WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:05.360 The title of our current series is The Church Unleashed. 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.279 It's a pretty powerful set of images. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:15.040 It's there to remind us that if we're ever tempted to think that the church is boring or dull, 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:16.300 well, we'd better think again. 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:20.219 It's there to remind us that in the Bible, in the book of Acts, 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:24.879 we're shown that God wants the church to be a revolutionary movement 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.719 through which the world is changed for the better. 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:31.480 It's there to remind us that when we take all that on board, 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:37.299 when we open up ourselves to God's Holy Spirit, then we are unleashed. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.359 That is, we're set free to do all the amazing stuff that God wants us to do. 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:47.320 So as we look at this series, we've got some pretty exciting themes week by week. 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:53.799 We've been looking at what it means to be the church unleashed as a radical family of God's children. 00:00:53.799 --> 00:01:00.239 We've been thinking about what it means to be the church unleashed as God's servant, 00:01:01.019 --> 00:01:05.539 serving those around us in our everyday life and transforming lives. 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:09.780 We've been thinking about what it means to be the church unleashed in power, 00:01:10.199 --> 00:01:13.500 experiencing signs and wonders and miracles. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:15.939 It's all really exciting stuff. 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:21.039 So when I looked at the series planner to get ready for this week, 00:01:21.039 --> 00:01:26.959 I had pretty high expectations for getting stuck into something exciting and interesting and challenging. 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:30.200 And then I saw the title for this week. 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:31.079 What is it? 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:34.340 The church unleashed as get ready for this. 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:39.200 The church unleashed for the church unleashed as an organization. 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:41.439 Rock and roll. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.700 And I guess that's the point. 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:49.000 Most of us don't really get very excited when we think of organizations and establishments, 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:51.879 especially when it comes to faith and spirituality. 00:01:53.039 --> 00:01:56.480 So many people are wary of religious institutions. 00:01:56.819 --> 00:01:58.979 And if I'm honest with you, I am too. 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:06.780 But the bottom line is organization is essential if the church is going to be effective in being a missionary movement. 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:10.199 Imagine an outdoor water tap. 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:17.179 If you try to water the garden from it directly, you turn it on, but it would only gush straight to the floor. 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:26.620 But if you attach a hose pipe, then suddenly you can direct all that water across the whole garden, 00:02:26.739 --> 00:02:28.459 getting it where it needs to be. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:36.120 The church unleashed as an organization is not about confining or limiting the dynamic nature of God, 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:41.180 but it is about creating flows and systems that allow the spirit to do his work. 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:46.960 And today's Bible reading, which we'll turn to in just a moment, is from Acts chapter 10. 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:55.200 In this chapter, we see something of a turning point in the early stages of the church being set up as an organization. 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:58.759 To understand the importance of what's going on here, 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:02.799 we have to remember that the church was born from the Jewish faith. 00:03:03.699 --> 00:03:06.060 Most of the early followers were Jewish, 00:03:06.379 --> 00:03:10.299 and they were still following many of the laws found in the Old Testament. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:13.879 More fundamentally, at this point in history, 00:03:14.060 --> 00:03:18.500 they had a very exclusive understanding of who the people of God were, 00:03:18.739 --> 00:03:22.739 to the extent that they would not enter the homes of Gentiles, 00:03:22.819 --> 00:03:24.340 that is, non-Jewish people. 00:03:24.340 --> 00:03:26.979 But that was about to change. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:31.039 And in the passage that we're about to hear from, 00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:35.879 we see Peter, who was sent by God to the home of someone called Cornelius, 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:36.960 who was a Gentile. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.379 And as he enters, something radical happens. 00:03:41.140 --> 00:03:43.960 So let's turn now to our reading. 00:03:45.460 --> 00:03:51.080 Acts chapter 10, verse 34 to 48. 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:55.219 Then Peter began to speak. 00:03:56.340 --> 00:04:00.439 I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, 00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:06.000 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:10.780 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, 00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:14.400 telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 00:04:15.160 --> 00:04:17.879 You know what has happened throughout Judea, 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:22.019 beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:26.579 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:31.519 and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:33.139 because God was with him. 00:04:34.420 --> 00:04:39.060 We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:42.079 They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:46.420 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:50.080 He was not seen by all the people, 00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:53.340 but by witnesses whom God had already chosen, 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:57.080 by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.580 He commanded us to preach to the people 00:05:00.580 --> 00:05:05.980 and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.740 All the prophets testify about him 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:14.080 that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:18.639 While Peter was still speaking these words, 00:05:19.060 --> 00:05:21.819 the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:26.360 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:30.979 that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:35.699 for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. 00:05:35.699 --> 00:05:38.240 Then Peter said, 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:42.459 Can anyone keep these people from being baptised with water? 00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:46.860 They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:52.360 So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:56.860 Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:04.840 Living in a 21st century liberal Western society, 00:06:05.139 --> 00:06:09.379 it's easy for us to miss the importance of what happens in this story. 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.319 Peter and his contemporaries would have grown up, 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:19.420 steeped in the tradition that their own people had a unique covenant relationship with God. 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:24.020 That's the story of what we refer to as the Old Testament. 00:06:24.960 --> 00:06:29.520 But Peter was there when Jesus, having risen from the dead, 00:06:29.900 --> 00:06:34.180 told his disciples to go and take the good news to all nations. 00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:38.780 And here we see that in action in the book of Acts, 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:43.280 as God's Spirit pours out among Gentile people. 00:06:44.379 --> 00:06:47.100 And so Peter tells them to go on and baptise them. 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:50.560 Traditions are overturned and new structures come into being 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.760 because God is breaking through boundaries and doing a new thing. 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:59.360 And that's what it means to be the church unleashed as an organisation. 00:07:00.200 --> 00:07:03.840 To be set free, to be ordered in a new and different way, 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:05.960 in response to what God is doing. 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:10.420 And remember this, the church is no ordinary organisation. 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:13.980 This point is well made by the evangelist J. John. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:16.680 J. John is a Church of England minister. 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:21.639 He describes how, over the years, he's found that people tend to turn off 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:23.379 when he tells them what he does for a living. 00:07:24.180 --> 00:07:27.100 So one day, he decided to try a different approach. 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:31.259 He'd just boarded a plane and settled into his seat, 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.920 which happened to be next to a complete stranger. 00:07:35.500 --> 00:07:37.360 Well, they got talking and soon enough, 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:39.920 she asked him that inevitable question. 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:41.480 So what do you do? 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:43.360 This was his answer. 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:48.540 Well, he said, I work for a global enterprise. 00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:50.140 She said, do you? 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:51.360 He said, yes, I do. 00:07:52.080 --> 00:07:55.660 We've got outlets in nearly every country of the world. 00:07:56.340 --> 00:07:57.160 She said, really? 00:07:57.720 --> 00:07:58.420 He said, yes. 00:07:58.420 --> 00:08:04.640 In fact, we've got hospitals and we've got hospices and homeless shelters. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:06.960 We do marriage work. 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:08.740 We've got orphanages. 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:13.680 We've got feeding programmes, educational programmes. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:19.240 We do all sorts of justice and reconciliation work. 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:25.060 Basically, we look after people from birth right the way through to death 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:28.879 and we deal in the area of behavioural alteration. 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:30.720 She went, wow! 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:32.039 And it was so loud. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.139 Loads of people turned around and looked at us. 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.180 She said, what's the name of your organisation? 00:08:37.179 --> 00:08:42.659 I said, it's called the church. 00:08:43.699 --> 00:08:45.000 Have you not heard of it? 00:08:47.079 --> 00:08:49.459 That, my friends, is our organisation. 00:08:49.939 --> 00:08:52.599 It's not just some collar-wearing brigade. 00:08:52.839 --> 00:08:54.459 It's all of us as Christians. 00:08:55.199 --> 00:08:58.239 And it's not an organisation that you just sign up to 00:08:58.239 --> 00:09:00.299 and hang around as some kind of spectator. 00:09:00.719 --> 00:09:03.599 If you're in it, you've got an active part to play. 00:09:04.299 --> 00:09:05.620 So let me tell you one last story. 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:11.120 As a young man, Philip was kidnapped and held hostage in Greece. 00:09:11.659 --> 00:09:13.340 And there he remained for several years. 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:16.860 During this time, he received a military education. 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:20.000 Then he returned to his homeland, 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:24.419 which had conceded many defeats and had lost much land. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.080 Within five years, though, he'd become king of that land. 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:33.740 So Philip II desperately needed his army to stand firm. 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:36.899 He's remembered for two major innovations. 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:40.600 The first is the design of a very long spear. 00:09:41.299 --> 00:09:45.600 The second is the redevelopment of a rectangular military formation 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:48.840 used by ancient armies known as a phalanx. 00:09:49.740 --> 00:09:52.299 A corps of highly trained infantrymen, 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:54.539 armed with Philip's longer spears, 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:58.139 would stand shoulder to shoulder in files, 00:09:58.259 --> 00:09:59.560 normally eight men deep. 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:03.879 As long as they stood side by side and did not break rank, 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.399 they were virtually invincible 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:08.839 and they struck fear into the hearts of their enemies. 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:13.639 Using this tactic, Philip united the city-states of Greece 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:18.019 and in 356 BC conquered the city named after him, 00:10:18.599 --> 00:10:19.619 the city of Philippi. 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:22.240 Several centuries later, 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.740 one of the first churches was founded in that city 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:27.080 and not long after, 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:29.560 St. Paul wrote a letter to that church, 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:31.779 a letter known as Philippians, 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:33.539 that became part of the New Testament. 00:10:34.100 --> 00:10:38.360 And in the 27th verse of the opening chapter of Philippians, 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:40.960 Paul urges the church in that place 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.720 to organise themselves so that they are, 00:10:43.820 --> 00:10:44.340 and I quote, 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:47.540 standing firm in one spirit, 00:10:48.100 --> 00:10:50.940 striving side by side with one mind 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:52.300 for the faith of the gospel. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:54.740 Now that's what it is to be the church 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:56.540 unleashed as an organisation, 00:10:56.820 --> 00:10:59.040 to be side by side, 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:01.180 shoulder to shoulder. 00:11:02.940 --> 00:11:04.320 Will you stand with us? 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:34.300 Will you stand with us?