YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → AAC26 Day 1 Seminar (Megastar) - Miles Toulmin (Catching A Vision For Your Life)

AAC26 Day 1 Seminar (Megastar) - Miles Toulmin (Catching A Vision For Your Life) — Transcript

by Alpha Asia Pacific · 6,344 words · 988 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00Will you put your hands together for
0:01Miles Tumin as he shares about catching
0:03a vision for your life?
0:07>> Hey, good afternoon everyone. It's great
0:09to see you. Uh well done. You get like a
0:13special
0:15special holy points for being at a
0:17seminar. It's very good.
0:20Uh is it a bit dark?
0:24Uh let there be light maybe.
0:29Um, it would be great if we could turn
0:31the lights on, please. Um, so this
0:34seminar, yeah, is called catching a
0:36vision uh for your life. And now, there
0:41we go.
0:44I'm very yellow. There we go. Uh, it's
0:47been said that if you aim at nothing,
0:50you're sure to hit it every time. And
0:54that's pretty true for life.
0:56And I we're going to look at a passage
0:58together in Luke chapter 5 that I think
1:02is brilliant for getting a vision for
1:05your life to get a clear sense of what
1:09God is calling you to. Now, some of you
1:11may know what that is already.
1:14And I hope that as we look at this
1:16passage, it continues to clarify. I
1:19think that getting a vision for your
1:20life is sometimes uh a little bit like
1:24the way that old-fashioned photography
1:26used to work. You know, you take a photo
1:30and then you'd uh take the paper, you'd
1:33go into the dark room, you put it in the
1:35developing fluid and slowly the outline
1:38would begin to appear. But if you wait
1:42over time, more and more detail of the
1:45picture comes into sight. And maybe
1:48you've got a good outline already of
1:50what the Lord is calling you to, but
1:52today he might add a little bit more
1:54detail and texture to the picture. Or
1:57maybe you've just got a blank piece of
1:59paper and you're thinking, I have no
2:02clue. Well, today you'll start to
2:04hopefully get the outline.
2:08We're going to look at the miraculous
2:11catch of fish. Not the miraculous catch
2:15that pastor Mark spoke about from John
2:1821 after the resurrection when he
2:20recalls the disciples, but the first
2:23miraculous catch of fish that Jesus uses
2:26to call the disciples right at the
2:29beginning of his ministry in Luke
2:31chapter 5. So I'm going to read it to
2:34you. This is Luke chapter 5 beginning at
2:38verse one.
2:44One day as Jesus was standing
2:48by the lake of Guanesserat, the people
2:51were crowding around him and listening
2:52to the word of God. He saw at the wat's
2:55edge two boats left there by the
2:58fishermen who were washing their net
3:00their nets.
3:02He got into one of the boats, the one
3:04belonging to Simon, and asked him to put
3:07out a little from shore.
3:11Then he sat down and taught the people
3:14from the boat. When he'd finished
3:17speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out
3:20into deep water and let down the nets
3:24for a catch."
3:26Simon answered, "Master, we've worked
3:29hard all night and haven't caught
3:33anything.
3:35But because you say so, I will let down
3:38the nets.
3:40When they done so, they caught such a
3:43large number of fish that their nets
3:46began to break. So they signaled to
3:48their partners in the other boat to come
3:51and help them. And they came and filled
3:53both boats so full that they began to
3:57sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell
4:01at Jesus's knees and said, "Go away from
4:04me, Lord. I am a sinful man."
4:08For he and all his companions were
4:10astonished at the catch of fish they'd
4:13taken. And so were James and John, the
4:16sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then
4:19Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid.
4:24From now on, you will fish for people."
4:27So they pulled their boats up on shore,
4:30left everything, and followed him. Let's
4:35pray.
4:37Lord, as we begin this time together,
4:40we commit it to you. Thank you, Jesus,
4:42for this extraordinary way in which you
4:45called the first disciples.
4:48And we pray that through your word
4:51today, you'd call us your disciples.
4:57and help each person here, each one of
4:59us either get catch a vision for our
5:03lives or get a clearer sense of what it
5:07is you have and are continuing to call
5:10us into. And we ask all of this in the
5:14mighty name of Jesus.
5:18Amen.
5:20Now, it's worth noting
5:24that God was at work
5:27even before Jesus called the disciples.
5:31Jesus was teaching the crowds
5:35and there were so many of them. He saw
5:37two boats and these boats typically had
5:40a four-man crew. He saw two boats by the
5:44shore of Lake Guanesserat.
5:47that's also called the Sea of Galilee.
5:49It's a huge lake,
5:52150 ft deep. So Jesus sees these two
5:55boats and he steps into a boat and he
5:59turns and faces the crowd on the shore
6:04and behind them are the hills providing
6:08like a a natural amphitheater to amplify
6:11his voice. And like any good rabbi, he
6:16sits down on the boat and he begins to
6:19teach. In other words, Jesus was already
6:24at work.
6:26And wherever you're from, whatever
6:28nation, whatever city or town,
6:32whatever your
6:35job, your family role, whatever you're
6:38studying,
6:40Jesus is already at work around you.
6:47In your city, in your family, in your
6:50place of work, in your school, Jesus is
6:54at work. But it so happened that day
6:59that Jesus stepped into the particular
7:02boat of a man that he would call
7:06Simon Peter.
7:08Coincidence?
7:10No. Divine appointment?
7:14Yes.
7:16And I believe it's no coincidence that
7:19you're in this hall right now
7:23as Jesus wants to step into the boat of
7:28your life again to give you a clarifying
7:32vision and calling.
7:35So how do we get such a vision? I want
7:38to pull a few things out of this
7:40passage.
7:42The first is this.
7:45Don't let your past determine your
7:48future.
7:50You see, Simon Peter says to Jesus,
7:52"We've worked hard all night and haven't
7:56caught anything."
7:59You could say the disciples were having
8:03what I like to label a no fish moment.
8:09We all have no fish moments in our life.
8:13I wonder what is your no fish moment
8:17right now? Is it a financial noish
8:22moment? Is it a relationship no fish
8:26moment?
8:28Is it a a work no fish moment? An
8:31academic no fish moment?
8:35Maybe
8:37it's a spiritual
8:39no fish moment.
8:41Maybe that's why you've come to this
8:43conference
8:45because you're you're desperate
8:48to catch anything from the Lord. That's
8:51why you're here.
8:53Or
8:55perhaps like the disciples,
8:58you think that because you haven't
8:59caught anything yet,
9:02then you never will.
9:05because maybe you think I haven't really
9:08been used by God so far, then he never
9:12will.
9:14Because you're not having success right
9:16now, then you never will. But I'm here
9:20to tell you that actually that's not how
9:23it works in God's economy. You see, the
9:26way it works in God's economy is like
9:28this. First of all, God gives you the
9:32vision.
9:34Then
9:36comes all the difficulties,
9:39all the no fish moments, and then
9:41finally comes the fulfillment of the
9:45vision. That's how it always seems to
9:48work. So Abraham, you'll father a
9:52nation,
9:53but it looks like he can't have kids.
9:56Joseph, a dream, your family bowing down
9:59to you. Then they sell him into slavery
10:03and he ends up in jail. That's a serious
10:05no fish moment.
10:07So if you're here today and you're
10:10experiencing some sort of no fish
10:13moment, then you're in really good
10:16company.
10:18And generally speaking, the bigger the
10:21vision, the bigger the no fish moment
10:24you'll go through.
10:27The writer GK Chesterton, he said that
10:31Jesus promised his disciples
10:34three things.
10:36That they'd be completely fearless,
10:39absurdly happy, and constantly in
10:42trouble.
10:45when uh the Lord called me and my wife
10:50Sarah to uh minister in Asia, it was
10:54actually back in 1996.
10:58And we had to wait and go through all
11:01sorts of things for 18 years before we
11:06finally stepped into the promised land
11:09that is KL A.
11:14If you're experiencing a no fish moment,
11:17it's actually part of the process of
11:20calling.
11:22Or or maybe you feel God won't use you
11:27because, as Pastor Mark said, you don't
11:30feel worthy or because you've messed up
11:33in the past.
11:35You see, when Simon Peter sees the
11:37miraculous catch of fish, what does he
11:40do? He falls at Jesus's knees and he
11:44says in verse eight, "Go away from me,
11:46Lord. I am a sinful man."
11:50I think this is one of the most
11:52encouraging verses of scripture in the
11:55whole Bible. Why? Because it means that
11:58God chooses to use sinners.
12:01And if that is true, then it means he
12:05can choose to use me and you.
12:09And back in Jesus's day, the brightest
12:12and the best, most capable young boys
12:15were chosen by the rabbis to follow them
12:19as disciples.
12:21All the rest that didn't make the cut,
12:23they had to find other professions like
12:26fishermen.
12:29So, and I'm implying this to myself now.
12:32Jesus chose those who had been
12:35overlooked, didn't make the cut, and
12:38written off by others or perhaps even
12:41written off by themselves.
12:45If you feel overlooked, undervalued, or
12:49written off, Jesus chooses
12:53you.
12:55In uh February this year, I had the
12:58privilege of um meeting a young woman
13:01and she uh grew up in Nairobi in Kenya
13:06and she shared uh with me some of her
13:08story. Uh as a little girl she was very
13:11bright and she was doing very well at
13:14school but tragically at the age of 14
13:18she was assaulted by her nextdoor
13:20neighbor and she fell pregnant.
13:24uh she gave birth to her son aged 15 and
13:28she had to drop out of school and her
13:31life seemed to be a mess and at that
13:34point she she thought God I don't think
13:39you're there but even worse if you are
13:43you clearly don't like me
13:46and that was her life until a number of
13:49years later as a young woman somebody
13:52invited her to an alpha course at
13:56Nairobi Chapel.
13:58And in that alpha, she felt accepted and
14:03loved by others. She wasn't judged. She
14:06was given the space to talk about why
14:10all these things had happened to her.
14:12But the moment came when on the Holy
14:16Spirit day she chose to put her faith in
14:18Jesus and she was filled with the spirit
14:20and immediately began to be transformed.
14:24She started to serve on Alpha then she
14:26ran Alpha and then she ran youth alpha
14:29for the young people and then uh a
14:32church plant was about to start and she
14:35went as part of the core planting team
14:38uh to run alpha as a church planting
14:40tool for them. And today she heads up
14:44alpha for youth right across subsahara
14:48and Africa.
14:50She knew a no fish moment.
14:53But it did not disqualify her.
14:57Now you might say, "Look, Miles,
15:00I get it, but you don't know what I'm
15:05like. I feel like a fraud.
15:09I know what that feels like.
15:12I had an interesting experience years
15:14ago before I was a pastor. I um worked
15:16in business and uh I was on a trip to
15:19China and one evening myself and my
15:23colleagues we uh decided to go out for
15:25dinner. It's this restaurant that
15:27everybody was talking about at the time
15:29and we sure enough we got there and
15:31there was this huge queue.
15:33So we joined at the back of the queue
15:36and then after a little while the guy on
15:39the door kind of peered in our direction
15:42and started to beckon us to come. We
15:45were like
15:47us. He's like come come li. So like
15:51okay. So we we sort of jumped the queue
15:56and then we were ushered in hying and
16:00sat down like whoa this is this is
16:03amazing service they clearly sort of
16:06know gravitas when they see it and we
16:09sat down the best table we had
16:11extraordinary food
16:14and then even at the end of the evening
16:17the owner of the restaurant came and sat
16:19down with us and he said to me can I
16:22take have a picture with you.
16:26Okay.
16:28And then he said, "Will you please sign
16:31the menu?" I thought, "This is odd."
16:34I said, "Well, why do you want me to
16:36sign the menu?" He said, "Oh, sir, it's
16:40not every evening that we have the actor
16:43Nicholas Cage come to our restaurant.
16:54Best regards, Nick.
16:59I felt such a fraud.
17:04Simon Peter, he felt a fraud.
17:08He said, "Jesus, you've got the wrong
17:09man. Mistaken identity. I am a sinner.
17:15Go away from me. Choose someone else.
17:19But Jesus simply replied,
17:22verse 10, "Don't be afraid."
17:28Jesus looks at you
17:31and me.
17:33He says, "Don't be afraid.
17:35Overcome your fears. Be yourself.
17:39I have chosen
17:42you."
17:43So that's the first thing. Don't don't
17:46let your past determine your future. The
17:48second thing is
17:50be obedient
17:52in the small things.
17:55Again, we see this next sort of dynamic
17:57in the kingdom of God. When we obey God
18:01in small things, he asks us to obey him
18:05in larger things.
18:07You see, the disciples, as I said, they
18:09had a no fish moment. Then Jesus says
18:12something strange.
18:14He asks them to go out into deep deeper
18:18water and lets down their nets again.
18:22What? Why is this strange? Well,
18:25firstly,
18:27it's daytime.
18:29You don't fish
18:31in the day because the bright sun forces
18:36the fish to go too deep in the water.
18:41Maybe it feels really like the wrong
18:44time in your life right now for God to
18:47give you a vision.
18:50But what to us often feels like the
18:53wrong time
18:55is often the right time with God.
18:59So it's daytime. Second reason it seems
19:01an odd thing request by Jesus is because
19:04they've just fished all night at the
19:07right time and they've caught nothing.
19:10Experience suggests that there are no
19:14fish out there. Our past experience
19:18whilst useful
19:19is not always a firm predictor of what
19:23God will do in our future.
19:27And then thirdly, the advice it's coming
19:30from Jesus.
19:32Rabbi, yes.
19:35Carpenter, yes.
19:38Fisherman,
19:40no.
19:42But Peter, in spite of all of this,
19:46then utters five words that literally
19:50changes the course of history.
19:52Five words which if you utter will
19:56change the course of your life. He says
19:59this in verse five.
20:02But because you say so,
20:07I will let down the nets. But because
20:10you say so, Jesus, I will let down the
20:13nets. In other words, God uses no fish
20:16moments to lead us to but because you
20:20say so obedience.
20:23And but because you say so obedience
20:27begins a chain reaction in our lives.
20:30You see when we obey God in the small
20:33immediate things, he asks us to obey him
20:37in bigger things and then bigger things
20:40and then bigger things. And we see this
20:42in this story. Jesus asks them just to
20:45put out a little from shore. They do.
20:48Then Jesus asks them to put out into
20:52deeper water. They obey. Then Jesus
20:55asked them to cast their nets again.
20:59They obey. Then Jesus finally asks them
21:03to leave everything, follow him, and
21:05catch people. They obey.
21:09But it starts
21:11in the small little steps of but because
21:15you say so obedience. Don't as it says
21:19in Zechariah 4:10, don't despise the day
21:23of small
21:25beginnings.
21:26Small acts can have a big impact.
21:32Uh about a just over a year ago, we
21:35launched uh the brand new Alpha Youth
21:38series, which is the Alpha course uh
21:42designed for Gen Alpha uh young
21:45teenagers. And uh there's lots of
21:48stories in it. And I just want to share
21:51one of the stories with you to
21:52illustrate this point. Take a look at
21:54this. This is Dez.
21:57>> Hey, my name's Dez. And you may be
22:00wondering why I sound a little bit
22:01different. And that's because I'm from
22:03Scotland. And I love Scotland. Scotland.
22:07Scotland.
22:14Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Lads, that may
22:15be a wee bit too much.
22:20That's much better. That's a bit more
22:22real. When people look at me, they
22:25probably think I'm some kind of drug
22:27dealer or bouncer. And to be fair, I
22:31used to be.
22:33>> This is the deal. Come on.
22:36>> Everything changed for me when this girl
22:39who I had been trying to date took me
22:41along to a church that was running
22:43alpha. And I thought it was like a
22:45Christian brainwashing course and I
22:47definitely wasn't going to attend.
22:49However, they did sticky toffee pudding
22:52which is like a really awesome sweet
22:55dessert in Scotland and I love it. So, I
22:58had to go and get some. One of those
23:00nights, I had a really powerful
23:03encounter with the Holy Spirit. And that
23:05might set my life in a trajectory that I
23:07would just never have believed. I ended
23:09up marrying the girl, having a family. I
23:12became an ordained minister. I even met
23:15the Pope.
23:21There was one time I was in a grocery
23:23store and we were buying our groceries.
23:25We hadn't been married very long and we
23:28didn't have very much money. And I
23:30really felt like God was saying that I
23:32was supposed to pay for the woman behind
23:33me. And that seemed weird because she
23:35looked as though she could pay for my
23:37groceries.
23:40I was looking at the cashier who was
23:42looking at me. And it was this awkward
23:45moment. And I think he thought I was
23:47going to rob her. I think she thought I
23:50was going to do something crazy. But I
23:53just turned around and said, "I'm a
23:55Christian. I really feel like God's told
23:57me to pray for your groceries. I'd love
24:00to do that." And she immediately said
24:02no.
24:04And then I said to her, there's a story
24:06of a guy in the Bible called Jonah who
24:09God asked to do something and he didn't.
24:13And then he got swallowed by a whale.
24:16And I really don't want to be swallowed
24:17by a whale. So would you please let me
24:19pay for your groceries? and she said,
24:22"Okay."
24:26So, I paid for our groceries and I
24:28walked out the store. I didn't think
24:30anything about it. And the woman caught
24:32up with me and tapped me on the shoulder
24:34and she said I had to put some items
24:36back because I couldn't afford them. You
24:38have no idea how much this meant to me.
24:41Now, I've never seen that woman since. I
24:43have no idea how her life has turned
24:45out. But what I do know is in that
24:47moment I trusted in the Holy Spirit and
24:50I saw the Holy Spirit turn up. I saw
24:52God's love on earth in reality for this
24:56person. And it's those little moments
24:58that just allow us to see what God's
25:01love is truly like through the Holy
25:03Spirit.
25:14little acts of obedience. I hope you
25:17could uh read the subtitles.
25:20Amazingly, he was actually apparently
25:23speaking English.
25:26I couldn't tell, but um I hope you could
25:28read the subtitles.
25:32But because you say so, obedience. Now,
25:35if you don't know where to start to obey
25:37Jesus,
25:39start
25:41where you are. Ask the Lord to redeem
25:45and use
25:47what you do or what you have. The
25:51disciples
25:52knew how to fish. That's what they did.
25:56And in verse two, however, we're told
25:59they were cleaning their nets.
26:02When the church stops evangelizing,
26:06it starts washing its nets.
26:09It's a good thing to do, but it's not
26:12what the nets are meant for. Jesus took
26:15what the disciples knew where they were,
26:18and he made them fishes of people.
26:22And when we obey at the starting point
26:25where we are, he will multiply.
26:29I told you earlier that um before I was
26:32ordained, I I worked uh uh in business
26:35and I remember when um I left
26:37university, I got my first job for a
26:40consumer goods company and I had to move
26:43right to the uh other end of the
26:45country. I was the new boy in the
26:48office. I didn't know anyone.
26:50And one day I was sitting uh at my uh uh
26:55at my desk. I just joined a local
26:58church. It had never run alpha before,
27:00but it was about to run its first ever
27:02alpha.
27:04And I was sitting at my desk typing away
27:07and I looked up and I saw a colleague by
27:11the water cooler. His name is Howard.
27:15And it was one of those rare moments
27:18when a very, very strong impression
27:21comes from the Lord. And I felt like God
27:24say to me, go and invite
27:28Howard
27:30to Alpha.
27:32And I was like, Lord, you know, I'm the
27:35new boy here. No, nobody really knows
27:38me. Hey, I got a better idea. How about
27:41I just keep my head down? I do my job
27:45well. I try to do it with an integrity.
27:48Therefore, I'll be salt and light for
27:50you in the office. And then once I've
27:52got some credibility, maybe that well,
27:55you can imagine I just felt the Lord say
27:57even more strongly, Miles, invite him to
28:00Alpha now. So I thought, okay, I better
28:04do it. So I stood up and I was walking
28:08to Alpha and I thought, do you know
28:10what? It'll be much easier when I invite
28:14him if Howard already knows what Alpha
28:16is. So, as I was walking across the
28:19office, I was praying, "Lord, please let
28:21Howard know what is alpha?" So, I I went
28:24over and said, "Hi, uh Howard, um I just
28:28wondered uh do you know what alpha is?"
28:31And he said, "Uh, no." I was like, "Oh,
28:35uh, well," I said, "It's, um, it's a
28:38great place to meet people, to have a
28:40lot of fun, and it's a space where you
28:42can ask the big questions of life, uh,
28:46meaning, purpose, and faith. Uh, I think
28:48you'll enjoy it, and um, there's free
28:51food, so do you want to come?" And he
28:54looked at me and went, "Uh, no." I was
28:58like, "Okay."
29:02And I was like, "Oh, Lord, that was so
29:05embarrassing. I've blown it now with
29:08Howard. What on earth was that about?
29:14I thought I'd obeyed.
29:16Maybe I got it wrong."
29:19Well, what I didn't know at the time was
29:21that evening, Howard went home after
29:23work
29:24and he got a phone call from his sister
29:28who was living and working in London.
29:33and his sister said, "Uh, oh, Howard, I
29:37just want to have a chat." She was going
29:38through a really tough time. Her job was
29:43very tricky and stressful. Her
29:46relationship had just ended and she was
29:48in a pretty low place. And in the middle
29:52of this conversation with his sister,
29:54Howard
29:56quite took himself by surprise, suddenly
29:58said to her, "Well, have you heard of
30:01Alpha?"
30:03She said, "No. What's that?" He goes,
30:05"Well, it's a great place to meet people
30:08and a lot of fun. It's a space where you
30:11can ask the big questions of life,
30:13meaning, and purpose, and faith, and I
30:16think you'll enjoy it." Oh, and by the
30:17way, I've heard they have free food.
30:20I think you should do it. Well, after
30:23that conversation that very night,
30:25Howard's sister Googled alpha course
30:28near me
30:30and up came the the alpha course at HTB,
30:34Holy Trinity Brmpton. So, she signed up
30:37there and then and when it started, she
30:39rocked up. She joined a small group, an
30:42alpha small group. And on that alpha,
30:46she put her faith in Jesus and was
30:49filled with the spirit. But one of the
30:52other guests in her small group was a
30:55guy who uh was from uh China and he was
30:59working in London at the time and he too
31:03put his faith in Jesus and was filled
31:06with the spirit.
31:08And then Howard's sister and this guy
31:10started dating.
31:13Then they got married
31:15and then they were able to share their
31:17faith and lead his parents to the Lord
31:21in China.
31:24And I tell you that story because
31:29it almost illustrates the point
31:32which is I could never have gone on a
31:36plane, flown to China and led his
31:40parents to the Lord.
31:42In fact, I could never have got in a
31:45car, driven to London and found two
31:48strangers and led them to the Lord.
31:52What could I do?
31:54I could walk from my desk to the office
31:57cooler and say, "Howard, do you want to
32:00come to Alpha?"
32:03And the great thing is that when we
32:04obey,
32:06God can even use our failures.
32:10Howard said, "No,
32:13but because you say so, all right, Lord,
32:16I'll do it."
32:19So obey in the small things and just
32:22watch. Start where you are and just
32:24watch what the Lord will do. The third
32:27thing we see is this.
32:30Watch out for new possibilities.
32:34You know, the disciples concluded that
32:36there were no fish.
32:39But Jesus said, "There's lots of fish.
32:43Try another way." So the disciples put
32:47out again and they dropped their nets
32:49again. And we read in verse six, when
32:51they had done so, they caught such a
32:54large number of fish that their nets
32:56began to break. In other words, God uses
33:01no fish moments to lead us to but
33:05because you say so obedience
33:08resulting in boat sinking abundance.
33:14boat sinking abundance. Such abundance,
33:17so many fish that the nets began to
33:19break and the boats begin to sink. So
33:22verse seven, they signal to their
33:24partners in the other boat to come and
33:27help them. That's the boat led by the
33:31sons of Zebedee, James and John. And
33:33they came and filled both boats so full
33:38that they began to sink.
33:40I love the way that Peter signals to
33:42partners to James and John in the other
33:44boat to come and help.
33:47Expect to have to ask for help and
33:52involve others in the vision that God
33:55gives you. Everyone has a part to play
33:58and we need each other.
34:02And verse 9 tells us that when they saw
34:06the abundant catch, they were
34:10astonished.
34:12Be prepared to be astonished at what God
34:15will do through you.
34:18Uh as Amos said, um we had the privilege
34:22of being part of the team that planted
34:25HTB Church here on the other side of the
34:29road. And um we'd not been going very
34:32long, just a few months.
34:35And um we just started a 5:00 p.m.
34:39service.
34:41And uh we had a morning service and we
34:43just started a an evening service. And I
34:46I remember one evening uh it was quite
34:48late on in the service. The sermon had
34:51finished and we were just moving into a
34:53time of prayer ministry out of the
34:55sermon.
34:57And from the front a word of knowledge
35:00was given.
35:02I remember it very clearly. The word was
35:06there's somebody here and you have a
35:09pain in your lower back to the left
35:14probably uh a slight slip disc. You've
35:18had it for a few months now and we
35:21believe the Lord wants you to be healed.
35:24If that's you, just make yourself
35:26forward to the front and someone will
35:29pray for you.
35:31Now, at that exact moment, there was a
35:34young guy. He'd never stepped foot in
35:36the church before called Hongqi.
35:40And Hongchi
35:41walked through the door of the hallway
35:44into the church at that exact moment
35:47that the word was being given. To this
35:49day, I have no idea why he was turning
35:51up so late.
35:53I I imagine he didn't even know what
35:55time the service was. Maybe he was
35:57passing by, but he walked for the first
36:00time into church
36:02at that moment and he heard the word of
36:05knowledge and went, "Oh,
36:08that's me."
36:10So, he just kept on walking all the way
36:14to the front. He didn't even sit down.
36:17And by the time he got down to the
36:20front,
36:21the prayer ministry time had already
36:23started and lots of people had come
36:26forward for other prayers. And because
36:28it was so early on in the life of the
36:30church, we didn't have a very large
36:32prayer ministry team. So you had to kind
36:35of wait a while to be prayed for because
36:37they they were so busy praying for
36:38people.
36:40and uh a young woman called Mabel had
36:45also come forward wanting to be prayed
36:47for at that time. Now, of course,
36:51Hongchi,
36:53it was the first time ever he'd stepped
36:56in. So, he didn't know the rules. He
36:58didn't know who was on team, who wasn't
37:00on team. He didn't know that in our
37:02prayer ministry, we say men pray with
37:04men, women pray with women. So he just
37:07walked up to Mabel thinking she was on
37:09the prayer team. So he just looked at
37:13her and she saw this is a bit awkward
37:16and sort of looked back at him and there
37:19was this long pause and then he said I'm
37:22the back guy. And she went oh I'm sorry
37:26to hear that. And then he said well are
37:29you going to pray for me? and she sort
37:32of looked around and all the prayers
37:33were busy. So she thought, "Oh no, I've
37:38never prayed for somebody before, but
37:40he's clearly wanting prayer."
37:43So, uh, she went, "Uh, okay."
37:46And he closed his eyes, which she was
37:49quite glad of because at that point, as
37:51soon as he closed his eyes, she just
37:52looked to see what everyone else was
37:54doing.
37:56Okay.
37:58Trying to listen in and then then just
37:59copy. Copy. Now, I'm not saying this is
38:01best practice. It's not.
38:04I'm just telling you what happened. So,
38:06she mumbled some prayer for healing in
38:08Jesus' name. Amen.
38:12Hongchi opened his eyes, said, "Thank
38:14you." Turned around, and walked out of
38:17the church. So, his first service lasted
38:20about, I don't know, four minutes.
38:25At the end of the service, Mabel came
38:26and introduced herself and said, "Hey,
38:28I'm so sorry. I just I'm not part of
38:29your prayer team. I just prayed for this
38:31guy with the back and we said, "Well,
38:32thank you for doing that."
38:35Next Sunday 5:00 p.m.
38:38in walks Hongchi on time this time
38:44and he comes and finds us at the front
38:46and he goes, "Hey, uh, I want to tell
38:50you what happened. I had the slip disc
38:54uh and someone prayed for me." I said,
38:56"Yeah, I know." And he said that night I
38:58went home and for the first night in
39:01months I slept. I slept all the way
39:04through and then Monday morning he said
39:07I woke up and got out of bed and I
39:09thought well that's weird.
39:13I don't have any pain.
39:15And then this really made me laugh. He
39:18said I thought before going to work I
39:21better test it just to make sure I'm
39:23healed. He said, "So I went for a 5
39:25kilometer run."
39:28And he said, "No pain.
39:31Jesus
39:33has healed me."
39:36And uh and then I said, "So wow, this is
39:40amazing news." Well, gee, what are you
39:42going to do? He said, "I'm going to tell
39:44people about it, and I'm not going to
39:47stop telling people about it." Well, our
39:50next run of alpha
39:53in walks Hongchi
39:55with six guys, his mates, and he told
40:00them all about what Jesus done, brought
40:01them along to Alpha. The next run of
40:04Alpha, he rocks up with seven friends.
40:10The next run of Alpha, he rocks up with
40:13eight. I'm like, Hongchi, how many
40:15friends do you have?
40:18And he just has kept doing it over and
40:21over again.
40:25Mabel, who by the way is still part of
40:27the worship team,
40:30she is astonished
40:34at all the fish that have been caught as
40:38a result.
40:44There are so many fish. But sometimes it
40:49requires for us to step out and do
40:51something new that we've never done
40:54before.
40:55To serve someone in a new way. Watch out
41:00for new possibilities.
41:04The theologian
41:06Francis Schaefer,
41:09he ran a retreat at a center called
41:12Labri in Switzerland.
41:15And what he'd often do after a few days
41:17of teaching students is he'd take them
41:20up a Swiss mountain, a particular
41:22mountain, and he'd get to what seemed
41:25like this insignificant
41:28small path, and he'd get them all to
41:31stand on this small path about halfway
41:34up the mountain.
41:36And he would say, "Look,
41:40when summer comes,
41:42the snow on this mountain will melt and
41:46the water will flow down. It'll come
41:48down. And when it gets to this very
41:51path,
41:52it has a choice.
41:55Either it trickles off to the right and
41:59joins rivers and riverlets and
42:02eventually goes into the river ran. And
42:05from there it'll eventually go into the
42:07warm Mediterranean Sea
42:10or on this path it decides to trickle
42:13off to the left. It joins rivers and
42:16rivlets and then eventually goes into
42:19the river Rine and from there into the
42:23cold North Sea.
42:26In other words, this path is the
42:30intercontinental divide and the decision
42:33made here affects the water and weather
42:37patterns right across the whole of
42:40Europe.
42:42And you know, we're here in KL.
42:46In many ways, KL is an intercontinental
42:50divide. It's the place where so many
42:52cultures meet.
42:55And I believe that what we decide here
42:58in this room can reverberate across the
43:02region.
43:03Do you know the most important thing
43:05that Peter caught that day was not fish.
43:10It was a vision for his life.
43:13a vision which would begin and then be
43:18fulfilled three years later when he
43:21stood up on the day of Pentecost,
43:24preached to the crowd and 3,000 people
43:28were saved.
43:31today as a result of indirect result of
43:35that one man's but because you say so
43:38obedience
43:39onethird of the world are Christian
43:44but can you imagine today and tomorrow
43:47if 3,000 people here all said but
43:51because you say so to Jesus
43:55just how many lives could be impacted
44:01for him.
44:04Would you stand, please?
44:06I'd love us to pray for a moment. We're
44:10just going to take a moment.
44:12The Lord is here. And rather than going
44:15on, I just feel that we need to just ask
44:18the spirit to come and speak
44:25because whilst I've set out drawn out
44:27some principles,
44:30no fish moments, no fish moments leading
44:34to but because you say so obedience
44:36resulting in boat sinking abundance.
44:39Each one of us, each one of you needs to
44:41hear from the Lord.
44:44So just you might you don't have to put
44:46your hands out like this but I think
44:48it's helpful body language. This is Lord
44:50don't come anywhere near me. This is
44:52Lord I want to receive all that I have
44:56for you and we're going to pray for the
44:59spirit to come. Now of course the spirit
45:01lives in you already. Paul writes to the
45:05Corinthians in his first letter and says
45:07nobody can say Jesus is Lord and mean it
45:10unless by the spirit in them. The
45:12spirit's already in you. And this God's
45:16omni omniresent,
45:18he's everywhere.
45:22But when we pray, come Holy Spirit, it's
45:24really a prayer of surrender.
45:27It's saying we want to follow the plan
45:30that you have for our lives, Lord. Paul
45:35writing to the believers in Ephesus,
45:37Ephesians 5:18 says, "Be filled with the
45:42spirit." The verb there filled is a
45:45present continuous tense. In other
45:47words, he's saying to them, be filled
45:48over and over and over again. This is
45:52not a matter of our justifica
45:55justification and our salvation.
45:59It's a matter of our sanctification and
46:04needing more of him every day. I'm like
46:08a civ. I leak. I need filling up. So
46:13this is why we pray this ancient prayer
46:15of the church. Just utter it in your
46:18heart now. Just pray. Come Holy Spirit.
46:22Would you fill me? Rest upon me again.
46:39And Lord, would you begin to sketch out
46:43the outline of a vision
46:47for the picture of each person's life
46:49here right now? Just allow the spirit to
46:54take your imagination and to begin to
46:56sketch.
47:28Just ask for more outline, more detail.
47:30Lord,
47:33the Lord is calling.
47:37You won't get the whole picture all at
47:39once.
47:46But look for the first step.
47:49Think where am I right now? What has he
47:53placed in my hand?
47:59It's what he said to Moses. Moses,
48:00what's in your hand? Oh, a stick. Put it
48:04on the floor. A snake. Pick it up. Oh,
48:06it's a stick again.
48:09If God can use a stick, you can use
48:12anything that's in your hand.
48:18Come, Lord Jesus.
48:32And just receive the love of God. As
48:34Nikki said, the primary work of the
48:36spirit. Romans 5 verse 5 is God pours
48:40his love into our hearts by the Holy
48:42Spirit whom he has given us.
48:56Now take those ideas that the Lord is
49:00beginning maybe to place in your heart
49:04and dare to ask this question.
49:06Lord,
49:10do you want to stretch it?
49:23Lord,
49:25do you want to double it?
49:30Lord,
49:32should I put a zero on the end?
49:41Lord,
49:44is there a particular partner you want
49:46me to call for help to
50:06If somebody just before we worship, if
50:09somebody is here and you've got a um
50:13a bad back
50:15just like Hongchi,
50:18we just pray for you now. We just
50:21command your back to heal in the name of
50:24Jesus.
50:26We say receive your healing
50:31in Jesus name.
50:33Amen. Now, as we we're going to move
50:36into just a time of worship now. And as
50:38you do that,
50:40expect the Lord, he's not stop speaking
50:42to you. As you worship, expect those
50:45thoughts, those dreams to continue to
50:49clarify
50:51and to develop in your mind. But let's
50:54worship the Lord Almighty right now.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of AAC26 Day 1 Seminar (Megastar) - Miles Toulmin (Catching A Vision For Your Life) by Alpha Asia Pacific, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 6,344 words across 988 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.