WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.720 Jesus Christ, our living hope. 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:08.599 Well, how do I follow Jim's story? 00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:12.800 I kind of feel like he's already done the talk this morning. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:18.199 You know, I get to speak in lots of different churches. 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:25.260 Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking actually to 300 Methodists in Birmingham at a Methodist conference. 00:00:25.260 --> 00:00:31.940 And you never quite know how what you're saying, whether it's getting through or how it's going down. 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:38.280 Today I learned that it's all about God and what he does in people's hearts. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:43.820 And actually very little about what I say or what I don't say. 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:51.560 This morning, very briefly, I want to just encourage you as a church really to keep doing what you're already doing. 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:56.420 And there's a sense in which I feel like I'm speaking to the converted. 00:00:56.700 --> 00:01:11.320 But I think what I also want to say is that the work of TLG, the work of just spending that hour with a child, with a young person, just a week. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:21.799 Just coaching, just listening, you know, having an opportunity to play and do life together for that moment. 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:28.199 It isn't just something that those who are on the front line and doing that are involved in. 00:01:28.259 --> 00:01:34.419 But it's something that all of us as a church can get behind. 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:37.579 And so my reading is taken from Matthew 18. 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:43.560 I'm going to read the first six verses and also verse 10 to 14 as well. 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:53.280 At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:57.840 He called a child and had him stand among them. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:07.840 And he said, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:15.640 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:02:16.420 --> 00:02:23.360 And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:38.220 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 00:02:38.820 --> 00:02:39.400 Verse 10. 00:02:40.760 --> 00:02:45.020 See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. 00:02:45.140 --> 00:02:51.640 For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my father in heaven. 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:53.619 What do you think? 00:02:54.199 --> 00:03:04.339 If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:13.619 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:23.719 In the same way, your father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:32.060 There are aspects of this chapter that can be implied in two ways. 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:46.240 Firstly, it is primarily about children, but it's also about the vulnerable and particularly those who are near or new to the kingdom of God. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:55.740 And of course, for us at TLG, children being at the heart of church is really our heart. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.080 And we think also it's God's heart. 00:03:59.939 --> 00:04:10.040 And for those of us who don't know TLG's story, it was an ordinary church, probably about the size of the church here in Cleveland. 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:16.180 And just began to work with young people on a Friday night. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:30.759 They'd come to youth club and on a Saturday night, they would come to a sort of a burger bar that we'd set up and they'd eat their chips and their burgers and they'd have fellowship. 00:04:31.579 --> 00:04:36.639 On a Sunday, sometimes night, they'd be throwing stones at the church window as kids do. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.819 And Monday morning, everyone would breathe a sigh of relief. 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:43.319 They're going to school, except lots of them weren't. 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:49.979 And so we began a journey of providing schooling for some of those children. 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:52.819 There was no blueprint at that time on how to do it. 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:55.259 We just made it up as we went along. 00:04:56.019 --> 00:05:04.680 And by about 2004, we'd become probably the foremost alternative education provider in the city of Bradford, as it was then, 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:09.019 and took a decision to begin to think about replicating that in other places. 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:14.280 And began, you know, firstly in London, then in Birmingham, then in Manchester. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:19.540 And slowly we began to replicate around the country. 00:05:20.340 --> 00:05:22.340 We got to about 2010. 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:31.099 And Rachel Morphin, who leads early intervention, was just banging a drum behind the scene and saying, 00:05:31.219 --> 00:05:34.439 guys, you're waiting way too late. 00:05:34.859 --> 00:05:39.579 You know, why are you waiting until they're 11, you know, 12, 13? 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:43.479 We know that they're slipping through the gaps, kind of in primary school. 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:46.240 And so as a result, we gathered some people together. 00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:47.160 We did some thinking. 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:50.660 And early intervention was born. 00:05:51.300 --> 00:06:00.160 And I'm pleased to say that today we have over 100 early intervention centres up and down the UK 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:06.020 in partnership with churches of all different kinds of shapes and sizes, 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:10.480 making a difference to young people's lives. 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:15.360 And we are so excited that that journey continues. 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:21.200 And it's great to come back, to have spoken a year ago with yourselves, 00:06:21.280 --> 00:06:24.319 and come back a year later and just see how things have progressed. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:28.020 You have, I believe, 22 people trained as coaches, 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:35.460 and most of those engaged on a weekly basis working with young people. 00:06:35.459 --> 00:06:41.079 When we look at this chapter, there's three things I want to quickly home in on. 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:45.839 Firstly, we are called to welcome children. 00:06:46.899 --> 00:06:49.359 If we look at verse 5, it says, 00:06:49.859 --> 00:06:55.159 and whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me. 00:06:55.259 --> 00:06:57.819 That is a powerful verse. 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:03.259 If we welcome a child, we are welcoming Jesus. 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:07.379 You know, that is what Jesus said there. 00:07:08.659 --> 00:07:13.100 And I think that being a Jesus-centred church, 00:07:13.259 --> 00:07:15.639 and I know that you're a Jesus-centred church, 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.939 is actually synonymous with being a child-centred church. 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:24.639 It was just lovely to see the children at the front, 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:26.560 and the bubbles going up in the air, 00:07:26.740 --> 00:07:28.920 and them waving their flags, 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:31.759 and feeling that this is a safe place 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:36.160 where they can express their worship to God. 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:41.659 Being a child-centred church is being a Jesus-centred church as well. 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:45.360 And I do go to churches where they are lamenting. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:49.180 I sat in a meeting yesterday with leaders of churches 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:52.960 who were lamenting that there was no longer any children's work, 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:56.220 and no longer any young people's work. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:58.759 It is precious what we have. 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:00.280 Let's bring children. 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:05.740 Let's continue to bring children right to the centre of church life. 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:09.420 I love the African Proverbs. 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:12.860 I'm married to a Ghanaian. 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:14.379 I'm of Jamaican heritage. 00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:15.620 We were both born here. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:17.959 We spend quite a bit of time in Africa, 00:08:18.060 --> 00:08:20.240 and there's a wonderful proverb that simply says, 00:08:20.579 --> 00:08:24.079 it takes a village to raise a child. 00:08:24.899 --> 00:08:30.019 And for children, we can see the local congregation as a village 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:32.919 where they can thrive, where they can develop, 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:37.139 where they can have freedom, and where they can prosper. 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:41.100 And those children will bring a life to a local church 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:43.240 that only children can bring. 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:46.460 And there's something intangible about that life. 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:49.279 But it's the work of the Spirit. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:51.940 And that's why Jesus said, 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:53.899 you need to be like one of these children 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:58.460 if you want to enter into the kingdom of heaven. 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:04.399 The second point I want to make is in verse 6 and 7. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:09.720 We are called to support them if they stumble. 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:11.939 Verse 6 says, 00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:17.600 But if anyone causes these little ones who believe in me to sin, 00:09:17.939 --> 00:09:22.439 it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck 00:09:22.439 --> 00:09:27.120 and be drowned in the depths of the sea. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:32.539 If young people stumble, we're not called to punish them. 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:34.620 We're not called to say, 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:36.019 I told you so. 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:39.600 We are called to support them. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.700 We are called to get alongside them. 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:45.980 And that's what Jim and the team are doing. 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:49.259 They are getting alongside young people 00:09:49.259 --> 00:09:51.240 who, for whatever reason, 00:09:51.640 --> 00:09:54.920 are just not thriving in mainstream school. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:58.220 And often, my experience is that 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:03.120 it's often traumatic experiences that young people have, 00:10:03.520 --> 00:10:05.740 whether it's bullying in the playground, 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:08.680 whether it's perhaps not fully understanding 00:10:08.680 --> 00:10:11.399 some of the work that's being given. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:15.740 Perhaps they've got an unidentified learning difficulty. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:20.360 And actually, their behaviour is a scream for help, 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:23.200 but that's not been fully identified by the school. 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:27.659 Sometimes there could have been traumatic experience at home, 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:31.240 perhaps a bereavement of an auntie, an uncle, a parent. 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:38.320 Maybe it's been a breakup in the family situation. 00:10:38.419 --> 00:10:40.259 There can be a host of reasons 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:46.580 why a child or a young person isn't thriving in school. 00:10:46.980 --> 00:10:50.860 But the Bible says that young people, 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.080 we are called to get alongside them 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:56.539 and to support them if they are stumbling 00:10:56.539 --> 00:11:00.379 and if they are falling. 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:06.580 And the final point I want to make is in verses 10 to 14. 00:11:07.539 --> 00:11:12.360 But we are called to find them if they lose their way. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.440 And here, of course, Jesus tells the story 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.399 of the farmer who leaves the 99 cheap 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.779 in search of that one. 00:11:24.899 --> 00:11:28.259 You know, early intervention is all about the one. 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:30.740 It is a one-to-one programme. 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:33.320 We could have created a group programme, 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:36.879 but we chose to do a one-to-one programme. 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:44.940 And this scripture bears out the kingdom emphasis on the one. 00:11:45.580 --> 00:11:48.399 Because it says that God is more happy 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:51.220 to find the one that has lost their way 00:11:51.220 --> 00:11:56.379 than with the 99 who have never left the fold. 00:11:56.379 --> 00:12:00.299 You know, one of the things that I've discovered 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:03.639 is that sin comes in many forms, 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:05.759 not just in personal sin. 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:07.439 And of course, as Christians, 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:09.500 all of us have come to that place 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:11.820 where we've recognised that we need Jesus 00:12:11.820 --> 00:12:13.960 as our saviour and as our Lord. 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:15.840 But there can be systems 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.159 that sin against people. 00:12:19.700 --> 00:12:23.379 There can be systems that sin against young people. 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:27.120 And I sometimes think that the school system 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.519 can sin against young people. 00:12:29.659 --> 00:12:34.220 Not deliberately, but it's just that it does that. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.720 And I say that having been grown up 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.519 as the son of a deputy headteacher 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.139 and married to a teacher. 00:12:43.139 --> 00:12:48.259 So I'm absolutely for teachers, by the way. 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:50.159 But it's not the teacher's fault. 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:51.679 It is the system. 00:12:52.659 --> 00:12:56.439 Some 318,000 fixed-term exclusions 00:12:56.439 --> 00:12:59.000 were given to children and young people 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:02.080 last year in the UK. 00:13:03.059 --> 00:13:04.960 And something about that 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.379 that just says that's wrong, 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.539 that education is a basic human right. 00:13:10.539 --> 00:13:13.039 And we know that if a child is not educated, 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:15.659 then their outcomes and life chances 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:17.319 are hugely reduced. 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:21.500 And the likelihood of that child or young person 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:23.199 ending up in prison 00:13:23.199 --> 00:13:24.860 or a youth offending institute 00:13:24.860 --> 00:13:26.799 just goes up hugely. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:29.599 I'm also just one day a week 00:13:29.599 --> 00:13:31.279 a mental health chaplain. 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:33.319 And I work with young men 00:13:33.319 --> 00:13:36.419 in a mental health clinic. 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:38.659 And, you know, 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:41.240 I look at some of the young men 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:42.139 that I work with 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:44.519 and you begin to talk to them 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:45.959 and you realise, actually, 00:13:46.459 --> 00:13:49.099 it went wrong in their primary school years. 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:51.279 It went wrong in their teenage years. 00:13:51.479 --> 00:13:55.860 And if they had just had someone alongside them 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:57.479 giving that hour of attention, 00:13:57.879 --> 00:13:59.659 perhaps they never would have got 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:00.939 to where they got to. 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:03.879 The Gospel's all about a second chance. 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.840 And I love the fact that TLG 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.700 is about giving young people a second chance. 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:11.059 John 3, 17 says, 00:14:11.379 --> 00:14:12.899 God did not come into the world 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:14.740 to condemn the world, 00:14:15.340 --> 00:14:18.580 that the world through him might be saved, 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:19.700 might be rescued. 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:24.340 That's the literal meaning of the word saved. 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:27.439 We are rescuing children 00:14:27.439 --> 00:14:30.159 from adverse childhood experiences. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:34.100 We are rescuing children from trauma. 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:35.399 And in the meantime, 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:39.480 we are giving them a hope and a future. 00:14:40.819 --> 00:14:42.899 This morning, in conclusion, 00:14:43.459 --> 00:14:46.919 our focus, our theme has been being brave. 00:14:48.199 --> 00:14:50.639 You're listening to the news like I am 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:53.399 and you're hearing the stories 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:56.459 of the increase in knife crime. 00:14:56.460 --> 00:15:00.200 I'm dealing with that firsthand in Birmingham. 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:01.980 I can tell you it's affecting 00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:04.300 every single community in Birmingham. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.800 I can take you to Alum Rock 00:15:07.800 --> 00:15:09.820 and to Washwood Heath 00:15:09.820 --> 00:15:12.080 and it's affecting, 00:15:12.920 --> 00:15:14.720 the youth violence is affecting 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:17.080 predominantly the South Asian community. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:19.759 I can take you to Winston Green 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.279 and I can take you to Erdington 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:23.840 in North Birmingham 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:25.279 and I can tell you there 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:26.840 it's affecting the black community. 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:29.000 I can take you to the edge of the city 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.340 and take you to Northfield 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:32.779 and to Longbridge 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:34.879 where they used to make the Rovers 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.919 and there I can tell you 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:38.379 it's affecting the white community. 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:40.620 And I'm working with others 00:15:40.620 --> 00:15:41.960 on this issue. 00:15:42.220 --> 00:15:43.600 And you'll hear all over, 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:45.779 you know, stuff all over the news, 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:46.840 what we need to do. 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:48.320 Well, we need more police 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:49.519 and, you know, 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:50.840 and we need stop and search 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:51.620 and we need this 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:53.800 and we need that. 00:15:54.300 --> 00:15:55.600 I tell you what we need. 00:15:55.660 --> 00:15:57.300 We need a church to step up 00:15:57.300 --> 00:15:58.259 and be brave. 00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:00.700 We need to not recoil 00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:01.700 from young people 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:03.920 but lean into this agenda. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:05.800 We need to go upstream 00:16:05.800 --> 00:16:08.240 as you are as a church. 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.320 Not waiting to young people 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.060 are 13, 14, 15, 00:16:13.160 --> 00:16:14.200 but go upstream 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:15.740 at primary school level 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:18.320 and stop what's going on 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:19.140 happening. 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:20.460 And if we do that, 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:22.680 then we will see 00:16:22.680 --> 00:16:24.500 young people saved 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:25.740 from a life 00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:27.420 where they are abused 00:16:27.420 --> 00:16:28.540 to, quite honestly, 00:16:29.020 --> 00:16:30.420 by people who are older 00:16:30.420 --> 00:16:32.420 and used to ship drugs 00:16:32.420 --> 00:16:34.640 out to towns, 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:36.540 outside local city, 00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:37.480 county lines. 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:38.520 That's the thing 00:16:38.520 --> 00:16:39.840 that's kind of going on. 00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:41.480 It's drugs often 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:43.399 that is driving this 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:45.159 and it plays out 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:46.800 on the street often, 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:48.980 although not exclusively 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:50.420 of our inner cities. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.560 And so we're all involved 00:16:52.560 --> 00:16:52.800 in this. 00:16:53.060 --> 00:16:53.960 You are involved 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:55.259 in making a difference 00:16:55.259 --> 00:16:57.560 to these children's lives. 00:16:58.120 --> 00:16:59.279 And if you're here 00:16:59.279 --> 00:16:59.860 this morning 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:00.920 and you're thinking, 00:17:01.100 --> 00:17:02.620 well, how can I get involved? 00:17:02.920 --> 00:17:03.700 My encouragement 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:05.200 is to lean in 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:06.839 and make a difference, 00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:07.759 just as Jim did. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:10.799 and God will bless 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.119 and bring fruit 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:14.180 to your ministry.