How many of you know someone who's from a broken home? They need a touch of God. How many of you know someone who's been abused or in an abusive situation? They need a touch of God. How many of you know someone who's without life or purpose? They need a touch of God. In fact there's no place you can look that there aren't people that need a touch of God and God has placed you in this city and area to bring such a touch to them. In fact let me tell you something else. He's not going to do it unless you do it. He's not going to do it unless you arise and let Him work through you. There are people around you in your sphere of influence and the only breakthrough they'll get is if you will break through in prayer and start to reach out to them, otherwise when the season and the opportunity goes God has to move them somewhere else to someone else to bring them that breakthrough. What a great chance you have, what a great opportunity you have.
Ever since I became a Christian I've been hungry for the supernatural. There's never been a place I've been where I didn't experience and see it happening, not one, not one. But I hungered for it. When I found that there was a real spirit world that you could get full of the Holy Ghost and you could begin to start to do things and prophesy I decided that was for me. I wasn't a preacher then and I wasn't a pastor - I wasn't anything, just a teacher in school. I saw God move - right through all of my life I've seen that happening and this is the legacy that you have. You're in this church and this is your home church, you've got a legacy of this. You've got to take hold of it. You need the power of God and there's a desperate need around us for it.
Look at this, it says Verse 33, the multitudes saw them departing and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities - gathered, they all arrived, hungry people wanting God. They were sick of religion, sick of oppression, but when they saw and felt God moving they wanted God.
Jesus is still popular you know, it's just Christians aren't always - and Jesus when He came saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd, so He began to teach them many things and the day was now far spent and the disciples came to Him and said this is a deserted place, already the hour is late. Send them away so they may go to surrounding country and villages, buy themself bread for they have nothing to eat. And He answered and said you give them something.
Okay, so number one, God wants you both to experience the supernatural and to be able to bring the life of God to others. That's the first thing to see. Second thing is if you're going to move in this way you have to look beyond your own needs to the needs of others. You notice that Jesus saw the disciples were incredibly tired. He Himself was very tired. In fact they were so tired that they were on vacation except the crowd followed them. Now the normal thing would be to say listen, I'm tired, I've had a hard time, send them all away. Listen, I can't do this - but the Bible says that Jesus was moved with compassion. The disciples just wanted to get rid of the crowd, they were so tired; well we've done our bit for God. We've done our bit for God, that's enough. Some people, they come to church on Sunday - I've done my bit for God, that's enough.
Well what a - what a - what a - how far that falls short. You see you've got to get your eyes past yourself and begin to see people in need. You've got to lift your eyes beyond yourself. There are some people here have never been on the platform and yet they touch people in need. They touch people in need. The supernatural's not always spectacular. It's often in the acts of kindness and the small things, reaching out, extending out, but always you've got to look past yourself and one of the ways of doing that, quite a simple way you can do that - I did this when I first came into the city and I'm about to do it again because I felt this thing burning in my heart again; one of the first things I did when I come in the city was say oh dear God, what do I do, you know? This is a strange place and I didn't really like even being here, pretty miserable, it was sort of cold and wet about then. I wasn't very happy about being here at all but I felt the Lord tell me to do this; He said I want you to rise and I want you to walk around the centre of the city and I want you to pray in tongues and I want you to look into the faces of people and I want you to see the need of the city. And I've done that on more than one occasion. I remember doing it with Ian - remember we did that one time? We went around and we walked around the city centre, I don't know, maybe a week or something? Every night we walked around, Ian walked with me in those early days, so when I first arrived here I did it and when I did it then God was birthing compassion and I remember walking around the streets and looking at the faces of people; the far end of Hastings was very, very dark in those days. Gangs gathered down there. It was a shocking place. You wouldn't walk there at night, so I walked right around and you would look at people and I'd drive around some nights and I'd just pray, but most of the time I'd walk around and look in the faces of people and just look to see what God showed me. I found that if you will ask God to open your eyes and you start to pray and just look and listen, look, listen, ask questions, you will begin to see how desperate the needs our people have. They're everywhere; abused people, hurt people, people who are angry, people who are broken, people who are furious with how life has treated them so unjustly. But if you don't see them you'll never reach them. You have to see them and let it move your heart.