WEBVTT 00:00:00.860 --> 00:00:07.160 Morning, Saints. Shall we pray together? Let's pray. Father God, would you come because you 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:15.099 are all in all. You are the one to whom we give thanks. We are so grateful, Lord, for 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:23.219 your purposes in our lives. So, Holy Spirit, would you come and would you open us more 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:29.379 and more to your purposes so in order that we can be grateful and give thanks and praise 00:00:29.379 --> 00:00:37.899 to you in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I'm sure that was so, as we shared with each other, that was just a 00:00:37.899 --> 00:00:43.159 partial list of the things and how we express thanks and how we give thanks and how we're grateful 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:50.320 for the things that God has given us and the things that we have shared. And as we continue to explore 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:58.859 this theme of being grateful, we ask this morning, how grateful are we are to him, our God, for the 00:00:58.859 --> 00:01:06.099 outworking of his purposes in our lives. But not only just in our lives, but giving thanks and 00:01:06.099 --> 00:01:13.000 grateful for the outworking of God's life in others around us as well. And you may have already or want 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:19.099 to start making the list. Maybe you're listing already of those things for which you are grateful, 00:01:19.539 --> 00:01:26.719 because that's a good place to start. But you may have noticed that in Isaiah 55, we are told from God 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:34.319 very clearly that my thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are your ways my ways. And I say, 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:41.920 praise God for that. Thank you, Lord, because I don't know about you, but God must really struggle 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:48.039 with some of my plans and purposes. The same is probably yours as well. And maybe that's something 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:55.700 we need to be grateful for too, because he graciously puts them on hold, certainly in my case, 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:03.160 or I'm so pleased sometimes when he just gives them a miss. And I think the Christian fridge magnet 00:02:03.160 --> 00:02:08.759 business would have lost thousands of pounds without that theme from Jeremiah. 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:15.319 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:22.120 to give you hope and a future. It's a great verse. It's hugely encouraging. And yes, we say, 00:02:22.419 --> 00:02:30.639 Amen, Lord. Yes, your purposes prosper your plans, Lord. I am so grateful. But please, 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:38.919 they are your plans and they're in tune with my plans and your good and perfect will. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.479 Does that resonate with anyone else? Yeah, I can see a few people being honest and nodding. 00:02:46.079 --> 00:02:53.119 So in the planning and prospering business, how do we discern what is good and God's perfect will 00:02:53.120 --> 00:03:00.900 for our life? Well, obviously, the Word of God in the Bible is essential. Being filled with the Holy 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:08.200 Spirit, being in tune with what he has for us, prayer, our character, our discipleship life, 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:15.580 listening and being in tune with him. Now, don't, but don't get me wrong here. I love God's plans and 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:22.819 purposes. I really do. And I am extremely grateful for many of them. Mandy, my children, 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:31.939 you, my church community, my dog, our outreach, the wider family, the list goes on and on. But we can 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:42.939 get a bit ungrateful, can't we, when his plans and purposes don't sit well with us or didn't fit in 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:50.719 with our own personal plan and purposes. You know, I'm still getting over the fact they didn't ask me to 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:58.319 be a bishop or the arch. No, I am only joking. That is not one of my plans. But seriously, for many 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:07.039 listening here, I have seen people who sadly have jettisoned or struggled with God when their own 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:14.840 personal plans didn't prosper or didn't work out the way they expected them to. And that's tough. 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:21.420 Maybe a relationship that didn't work out. Maybe a loved one who went home to be with the Lord far 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:28.180 too soon than we expected or thought. An unexpected financial issue that came up and hit you, a loss 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:35.759 of a job. Maybe a child that you had nurtured and loved all the way through their life, only to be 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:42.959 disappointed to see them walk away from the Lord. You see, sometimes it's tough to be grateful 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:52.139 and to fathom where God's purposes fit in our life, which we know can be filled with wilderness moments. 00:04:54.180 --> 00:05:03.060 Probably because, if I'm being honest, we like God on our terms, don't we? You know, I prayed this, 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:11.959 Lord, why didn't you deliver? We all have our stories. We all have our stories. Ours that jump to mind 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:20.039 and was sensing God's will for us to sell our house when we went into ordained ministry. 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:29.799 You know, it was madness. Absolute financial madness as well. And I said, you know, you say to the Lord, 00:05:29.859 --> 00:05:35.179 is this really part of your deal? Is this really got to be this way? Is this your purposes? 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:43.579 Because if this is your good and perfect will, God, I don't see it at the moment because it doesn't feel 00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:54.500 right. And the Lord said, yes, sell the house. Are you sure? It was a little bit stronger than that. 00:05:54.500 --> 00:06:02.459 You know I'm taking a huge financial hit, don't you, Lord? Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. But we've done 00:06:02.459 --> 00:06:08.759 everything else, but why the house? Well, where does that fit into your purposes? I just don't see that. 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:17.519 Surely you could leave us that. No, the house has to go. Do you know what? I didn't see God's purposes 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:23.060 in that. And I certainly wasn't grateful. And I told him so several times. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:33.919 Fast forward two years. Fast forward two years into curacy. It was on a Tuesday lunchtime. It was in 00:06:33.919 --> 00:06:40.799 Wells Cathedral. I am there with my tray, getting my lunch. Well, I'm suddenly aware of somebody stood 00:06:40.799 --> 00:06:47.019 beside me. And it turned out that it was a colleague from a department that I worked with many, many years 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:53.759 ago that I'm not allowed to mention. And he was very kindly stood beside me. And I said, 00:06:53.859 --> 00:07:01.120 what are you doing here? And he said, I'm just passing through. I said, that's a load of rubbish. 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:06.359 I said, passing through? If I didn't know better, you were here to bump me for a job. And he said, 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:10.039 I am. You shouldn't leave your phone on. I always know where to find you. 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:19.879 And with that, he offered me the most fantastic job. Back with what I was doing. But very, 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:24.879 do you know what? At that point, I saw God's purpose as to why we sold the house. 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:29.720 Because there was no going back. There was only going forward. 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:37.620 Isn't it interesting how God prospers us sometimes by showing us the things that have to go in order 00:07:37.620 --> 00:07:44.700 for us to move forward? We don't often see sometimes the reason for his planning, you know? 00:07:46.460 --> 00:07:55.120 I think there's a tension here in our consumerist society that we expect in some cases, demand, 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:01.340 and expect that his purposes are on our terms. And maybe we really need to look at that when we 00:08:01.340 --> 00:08:06.680 think about being grateful. You know, Lord, I'm grateful for your purposes, but they don't always 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:12.060 have to fit with mine. Somehow his church, I believe, often loses sight of that, that we're called to 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:17.800 serve him in his kingdom purposes, to give thanks and praise to him, even when that seems uncomfortable. 00:08:18.819 --> 00:08:24.240 And you may be experiencing that at the moment, or at times that seems slightly bizarre or 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:33.960 challenging. Why this way, Lord? I just don't see it. Here, Paul is writing to a newly gathered group 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:40.460 of followers, a new church, a new church and a people that are seeking God's purposes. 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:46.899 They're looking, they're not really sure of the way, yet it would seem at odds are stacked against them 00:08:46.899 --> 00:08:52.740 because of the situation in which they've been placed. And that's why Paul starts in our reading today, 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:59.899 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:07.039 supreme over all creation. Why did he remind them of that? Because we need to know that God is first 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:16.039 and central in all things because we focus on him. Once we take our focus off of that, then we lose 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:22.659 directions and we can often struggle with what his purposes are. You know, don't get diverted because 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:28.240 if you do, you will struggle to discern not only what is God's good and perfect will, 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:34.100 but also the community that you're called to serve. Why does Paul state this to the Colossians? 00:09:34.459 --> 00:09:41.219 Why does he need to state what seems so obvious to us? Well, it's not far away from where we are today 00:09:41.219 --> 00:09:48.980 because they are in danger of wavering and under pressure and at risk of failing to grasp and embrace 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:55.899 God's purposes for them. These new Colossian followers are being confronted by mid-eastern 00:09:55.899 --> 00:10:03.920 astrology, lingering Jewish traditions, a plethora of Greek gods and goddesses and a Roman empire that 00:10:03.920 --> 00:10:11.500 sought to control and dominate. Some in their following in the early church were even stating that they 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:17.980 believed that Christ was just one in a chain of holy beings that would lead to God. So no wonder 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:26.980 Paul has to remind them to put God front and centre. This is it. Don't get diverted. Put Jesus front and 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:34.360 centre. For through him, God created everything in the heavenly realms on earth. He made the things we see, 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:42.200 but he also made the things we can't see. We're not going to see it all. Sometimes we have to rely 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:49.620 and trust on his purposes. Everything was created through him and for him before even Caesar and the 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:58.680 stars. This is it. This is it, new church. He existed before anything else. He holds it all together. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:08.280 Christ is the head of the church. He is the head. Look to him. He is the beginning. For God in his fullness 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:13.860 was pleased to live in Christ. This new church wasn't making long-term plans. 00:11:15.259 --> 00:11:19.639 You know, the lifespan of a Christian under Christian rule and Jewish influence wasn't 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:26.679 something you planned too far ahead. Believe me, it knocks our plans into a top hat. 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:37.359 You know, maybe in our safe westernized Christian view, we have lost the courage, the urgency and the 00:11:37.359 --> 00:11:46.899 passion of the moment by trying to plan ahead. Paul lived on the edge in and out of prison for his 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:54.799 teaching and faith. He knew God's purposes, but it was very much day to day. Preach the gospel, 00:11:54.799 --> 00:12:02.699 grow communities of faith, encourage, teach, empower and play, but be honest, we don't know all of God's 00:12:02.699 --> 00:12:12.759 purposes. We don't know God's purposes for us in that great journey from salvation through life to the 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:21.019 glory that is waiting for us. I sense Paul is saying to me in the scripture, put Jesus front and center 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:28.559 in all you do. But please don't make too many concrete plans because they may not align themselves 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:40.319 with my purposes for you and I may need a bit of flexibility. Or your plans just mean you've missed my 00:12:40.319 --> 00:12:48.439 purpose. Every corporation that you might have been in, do maybe look to do a five-year plan. 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:53.760 Oh, this is our five-year plan. This is what we're going to do. I don't know whether you've been part of 00:12:53.760 --> 00:12:59.540 that. You know, two years in, have a look and see whether that's still right. Because things change. 00:12:59.920 --> 00:13:06.360 Every things, you can't set things in concrete. Yet you and I know how sadly our plans can be 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:13.380 interrupted by life. And again and again, we have to come back to him and ask again and again, 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:19.360 what's your plan and purpose in this situation, Lord? What are you doing? What are you showing me? 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:25.019 What do you want me to do? For those things, I need to be grateful. And along with many, I'm sensing 00:13:25.019 --> 00:13:29.899 that this church, especially in the West, maybe need to re-engage with that afresh, especially in 00:13:29.899 --> 00:13:36.240 some areas where we need to turn back to Jesus, to God's word, to drop some of the inherited, 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:46.519 traditional baggage and seek God's purposes afresh, where we have in some ways become comfortably 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:54.080 complacent and self-seeking, to seek him afresh and be grateful of his purposes. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:14:06.220 We haven't been to tomorrow, but God has. Love you to walk away with that. We haven't been to tomorrow 00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:15.680 yet, but he has. Paul encourages this early church and ourselves to put God up front and center and 00:14:15.680 --> 00:14:23.780 trust him in the tomorrow. One minute, they're giving thanks as the people in the Bible. People had to 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:30.079 trust and follow God's purposes. You know your Bible. You've read it, whether you're new to the Bible 00:14:30.079 --> 00:14:36.379 or you've been reading it all your life. You will know that God's purposes again and again are lived 00:14:36.379 --> 00:14:42.559 out, not in the way in which his people expected them. You know, here we have Moses. He's led his 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:51.279 people out of freedom, out of slavery to freedom. Whoopee! We're there! What a great day that was. 00:14:51.279 --> 00:15:00.279 And where are we? Now we're in the desert. You know, it's hard sometimes to fathom God's purposes day by day. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:07.659 And then there was Joshua. Joshua didn't know what God would do, but he trusted in God's purposes. 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:14.959 And in seeking God's purposes, he realized that they had to be ready. They had to be ready to fulfill 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:23.500 whatever God's purposes were for them. He told the people, purify yourself. In modern day terms, 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:29.580 it's get yourself ready. Get yourself right with God because you don't know what's coming tomorrow. 00:15:30.680 --> 00:15:35.379 Yeah, okay, they went through all the rituals, but for us today, get yourself ready with God. What does 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:41.379 that look like? Clean hands, pure heart, putting yourself right with God day by day because we don't 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:47.200 know what tomorrow comes. Why? Because we want to fulfill God's purposes that have not yet been fully 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:55.200 disclosed. So how do you get ready for what God's purposes might be? Stay close to Jesus. Stay close 00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:03.939 to him. That lovely rabbinic thing, which I just love, be covered by the dust of your rabbi. Stay so close 00:16:03.940 --> 00:16:09.920 that you will be covered by everything that he has for you. And as we individually as a gathered 00:16:09.920 --> 00:16:17.260 people of God make it ready, we need to be ready in case suddenly God decides to bring revival. 00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:25.900 You know, the chaos, the sheer numbers. Joshua told his people to be ready. The most important thing is 00:16:25.900 --> 00:16:31.800 to get our hearts right with him because his purpose tomorrow may be to do a radically new thing. 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:41.839 The most important thing we think, do you anticipate, are we expectant of seeing God's purposes? 00:16:43.079 --> 00:16:48.339 Do you wake up in the morning and think, oh, it's a new day. What's God going to do? 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:54.319 What it must have been like to be a disciple to wake up in the morning and think, what are we going to 00:16:54.319 --> 00:17:00.120 see today? What's he going to do? Can I see people healed? Can I see people rolling up their mat, 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:05.579 walking away? What's going to happen? What's Jesus going to say? What's this excitement that we should 00:17:05.579 --> 00:17:11.660 have? You know, lived out in our lives and the lives of this church. If we do, if we are serious, 00:17:11.660 --> 00:17:18.039 then we need to be ready in prayer. See you tomorrow evening, 7.30. 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:25.960 You know, praying in our home groups, praying together, praying individually, 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:32.680 being ready for whatever God may be doing. I meet people who tell me their church is boring. 00:17:34.360 --> 00:17:39.700 If you meet people who think their church fellowship is boring, can I suggest that they 00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:46.259 aren't alert, expectant, and getting ready and preparing for God's purposes amongst them? 00:17:47.100 --> 00:17:54.000 Because that's the way we should be. Ready, expected, excitement for what the next thing is going to be. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:02.579 Yes, I hear the excuses. We tried that once. We haven't the resources. We haven't the money. 00:18:02.940 --> 00:18:09.079 We haven't time. There isn't enough of us. We haven't done this since three vicars ago. 00:18:10.859 --> 00:18:18.619 Often we are called to prepare ourselves so God can use us. We need to step up and step out 00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:26.119 and enter into his purposes. Joshua was leading his people to the promised land. That's what he'd been 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:32.399 told to do. You know, that was God's purpose. He told the people to purify themselves, to get ready. 00:18:32.739 --> 00:18:38.979 They didn't know what was coming. They just knew that they were going somewhere. And it was God. 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:47.500 The river Jordan was in full flood. It seemed an impossible hurdle to get two million people 00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:58.500 to the other side. Joshua knew God's purpose, but not the way. We read it in hindsight. He didn't know. 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:05.500 You know, are the waters going to part again? Will he ask us to build a bridge? Will he ask us to build 00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:12.819 some marks? Joshua didn't know. He had no idea how God was going to do it, but he knew that he would. 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:19.119 I think we need to hear that this morning as we give thanks for the great things that he has done 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:25.000 in our lives. That God will do it. The people knew that God was going before them. 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:31.279 You have done this before. You will do it again, Lord. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:38.980 You've done it before, and you will do it again. Maybe we need to hear that on the days that we 00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:46.779 become ungrateful. God, you have done this before, and I know you will do it again. Probably not in the 00:19:46.779 --> 00:19:53.639 way we expect, but you will do it. He has done great things. He does great things, and he will do great 00:19:53.640 --> 00:20:01.300 things. I often marvel, as you probably do, at the Welsh revivals in 1904 and 1905. You know, 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:08.000 evangelical and Pentecostal churches in many countries have grown out of that and are still 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:16.100 growing because of that great move of God. David Lloyd George, in one of his speeches before 1904, 00:20:16.100 --> 00:20:22.740 said, the material conditions of this country will not improve until there comes a spiritual awakening, 00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:30.599 and I charge you ministers with the responsibility of promoting and fostering such a revival. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:40.960 Wow. A move of the Holy Spirit that seized people's attention. The Holy Spirit lit a beacon in those 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:46.720 places where people met early in the morning. They met light at night. They opened God's Word. They read. 00:20:46.819 --> 00:20:51.900 There was lights in villages, in little places where people met during the day, where they gathered 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:59.580 together. Churches overflowed. Chapels overflowed in this great movement. People came to faith. Crime 00:20:59.580 --> 00:21:05.660 rate dropped. People were singing praises on their way to the pit, in the pit, and on their way back to 00:21:05.660 --> 00:21:11.400 the pit. Communities were transformed. People were sent all over the world. One commentary reads, 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:18.660 perhaps one of the most important lessons we need to learn from 1904 revival is that good as we are at 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:26.460 arranging new strategies and structures for our churches. We cannot arrange a revival. It's down to 00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:37.900 God and us being ready to respond. And we can and should be prepared for it. For when God sees the right 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:43.300 time is right, we must respond by ensuring that it reaches out in society. Many of us will remember 00:21:43.299 --> 00:21:54.119 recently, 2023 in March, I was glued to the television for the Asprey revival. This community 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:59.919 that started off in a college where they just started off praying and then it just didn't stop. 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:07.960 It just went. People came. I was riveted to watch people walk in through a door to come down, 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:14.240 to stand there who had had very little contact at all and give their life to Christ, clearly impacted 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:22.720 by the Holy Spirit. We want more of that? Everybody's nodding for the podcast. 00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:29.819 And I hope you're nodding at home. Grateful for God working his purpose. This is a God who can do it 00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:36.620 and do it again. Do it again, Lord, we pray. Make us ready. Make us ready. Keep us watchful. 00:22:36.619 --> 00:22:43.719 Keep us grateful. Keep us thankful. Keep us doing. When Joshua and the people of God were faced with 00:22:43.719 --> 00:22:50.899 the river, they had to cross. The Lord asked the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, 00:22:51.479 --> 00:22:59.819 those who were leading, to have faith and purpose. They had to step into the water before they knew 00:22:59.819 --> 00:23:06.059 God's purpose. That's what the Lord asked them. Not to stand on the back, bang, and say, 00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:15.139 oh, it seems a bit too cold. Or has anybody done a risk assessment? He asked them to actually step 00:23:15.139 --> 00:23:20.539 into the water. Once they had been faithful and stepped into the water, that's when they parted. 00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:31.379 And sometimes it takes for us to actually respond to God's call, to step into his purposes for us, 00:23:31.619 --> 00:23:38.619 to step in. And then the Lord reveals what he wants to do, because he knows we're willing, 00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:44.359 and he knows we're ready. And they were grateful. It says the people were grateful. I think that's a 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:49.159 bit of an understatement. I think if I had the waters apart in front of me in 2000, two million people 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:54.640 walked over. I think I'd generally be happy if you know the saving power of Jesus in your life, 00:23:55.360 --> 00:24:02.540 then you will know what that gratefulness means. The same as they did. Because we often take that 00:24:02.540 --> 00:24:10.019 for granted, don't we? The saving power of God in our lives is something that we put front and centre 00:24:10.019 --> 00:24:17.960 day by day by day to give thanks to him. God's purpose doesn't have to be huge, but often when we 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:26.579 respond, it ripples out. I had a picture this week that was given to us, Ezekiel 47. The temple had been 00:24:26.579 --> 00:24:37.600 desecrated, but there was a trickle of water that came from the temple. And that trickle, in theory, 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:43.299 should have dried up, but it didn't. In this picture that Ezekiel had, it turned into a river, 00:24:43.299 --> 00:24:51.500 it turned into more, and then it turned into a flood. Never underestimate what God's purpose is 00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:57.879 for each and every one of us, because often it starts like a trickle. We don't know the purpose 00:24:57.879 --> 00:25:03.700 of what God's going to do, because we've started something and responded to his call. Maybe that 00:25:03.700 --> 00:25:08.359 might be asking somebody to come here. It might be asking somebody to come to a group. It might be 00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:13.639 spending time with them. It might be sacrifice. Whatever that purpose is that God's given you, 00:25:13.779 --> 00:25:19.599 it's a trickle. And we may not even know until eternity what that flood looks like, 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:29.099 that we've started. It grows out and grows big. There's a film currently doing the rounds. It's 00:25:29.099 --> 00:25:34.959 called One Life. I don't know whether you've seen it. And it's the story of Sir Nicholas Winton, 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:44.799 who was responsible for the famously known Kindertransport. It rescued 669 Jewish children 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:53.720 from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia at the brink of World War II. Most of the children never saw their 00:25:53.720 --> 00:26:03.519 parents again. They were either murdered or moved to concentration camps. In 1988, Esther Ransson 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:14.859 invited him to a studio where he sat and they celebrated what he had done. Unbeknowing to him, 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:24.339 most of the audience were the adults, which were children, that he'd saved. A trickle turns into a 00:26:24.339 --> 00:26:33.500 flood. What a beautiful moment. Sometimes the trickle turns into a river and turns into 00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:40.099 a flood. I would imagine that's only a fraction of the people that owe their life to Sir Nicholas 00:26:40.099 --> 00:26:49.299 Winton. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. This morning, as we think about God's purpose, 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:57.339 let's rededicate ourselves to God's purpose and be grateful. To share our gratitude with him and with 00:26:57.339 --> 00:27:04.480 others. To make God's purposes central to our discipleship. Should we ask for that openness 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:13.359 afresh? Should we ask for that again this morning? Almost that getting ready again. Lord, yet we know 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:20.339 your plans, we know your purposes, but actually truly we do want to be ready and we want to rededicate 00:27:20.339 --> 00:27:27.899 ourselves to you. Should we do that? Should we ask for the courage maybe to step out into his purposes? 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:37.199 To step into that place where things happen because he wants them to happen? To a God who can and will. 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:45.759 And we pray that prayer, that ancient prayer, that simple prayer, but that powerful prayer of come Holy Spirit. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:52.740 Lord, should we just do that now together? Maybe you just want to hold out your hands. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:58.440 Maybe you just want to put your hands together, however you feel you want to kneel. 00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:02.779 Not if you're driving on the podcast. 00:28:04.619 --> 00:28:09.259 Make us ready, Lord. Holy Spirit, would you come and prepare us? 00:28:09.259 --> 00:28:17.879 Lord, we're aware that we may need to ask for any barriers to fall. 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:21.359 To fulfill your purposes in us and through us. 00:28:22.940 --> 00:28:26.640 Skepticism, doubt, resistance. 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:30.879 The question of how can you use me? 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:41.100 The defeatist language, Lord, that the evil one gives us if we're too old or we're too young or we're not equipped. 00:28:45.100 --> 00:28:48.420 I haven't been a Christian for long, so how can you use me? 00:28:53.500 --> 00:28:56.460 Maybe that thing is I haven't given my life to you, Lord. 00:28:58.380 --> 00:28:59.400 Then do it now. 00:28:59.400 --> 00:28:59.460 Now. 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:04.280 In the simplicity of the moment, just give your life to him. 00:29:04.840 --> 00:29:06.660 Or rededicate your life to him. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:20.600 And ask for a fresh filling of his Holy Spirit that enables, empowers, enthuses, excites, and stirs up the gifts in us to make us ready. 00:29:26.220 --> 00:29:29.260 Maybe just in the stillness you want to use a single word. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:32.460 To be grateful to God. 00:29:36.020 --> 00:29:45.860 Maybe he's showing you things where there is a purpose that he has for you which maybe he desperately wants you to engage with. 00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:53.360 Maybe he needs you to cut away from the thing that's holding you back from that. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:54.359 Maybe he's seeking his purpose. 00:29:54.359 --> 00:30:03.799 Maybe he's seeking his purpose to lead others to him. 00:30:03.799 --> 00:30:03.819 Maybe he's seeking his purpose to lead others to him. 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:07.779 Lord, Lord, we're so grateful for his purpose. 00:30:07.779 --> 00:30:08.879 Holy Spirit, come. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:14.079 Lord, we are so grateful for your purposes and thankful. 00:30:15.180 --> 00:30:16.259 Would you make us ready? 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:18.940 Would you make our ways clear? 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.619 Would you give us boldness and courage? 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:26.039 Would you soften hearts and strength and wills? 00:30:27.940 --> 00:30:31.119 Lord, would we see others coming into relationship with you? 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:38.479 Lord, would you move the trickle in our life into a flood for your purposes, we pray. 00:30:39.479 --> 00:30:40.719 In Jesus' name.