WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.200 Great. Do please, if you've got a Bible, turn with me to Acts chapter 2, those famous words, 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:14.320 which I'm sure many of you know very well indeed. And then let's pray together. 00:00:17.179 --> 00:00:22.760 Heavenly Father, please would you open our eyes once again, that we might behold wonderful 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:28.960 things in your words. And by your precious Holy Spirit, please would you melt our hearts 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:36.060 and mould our wills, that we might live in humble obedience to all that we read. And in the precious 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:44.660 name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Morning everyone, I have the dubious honour of being on General Synod. 00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:50.140 It is a dubious honour, but there's one thing I like about it, it means that at least once or twice a 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:55.000 year I get to go and spend a week in London. And I love it because I get to stay in the Premier Inn 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:01.140 in Westminster. And I love the Premier Inn. I'm not being sponsored, I promise you, and yes, 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:07.239 I'm a bit of a sado. But the reason is very simple. They are very clear about their purpose. 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:17.159 Sleep easy is their tagline. They want you to sleep easy. And what I really like is their confidence 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:23.799 is in their commitment and their work to make that happen. They make a good night guarantee that if you 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:31.359 don't have a great night's sleep, they will give you your money back. So all insomniacs, go and stay 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:39.120 in the Premier Inn. But I love it because there's a company that knows what its purpose is, and it puts 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:47.700 its money where its mouth is. And it begs the question on Pentecost Sunday, often described as the birthday of 00:01:47.700 --> 00:01:56.820 the church about what is our purpose. Why is Christ's church here in Clevedon? And how confident are you 00:01:56.820 --> 00:02:04.120 that you're getting it right? Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, addressed the session of General 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:10.659 Centre five years ago and spoke clearly about what he thought the main purpose of the church was. And this 00:02:10.659 --> 00:02:18.960 is what he said. For too long, the ministry of evangelism in the church has been viewed as an 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:25.560 app on the system. I don't know what kind of apps you have on your mobile device. But some of you will 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:32.719 know that apps are simply add-ons, optional extras, suited to those with particular interests and 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:40.579 activities. As I said, for many, it seems that evangelism is just such an app, simply to be used for those 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:45.719 who are gifted, who don't mind being out of their comfort zones, who are happy talking about faith 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:52.580 with strangers, and have a clever way of explaining the mysteries of God's love. But evangelism and 00:02:52.580 --> 00:03:02.080 witness are not an app. They are the operating system itself. All Christians are witnesses of the love of 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:09.180 Jesus Christ. The Spirit comes to us precisely for this task. And as witnesses of Jesus, we then become 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:16.580 witnesses to Jesus, relaying what we have experienced and what we have known to others. 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:23.260 I remember a conversation I had many years ago before I was ordained with a vicar of a church that 00:03:23.260 --> 00:03:29.900 had grown enormously. And he said to me this, no church should ever have an outreach or mission team. 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:37.100 I was really shocked. And he explained, you see, evangelism, outreach, mission, whatever word you want to 00:03:37.099 --> 00:03:46.639 call it, bearing witness to Jesus, must permeate every part of church life. It's the reason we do what we do. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:55.639 Our greatest calling in life is to simply bear witness to Jesus and make him known to others. 00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:02.639 Therefore, he said it should be on the agenda of every single team in the church. If you're the pastoral team, 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:07.659 the worship team, the worship team, the buildings team, the discipleship team, the finance team, 00:04:07.979 --> 00:04:15.139 number one on your agenda should be, how is this making Jesus known? 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:23.740 You see, if a church was a stick of rock, and I guess there must be Clevedon sticks of rock, aren't there? 00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:29.300 If I went down to the shops, we've Clevedon put all the way through the middle. 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:36.339 What he's saying is this, is that if there was a Christchurch Clevedon stick of rock, 00:04:36.419 --> 00:04:41.519 what would be the words that went right the way through that no matter where you cut it, you would find them? 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:47.359 What Welby is saying, and which I think our passage is telling us, is this, 00:04:47.939 --> 00:04:54.000 is that witness, making Jesus known, should be the words that go from start to finish. 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:57.459 Wherever you cut this church, what will people say about it? 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.419 It is a place where they want Jesus to be known. 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:08.360 That's why, as a diocese, we've got the tagline, living and telling the story of Jesus. 00:05:08.520 --> 00:05:11.540 In fact, we used to have some sticks of rock that had that going through. 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:14.420 And yes, it's cheesy, but it's absolutely right. 00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:19.420 It ought to be right that wherever you cut this diocese, whatever meetings, 00:05:20.379 --> 00:05:23.500 boy, have I sat in some meetings over the last seven years. 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:30.839 But what should be at the heart of every meeting is living and telling the story of Jesus. 00:05:31.139 --> 00:05:33.199 That is why we're here. 00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:39.160 And the reason I say all of this is because that, I believe, is what Pentecost Sunday is all about. 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:45.959 Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, is not the Holy Spirit coming just to make us feel good, 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.980 or to give us a certain feeling or a certain experience. 00:05:49.980 --> 00:05:55.000 And then we just go home and carry on, as we did on Sunday. 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:59.420 Sorry, go on Monday and do what we do every Monday or Tuesday. 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:08.220 Now, the central feature of that day of Pentecost are people declaring the praises of God, 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:11.040 bearing witness to God's goodness. 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:14.360 That is why the Holy Spirit comes. 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:18.939 I'd love it if you'd have got your balloon, as it were. 00:06:18.939 --> 00:06:21.180 And I know you were leaking it, but if you'd have just let it go, 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:23.319 and it whizzed around the room for a while. 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:25.279 In one sense, that is why we come. 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:31.199 Not to stand still, but to get out and get on with that which Jesus has called us to. 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:39.920 You see, the occasion of Pentecost shows us that bearing witness to Jesus is the heart of the Holy Spirit's work. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:45.279 You know, the day of Pentecost was 50 days after Passover, hence Pentecost. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:51.719 It was the best attended of the great festivals because travelling conditions were at their best. 00:06:51.859 --> 00:06:58.339 There was never a more cosmopolitan gathering in Jerusalem than there was for that Pentecost celebration. 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:01.119 Literally, the whole world was there. 00:07:01.299 --> 00:07:04.179 And if you remember in Acts chapter 1, the disciples are told, 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:08.920 God, you're going to be my witness is in all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:12.000 You are going to bear witness to me to the ends of the earth. 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:17.060 And here it is amazingly, in chapter 2, the ends of the earth come to Jerusalem 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:23.439 and begin to hear this wonderful testimony of what Jesus has done in people's lives. 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:25.860 In one sense, this is just the first fruits. 00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:26.699 This is the beginning. 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:31.659 This is the kind of visual illustration of what their whole lives is about. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:34.699 Now, I brought the whole world to you on day one. 00:07:34.819 --> 00:07:41.079 Now, spend the rest of the time going out to the whole world and taking Jesus to them. 00:07:42.459 --> 00:07:45.120 And the day of Pentecost was actually a harvest festival. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.839 It was known as the Feast of First Fruits. 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:55.219 And it was emphasised by a special offering of two baked loaves made from freshly gathered wheat. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:00.199 And you'll find in Leviticus 23, they're called first fruits to the Lord. 00:08:01.479 --> 00:08:04.399 Do you see the symbolism of the day of Pentecost? 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:09.319 That those 120 who were declaring the praises of God across the world, 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:12.539 and then we read in chapter 2, 3,000 are converted. 00:08:12.539 --> 00:08:18.039 They are just the first fruits of an even greater harvest. 00:08:19.799 --> 00:08:21.439 Jesus in Matthew 9 said, 00:08:21.539 --> 00:08:22.799 Then he said to his disciples, 00:08:22.979 --> 00:08:26.399 The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 00:08:27.119 --> 00:08:31.000 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest fields. 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:33.259 It's funny, there's a lot of talk, isn't there, 00:08:33.259 --> 00:08:36.360 about the number of people going to churches and the sense of decline. 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.480 Do you think the problem is there aren't many people out there who don't know Jesus 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:43.059 who could become believers? 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:44.819 No. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:46.120 Where's the problem? 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.519 It's the number of harvesters. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:50.860 And Jesus has said, 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:55.100 It will always be the case where there's never enough harvesters for the size of harvest. 00:08:55.220 --> 00:08:58.259 Whereas I think, we think, no one really wants to know Jesus. 00:08:58.420 --> 00:09:01.100 There's tons of us sitting around here, but no one out there wants to know. 00:09:02.220 --> 00:09:03.200 That's not true. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:08.700 Jesus says there is a harvest field swaying out there, absolutely everywhere. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:14.340 The minute you walk out of this church this morning, there are people desperate to hear the news of Jesus. 00:09:14.700 --> 00:09:17.100 They may not think so, that wonderful testimony. 00:09:17.300 --> 00:09:23.759 That young lad didn't have a clue that Jesus would be the thing, the one who would turn his life around. 00:09:24.040 --> 00:09:26.280 He's not coming asking because he didn't know. 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.539 But they do. 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:30.980 I've just walked past a bowling green. 00:09:31.100 --> 00:09:33.699 I just thought, God, what a lovely thing to do on a Sunday morning. 00:09:34.199 --> 00:09:35.819 Bowling away, bowling away. 00:09:35.939 --> 00:09:40.459 Those people on that bowling green need to know Jesus Christ. 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:41.740 They don't know it yet. 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:45.379 But that's where the harvest field is swaying. 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:49.019 How will it change the way you look at where you work? 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:50.940 Or where you spend the day? 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:52.519 Or your Pilates class? 00:09:53.460 --> 00:09:55.039 If you just see it as a harvest field. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:59.919 I'm not telling you to go and be one of those really weird Christians that stands up in the middle of your Pilates class 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:03.759 and tells everyone to stop because the Lord is going to speak to them. 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:04.960 I'm not saying that at all. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:11.820 But it changes it when you walk in and realise this is the harvest field that God has placed me in. 00:10:15.400 --> 00:10:16.400 Maybe a tennis club. 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:17.420 I don't know where you hang out. 00:10:17.700 --> 00:10:21.000 But, Lord, this is the harvest field you've placed me in. 00:10:22.060 --> 00:10:23.960 What might you want me to do here? 00:10:24.060 --> 00:10:31.860 How might you, by your Holy Spirit, empower me to bear witness to you in this place, with this people right now? 00:10:31.860 --> 00:10:39.980 If the occasion of Pentecost tells us that bearing witness to Jesus is the heart of our purpose, 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:43.259 then the events of Pentecost show that too. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:46.460 The first thing we encounter is that wind. 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:51.659 Do you remember it starts as a breeze that starts to move across the room as they're praying. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.539 And then it becomes more like a violent wind. 00:10:55.019 --> 00:10:58.139 And it becomes almost like a wild tornado. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.139 I imagine that their robes are flapping absolutely everywhere. 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:04.019 The crockery is flying off the shelves. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:09.080 It's complete chaos in that room because the wind is so strong. 00:11:09.539 --> 00:11:14.000 Many of you who are far more scholarly than I will know that the Hebrew word for wind 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:18.840 and the Greek word for wind are also the same word that the Bible uses for Holy Spirit. 00:11:20.939 --> 00:11:23.779 And it immediately brings to mind that powerful image. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:25.080 Do you remember from Ezekiel? 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.439 If any of you know Ezekiel. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:30.780 Ezekiel was taken to a valley of dry bones. 00:11:31.700 --> 00:11:32.900 And the image is really sad. 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:35.780 It's a picture of God's people spiritually dead. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:37.920 They've neglected God. 00:11:38.420 --> 00:11:40.320 They've lived a religious life, yes. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:46.760 But they've lost sight actually in that religious life of the God who saved them and who loved them. 00:11:48.260 --> 00:11:51.180 And we're told that they are dead, spiritually dead. 00:11:51.260 --> 00:11:52.379 They're like dry bones. 00:11:52.379 --> 00:12:03.360 But then Ezekiel uses that word, the spirit word, the wind word, to describe a wind that begins to move across that valley 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.639 as he spoke words that God gave to him. 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:08.399 Ezekiel says this, 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:25.819 What an image that must have been. 00:12:25.959 --> 00:12:27.259 Can you imagine it? 00:12:27.299 --> 00:12:28.559 Bones beginning to clatter. 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:33.980 It would be quite a gory scene as sinews and muscles and flesh begin to form around the bones. 00:12:33.980 --> 00:12:41.100 And the Holy Spirit breathes life into those dead people and creates a mighty army. 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:47.700 Pentecost is the moment when God raises up his army. 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:53.560 Now army is a difficult word sometimes used, get too militaristic about it. 00:12:53.620 --> 00:12:58.779 But it is the moment when God raises up a spirit-filled, joy-filled people. 00:12:58.920 --> 00:13:01.440 Not because they're great people in themselves. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.159 No, because they were dead. 00:13:03.980 --> 00:13:07.420 Without the Holy Spirit, we are dead. 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:11.560 We are just clattering bones lying on the ground. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:16.200 But by his grace, Jesus steps into our lives. 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:18.759 And by his Holy Spirit, he revives us. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:22.680 And he's made us into a powerful group of people. 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:24.480 Now we may not feel like it. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:27.580 I often don't feel like it. 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:30.840 When I read the newspapers, it makes me feel even less powerful. 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:37.279 Because what the newspapers tell me is that we are a weak, stupid bunch of people who turn up to church. 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:39.480 And we're all a bit irrelevant these days. 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:45.399 And of course, sometimes we give people a good reason to think we're irrelevant. 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.659 Because we sometimes are pretty dried up. 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:50.620 Pretty unexcited. 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:57.399 We don't look like we've been raised up to be this excited, spirit-filled group of people. 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:01.919 And I'm looking around the room and some of you don't look massively thrilled that you are filled with the Spirit. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.139 So we're not a great advertisement. 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:11.120 So I'm not asking you to go and put on that kind of cheesy Christian smile. 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:11.879 But you know what I mean. 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:18.740 We can feel, oh, this feels hard work being a witness to Jesus. 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:25.460 But the Spirit turns us into a powerful army of people who now can go out there. 00:14:26.939 --> 00:14:31.200 A group of people where the life of God is pulsing through our veins. 00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:35.000 We're not doing it as limp, lifeless people on our own. 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.820 We're doing it because the Spirit of God inhabits us. 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:40.659 And then there's that image of fire. 00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:45.179 And in Jewish history, fire was symbolic of the very presence of God himself. 00:14:45.319 --> 00:14:46.319 Do you remember the burning bush? 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:50.159 As Moses encounters the presence of the living God and speaks with him. 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:54.519 Do you remember the fiery pillar that led the people of Israel through the deserts? 00:14:55.199 --> 00:15:00.399 And perhaps supremely, you remember the events that happened as the people of God gathered at Mount Sinai. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:08.679 We're told that at Mount Sinai it was covered in smoke because the Lord descended on it in fire. 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:12.339 Can you imagine being there at Sinai? 00:15:12.719 --> 00:15:17.459 What it was like for Moses to go up there with the fire of God's presence coming down. 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:19.159 Well, guess what? 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:26.819 Pentecost was the moment when they, it was like an anniversary of that moment when God came and met his people on Mount Sinai. 00:15:26.820 --> 00:15:31.060 That's what they'd have thought on Pentecost. 00:15:31.180 --> 00:15:31.580 Wow. 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:37.460 Here is the presence of God, just as he did in Moses' day, coming down in our day. 00:15:38.040 --> 00:15:40.180 And he's not just coming down on the mountain. 00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:46.780 He's coming down on each individual as each individual has that flame appearing on their heads. 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:52.379 What it's saying is this, is that God is now present in his people. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:02.139 Do you know what a bizarre thought that, I don't know how many of you work, or maybe you go to a WI or, as I say, a Pilates class. 00:16:02.839 --> 00:16:07.939 I wonder how many people in that room realise that God walks into that room the moment you walk into that room. 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:11.120 That's weird, isn't it? 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:18.639 But the moment you walk into that room, they begin to encounter the living God by his Holy Spirit. 00:16:21.539 --> 00:16:26.440 Now that suddenly changes how you do your down dog or whatever it is in your Pilates class, doesn't it? 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:32.100 Paul goes on to describe how we are the aroma of Christ. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:34.759 Do you remember, I'm old enough to remember the Bisto ads. 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:36.360 Do you remember the Bisto ads? 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:39.620 The, ah, Bisto. 00:16:39.620 --> 00:16:41.840 As they kind of catch the smell. 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:44.799 What do people smell? 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:48.159 I was about to say, what do people smell on you when you go to your Pilates class? 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:48.759 But you know what I mean. 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:52.460 What is the aroma you give off? 00:16:54.019 --> 00:16:57.320 Is it the aroma of God's presence and God's spirit? 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:00.639 When you leave the room, do people go, wow. 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.640 This has been better for that person being here. 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:07.779 I'm so glad you're around. 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:12.779 It's interesting today that Jürgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool. 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:16.279 And everyone speaks so highly of him. 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:18.680 I'm sure it's because he's a great manager, but he's also a Christian. 00:17:18.839 --> 00:17:25.660 There's something that says to me, I wonder if there isn't something of the aroma of Christ that people have sniffed around Jürgen Klopp. 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:26.399 I don't know. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:32.560 How do the words that we say and the actions? 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:35.220 That's what I love about that testimony. 00:17:35.840 --> 00:17:39.400 It's not that suddenly you have to be brilliant at going and standing on the street corner. 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:43.240 Or having conversations that feel ridiculously unnatural. 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:50.019 But it is that when faced with a difficult situation, you say, let's bring Jesus to the centre of this situation. 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:52.019 Let's pray. 00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:53.119 Let's have faith. 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:53.920 Let's trust. 00:17:54.359 --> 00:17:56.500 That's what the Holy Spirit allows us to do. 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:06.019 To believe that Jesus can be absolutely present at the heart of the normal things and the difficult things that we're facing day in, day out. 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:10.379 And then finally there are those utterances. 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:19.059 As everyone in the crowd is enabled to speak the words and the deeds of God in a language that everybody else in the crowd can hear. 00:18:19.180 --> 00:18:24.160 You see, up to now, proclaiming God's word has been a specialist task. 00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:25.779 It was the prophets. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:32.099 Certain particular people at certain particular times, the Holy Spirit came on them and enabled them to speak. 00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:38.779 But Peter, in that explanation, as he tries to explain all these extraordinary things that are happening, says this. 00:18:40.139 --> 00:18:47.139 He says, the Holy Spirit has come so that everyone can have a voice to speak of the goodness of God. 00:18:47.259 --> 00:18:51.639 No matter what your gender, no matter what age, no matter what your standing in life. 00:18:52.139 --> 00:18:55.259 I'm pouring out my spirits on every single one. 00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:56.759 People that didn't used to have a voice. 00:18:56.879 --> 00:18:57.639 You're young women. 00:18:58.899 --> 00:19:00.240 Young women weren't listening to you. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.819 Oh no, now they speak the word of God. 00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:06.059 You're old women. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:07.559 Yeah, people didn't listen to them either. 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:11.980 Oh, but now they're the ones who are going to speak the word of God. 00:19:12.380 --> 00:19:15.779 People will hear of the good news of Christ through them. 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:16.099 Why? 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:18.339 Verse 21. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:23.019 So that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:23.460 Do you see? 00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:23.480 Do you see? 00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:30.400 The whole point of Pentecost is that people hear the voice of God. 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:32.319 They hear the good news of Jesus. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:36.180 And they respond and find salvation. 00:19:36.819 --> 00:19:39.960 And it happens through you and through me. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.259 I'm afraid, my friends, we are plan A and there is no plan B. 00:19:44.259 --> 00:19:49.500 Clive is about to leave. 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:51.339 I'm about to leave. 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.319 I find that churches get a bit jumpy when vicars leave. 00:19:55.420 --> 00:19:57.079 They think, ooh, what's going to happen now? 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:58.619 My friends, you've got the Holy Spirit. 00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:00.180 You don't need Clive. 00:20:00.180 --> 00:20:05.759 Is that true, Clive? 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:09.360 The head of the church has gone nowhere. 00:20:09.620 --> 00:20:11.580 Jesus is still the head of his church. 00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:14.340 God is still here, present. 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:16.640 Now, of course, you will miss Clive. 00:20:16.900 --> 00:20:19.420 And of course, it will be a different church going forward. 00:20:20.539 --> 00:20:22.980 But it won't collapse because Clive goes, 00:20:23.060 --> 00:20:24.920 because the Holy Spirit is here. 00:20:25.259 --> 00:20:26.100 Do you believe that? 00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:29.420 Nothing needs to change. 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:32.080 You've got everything you need 00:20:32.080 --> 00:20:35.060 to be the church God has called you to be. 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:36.980 No matter who's the vicar, 00:20:37.100 --> 00:20:38.460 no matter who's the archdeacon, 00:20:38.900 --> 00:20:39.500 it doesn't matter. 00:20:40.299 --> 00:20:42.279 It's rather humbling for us to discover that. 00:20:43.340 --> 00:20:44.400 But it's true. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:45.460 Amen.