WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.060 Where are we with sharing our faith? And what do you do when you have good news to share? 00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:11.980 What's the first thing that comes in when it comes to sharing the good news of Jesus 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:21.559 that we have with others? Which of these resonates with you? Number one, I seek every opportunity to 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:33.119 share my faith wherever and whenever I feel led. Is that okay? Or is it two, I am a little reserved 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:40.039 and would only share my faith if someone asked me if I was a Christian? Or is it three, 00:00:41.420 --> 00:00:50.460 I want to share my faith but when it comes to it I never quite manage it. So I give up and I leave it 00:00:50.460 --> 00:01:00.920 to others. Or is it four, I have a very private and personal faith and by the way how dare you even ask? 00:01:03.299 --> 00:01:10.700 Which of those resonates with you? Because, and I'm not going to ask you to put your hands up, 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:20.340 because just go with me on this, because sharing our faith is an imperative that we have to do. 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:27.419 But for many of us don't find it easy. It's like this man at the water cooler at work. 00:01:34.459 --> 00:01:41.819 I don't know whether you feel for him. You know, we try, we try to share our faith and often we do it 00:01:41.819 --> 00:01:47.819 in quite cringey ways instead of just being ourselves. And you see, I guess we're all somewhere 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:54.959 in those mix of questions at various times and various places, which is Craig Grishel in our book 00:01:54.959 --> 00:02:01.259 that we're following, The Christian Atheist, actually encourages us that actually we need to go and share 00:02:01.259 --> 00:02:09.019 our faith. But it's very honest about the barriers. I was taking my dog out yesterday morning and I met 00:02:09.019 --> 00:02:14.539 the lady from the chocolate shop in Hill Road. Now I don't know whether you know the lady from the 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:22.859 chocolate shop in the hill road. She obviously knows me because I like chocolate. And she announced to me, 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:30.299 as I was taking my dog for a walk in the morning, the good news, the good news was that there was chocolate 00:02:30.299 --> 00:02:38.699 tasting all day yesterday at the chocolate shop in Hill Road. Now I have to tell you what I was impressed with 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:46.379 is one, because of her passion for the product, because she knows her business and wanted. But 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:54.619 the passion was, is she knew what she was passionate about and wanted it to share with people. I am 00:02:54.619 --> 00:03:02.219 passionate about what I do and I've got no hesitation in meeting you in the street and inviting you to 00:03:02.219 --> 00:03:10.620 something that I know that you probably need. How often are we out and about when we meet people on 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:16.300 chance encounters and say, my goodness, are you free tomorrow morning? Why don't you come to my growth 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:21.419 group? Why don't you come to this? Why don't you come to church on Sunday morning? Why don't you come 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:28.060 to this group? Why don't you come round for coffee? Why don't you do whatever it is, but to do something 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:34.620 that we are passionate about and we want to share. If only more Christians were passionate about that 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:42.379 and spontaneously invited people. I have to tell you friends, I've been around church for maybe many, 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:51.340 many years and I sat where you were sat and I was never challenged about sharing my faith. And worse 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:58.620 still, maybe I was never encouraged. And this morning I just really want to encourage you as 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:06.780 part of our theme to go and share that thing which we are desperate and I hope you believe is the 00:04:06.780 --> 00:04:14.460 greatest thing that we have to share with people. You see, I probably verged dangerously at times on D, 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:23.420 probably going into C, into 4 or into 3. Of stumbling about how do I share my faith, how do I do this? 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:31.019 And like the woman at the well, I had to wait for that encounter. She was searching. We knew that she 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:39.019 was searching for something. And I hope you managed to get here back along for Bishop Mike's seminar on 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:44.699 sharing our faith. And if you didn't, and if you're listening on the podcast, just click slightly to 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:50.620 the left and you'll get the whole of that as well. Listen to that because that's a great hour of just 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:57.740 Mike sharing his heart with us about how we can share our faith. But I thought about this woman at the 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:09.500 will, what was the essence of this chance encounter, which wasn't a chance encounter at all. That this 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:16.780 was the moment that she would know and that she would know that she was loved and acknowledged for 00:05:16.780 --> 00:05:24.939 who she is and the situation she was in. And so often we try to dress it up, don't we? We try to say, 00:05:24.939 --> 00:05:32.620 oh actually you've got to maybe just be a little bit nicer, a little bit more happier, a little bit 00:05:32.620 --> 00:05:42.060 more this or that in order to become a Christian. And yet Jesus nailed it. He met her exactly where 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:47.740 she was and how she was and she knew that she had met with something different. 00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:57.100 Now if you're listening on the podcast, these chance meetings can be very important. And anybody that's 00:05:57.100 --> 00:06:04.540 here, you will know that when you first fell in love, that chance encounter, what bliss it was when 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:10.300 you met the love of your life. If you're listening on the podcast, people are looking lovingly now 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:20.780 into each other's eyes, clasping hands. I'm almost verging on saying get a room. And this, 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:32.300 that moment which we know. My chance encounter was that I was on duty as a police officer. Now for young 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:37.420 people here, those were in the days when you'd actually see police officers walking around. 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:43.180 They would actually stop and talk to you and engage with you and pass the time of day. Anyway, 00:06:43.180 --> 00:06:51.740 I was on duty in the high street and I looked up and I saw this vision from a window looking down at me. 00:06:52.540 --> 00:07:00.700 I couldn't think of a line at the time other than, do you make coffee? What a great opening line. She said, 00:07:00.699 --> 00:07:10.699 for you, for you, yes. Eleven months later we were married, 36 years of marriage, but I still go back to that chance 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:22.459 encounter. We all need a chance encounter, but a chance encounter with Jesus because Jesus was there ready, 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:33.180 waiting for that life-giving chance encounter with that woman. Jesus is there waiting. She's not expecting 00:07:33.180 --> 00:07:40.060 that moment. She didn't know she was going to meet with the Messiah. She didn't know because of an outcast 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:46.139 of being the way she was and her lifestyle that the rest of the village had rejected her. That's why she was 00:07:46.139 --> 00:07:51.899 on her own. People had judged her, but she has this meeting with Jesus. And I love that line, 00:07:52.300 --> 00:08:01.500 sir, you must be a prophet. Yes, I am. I am the Messiah. Jesus actually declares who he is to her, 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:07.259 and she goes back, the marginalized, the outside woman, the woman that's been judged, the woman that's 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:16.120 been allowed to go on the well at midday, every day, on her own, excluded, and then brings a large proportion 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:23.560 of her village to meet with Jesus. Do you know what? I don't know about you. I find something really 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:29.439 energizing about people who come to meet with Jesus for the first time. There's a fresh energy. 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:35.039 And I sensed this morning as I was in my waking hours 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:46.080 that many of us have drawn water from the well, but we haven't refreshed it. It's just gone, 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:54.460 a little bit stagnant in the bucket. It's not the fresh water that we can draw again and again and 00:08:54.460 --> 00:09:03.120 again. This was the water I drew at Spring Harvest in 1975 when I had my encounter with Jesus. 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:10.920 Now, this is the encounter that I drew five minutes ago because I know Jesus and I need more of him, 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:18.000 and I want more of him in my life. And there's this honest conversation going on. And she didn't go 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:23.339 home. She didn't sit down. She didn't think, well, that was a nice affirming conversation, wasn't it? 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:28.620 That was lovely. It's a shame he didn't sing a couple of hymns. That really would have made my day. 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:38.620 This wasn't a consumer moment for her. This was a life-changing time for her and for the people that she would 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:48.799 meet and that she would bring. Have you experienced that? Have you experienced that Acts 2 moment, that 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:58.639 life-giving, changing moment when you don't care who knows that you're a Christian and you live your life? 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:04.459 People don't cross the road to avoid you. People don't know that if something's gone wrong, 00:10:04.740 --> 00:10:10.939 you're the person who's going to bark at them. They just know your character is that of God, 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:14.679 and they just want to be drawn to you and want to share that with people. 00:10:14.679 --> 00:10:22.979 Well, Craig Groeschel and someone here changed me because, you know, we never speak about the 00:10:22.979 --> 00:10:28.719 alternative to heaven. And somebody challenged me from this congregation and said, Clive, why do you 00:10:28.719 --> 00:10:36.679 never preach on hell? Do you know what? And I think that's absolutely right. And Craig Groeschel, 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:44.399 in this chapter, if you've read it, actually encounters that and says, the door is narrow. The gate is 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:51.740 narrow. And not everybody who calls me Lord, Lord will encounter the kingdom of God, will enter it. 00:10:52.579 --> 00:11:01.039 There is an urgency, people, for us to live it and to share it. I love this modern-day take of the 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:05.439 woman at the well, a chance encounter with living water. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:14.080 I'm in a convenience store, and as I was leaving, he asked me for some water. I mean, who does that? 00:11:14.400 --> 00:11:19.460 You know, I mean, let's face it, the guy was hitting on me, right? But then he said the weirdest thing. 00:11:20.820 --> 00:11:27.620 He said to me, if you'd have asked me, I would have given you living water. Living water? What's 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:34.080 living water? Does it have, like, special electrolytes? Or is it made out of angel wings? Like, what's 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:40.519 living water? So he said to me, if you drink the water that I have given of you, you'll never 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:46.299 thirst again. I'm thinking this guy's crazy, right? Never thirst again. So I said to him, 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:54.220 okay, I'll take that water, hook it up. And he said, I will. Bring your husband. And I told him, 00:11:54.220 --> 00:12:00.940 I don't have a husband. I was about to get into my car. And then he said one last thing. He said, 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:08.240 you're right. You've had five. And the one that you have now isn't even yours. I know, right? 00:12:08.560 --> 00:12:10.000 He was completely right. 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:22.080 And it might sound weird, but it was almost like when he looked into my eyes, something became free. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:30.300 Like I felt freedom. This guy knew everything about me. And he accepted me just the way I was. 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:33.540 What was his name? 00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:35.580 His name was Jesus. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.600 Please, would you just take the water? I've got to get going. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:13:07.560 One of the most privileged moments of my life was to speak to a 15-year-old who was dying of leukemia. 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:14.359 She had an amazing thing. She never stopped sharing it with the staff and others on the ward, 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:19.559 even to the end when she went home to be with the Lord. But she said to me one day, 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:25.739 when she asked me, and she said, what does heaven look like for you? And she told me what it looked 00:13:25.739 --> 00:13:32.639 like for her. And she said, do you know what? Being a Christian has saved me thousands of pounds 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:40.480 on my bucket list. Because the things come, the things that some people, especially Christians, 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:47.639 feel that they have to cram in to do before they die. It's a shame they don't spend more that time 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:55.639 talking about Jesus than living like there is no eternity. Because I know what heaven's like. 00:13:55.639 --> 00:14:02.580 She said, I'm going to walk in the Himalayas. I'm going to swim with dolphins. I'm going to sit 00:14:02.580 --> 00:14:10.639 on the barrier reef. It's a new heaven. And I get to worship God every day. And that's going to be 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:17.840 awesome. But I want people I know and love to be there too. And no one tells them how they will know. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:25.120 Why don't more Christians get that, Clive? From a 15-year-old girl who knew that she was about 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:32.100 to be with the Lord, there was a sense of urgency. And my belief, and in Craig's book, is that I believe 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:38.480 the church has lost its sense of urgency. Of telling people and bringing people into that encounter with 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:48.980 God before, before, before. I pray and give thanks that this church is changing. 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:56.680 The people are more interested in seeing people encounter the love of God than they do about the 00:14:56.680 --> 00:15:06.920 stuff that we do. You see, that encounter was intimate, it was passionate, and it was loving. 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:15.620 And that's what will bring people to know Jesus. To be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known. 00:15:17.479 --> 00:15:27.439 We're going to end with a poem by a woman at the well. To be loved is to be known, and to be known is to be loved. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:36.019 I am a woman of no distinction, of little importance. I am a woman of no reputation, save that which is bad. 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:42.259 You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances, though you don't really take the time to look at me, 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:47.159 or even get to know me. For to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.500 And otherwise, what's the point in doing either one of them in the first place? 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:57.439 I want to be known. I want someone to look at my face and not just see two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and two ears. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:02.060 But to see all that I am and could be, all my hopes, loves, and fears. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:06.180 But that's too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for, so I don't, not anymore. 00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:10.800 Now I keep to myself, and by that I mean the pain that keeps me in my own private jail, 00:16:10.900 --> 00:16:14.060 the pain that's brought me here at midday to this well. 00:16:14.380 --> 00:16:20.680 To ask for a drink is no big request, but to ask it of me, a woman unclean, ashamed, used, and abused, 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:25.779 an outcast, a failure, a disappointment, a sinner, no drink passing from these hands to your lips 00:16:25.779 --> 00:16:30.459 could ever be refreshing, only condemning, as I'm sure you condemn me now, but you don't. 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:35.699 You're a man of no distinction, though of the utmost importance, a man with little reputation, at least so far. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.799 You whisper and tell me to my face what all those glances have been about, 00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:43.139 and you take the time to really look at me, but don't need to get to know me, 00:16:43.199 --> 00:16:46.000 for to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.720 And you know me, you actually know me, all of me and everything about me, 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:55.940 every thought inside and hair on top of my head, every hurt stored up, every hope, every dread, 00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:58.200 my past and my future, all I am and could be. 00:16:58.340 --> 00:17:01.000 You tell me everything, you tell me about me. 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:06.180 And that which is spoken by another would bring hate and condemnation. 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:09.759 Coming from you brings love, grace, mercy, hope, and salvation. 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:12.259 I've heard of one to come who would save a wretch like me, 00:17:12.259 --> 00:17:14.859 and here in my presence you say I am he. 00:17:14.859 --> 00:17:17.979 To be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known. 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:19.479 And I just met you, but I love you. 00:17:19.539 --> 00:17:21.139 I don't know you, but I want to get to. 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:23.939 Let me run back to town. This is way too much for just me. 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:27.619 There are others, brothers, sisters, lovers, haters, the good and the bad, sinners and saints, 00:17:27.719 --> 00:17:30.479 who should hear what you've told me, who should see what you've shown me, 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:33.319 who should taste what you gave me, who should feel how you forgave me. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.339 For to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known. 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:39.779 And they all need this too. We all do need it for our own.