportunity a leader of mine had to show support, they did

A river that is knee deep is pulling on you.

there is a power there.