WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.359 Well, good morning. So, Isabel, my daughter, set the tone for this morning, and she said, 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:14.259 ! If you see me falling asleep, that's a sign that you're doing very badly in your tone. 00:00:14.339 --> 00:00:21.519 So I thought, you know, she has a spirit of encouragement. When I sat down to prepare for this morning, 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:28.679 I don't know why, but I had this inkling, and I just put into artificial intelligence, so 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:35.359 chat GBT, a creator preach on this parable of the mustard seed. I wondered what would come up, 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:43.280 and as it did it so well, I'm going to use that. No, I'm not. And here it is, and it's interesting, 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:46.879 because you look at it and think, that might be quite a nice prompt for a personal Bible study, 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:53.159 but the thing that's missing from it is the Holy Spirit. And so this morning, we need God to speak 00:00:53.159 --> 00:01:00.719 to us, to reveal truth to us, to meet with us personally with what we need, and that miracle 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:07.000 of how God can touch us personally in a talk that's for everybody. And so let's pray for that. Lord, 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:13.019 we give you this morning, we give you this next few minutes, and ask that you would meet with us all. 00:01:13.019 --> 00:01:20.140 You would speak to us, bring the encouragement, bring that healing, help that laying down of shame 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:26.939 or pain. And we pray, Father, for an encounter and a revelation of you, your love, and your truth, 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:37.899 as we just wait on you this morning. Amen. So I look at this first, and when Jesus says, 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:44.400 what should we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable is used to describe it, I find it so 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:50.400 interesting that Jesus is trying to sort of breathe life into the disciples' understanding of what the 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:57.380 kingdom of God is, and if they need that, then so do we. And there's a story here, they've got a 00:01:57.380 --> 00:02:05.100 familiar story of small seeds becoming really large plants, incredible growth, something kind of 00:02:05.099 --> 00:02:12.159 powerful and supernatural in that. And I love it in the message version where it says, creates plants so 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:19.159 big that eagles can sit in the branches of the tree, and that's a pretty big tree that can do that. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:26.699 And so this metaphor of growth about the smallest thing becoming the greatest repeats in Scripture. And we 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:33.579 see in Matthew, this seed is planted in a field. In Luke, it's in the garden here with markets in the 00:02:33.580 --> 00:02:41.560 ground. But the same story of supernatural growth and expansion. And if you stand back and look a bit 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:46.580 further ahead of what Margaret read to us this morning, there's a narrative of the sowing of the 00:02:46.580 --> 00:02:54.780 seed, a seed that lands on hard ground and is eaten, the seed that is dried up or is blocked by wheat, 00:02:54.900 --> 00:03:02.800 or the seed that lands on fertile ground and then grows. And so this is really part of the same story 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:12.580 here about our journey, our fruitfulness, our growth in God. So I see that commentators on these verses 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:21.080 reference this growth of this plant to being really the story of Jesus, rather than being what much the 00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:29.120 Jewish population wanted at that time, a king, a battle chief, to come in and rid them of the oppressive 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:35.640 Romans and to be kingly and bring kingship and control and leadership to the population, that 00:03:35.640 --> 00:03:45.800 actually it is this surprising, different revelation of the Messiah as a relational encounter of the 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:54.099 growth of the church over time, sort of quietly growing and expanding and not stopping. And so there's 00:03:54.099 --> 00:04:00.680 something very powerful here as we look further back to chapter, to verse 6. Jesus says, the growth 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:06.599 of the kingdom is like a seed thrown into a field by a man who does not go to, who goes to bed and 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:13.819 forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows, he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it without all 00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:20.399 his help. Then what came to mind for me when I read that was John 15 and Jesus talking about, 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:29.939 I am the vine, my father is the gardener. As you remain in you, you will produce much fruit. And we 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:37.239 can hear this story of organic growth when we're connected into God. And this being linked so strongly 00:04:37.239 --> 00:04:44.539 to our spiritual growth as well. I'm going to read two more verses in Jeremiah 17, 8. He would be like a 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:51.319 tree planted by the water that sends its roots into the stream. It does not fear when heat comes. Its leaves 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:58.800 are always green. It has no worry in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. And then in Psalm 92, 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:05.860 the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They'll grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the house of the 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:14.200 Lord. They'll flourish in the courts of our God. They'll still bear fruit in old age. They'll stay fresh and green. 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:22.819 So you can hear this metaphor of growth, of health, of nourishment, and really of an ecosystem working. 00:05:23.960 --> 00:05:31.360 So I read the verses. You'll notice this strong narrative coming out. And then went for a walk. 00:05:31.379 --> 00:05:36.259 And I went on poet's walk and stood on the hill at the end early in the morning. And I said, 00:05:36.320 --> 00:05:41.460 God, what do you want to say? And as I stood out looking across to Bristol, you could see quite stormy 00:05:41.459 --> 00:05:47.439 weather. You could see sunshine over Bristol. You could see clouds pouring over the hills. There's 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:53.519 rain behind me, rain to the right, dark clouds over the Bristol Channel, the Bristol Channel racing along. 00:05:53.959 --> 00:06:00.519 And I think God said, there's an ecosystem. And there are three things needed in that ecosystem. 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:10.500 One is revelation. The second is nourishment. And the third is optimal frustration, which might sound a 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:16.079 bit odd, but I'll try and make sense of that with you. As I reflected on that, that's what I want to 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:22.439 share with you. What does it mean for us to be in a context in which we do grow, like this mustard seed 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:30.219 into this great tree, how we stay flourishing and how we stay healthy? So let's start with revelation. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:37.500 So I think that we need a revelation, an encounter with God that starts our relationship, 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:44.279 an understanding of who God is, God's plans for our life, and the fact that we come alive when 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:51.100 we experience the Holy Spirit meeting with us as we invite Jesus into our hearts. 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:58.759 I want to give you two verses. In Exodus 33, you see Moses in conversation with God saying, 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:05.079 now show me your glory. I quite like his boldness there, demanding of God to reveal more of who God 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:11.000 is. Now, you think he's already half up a mountain, talking with God in a long conversation, but a desire 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:20.800 for more revelation, more revealing of who God is. And God responds, I will cause all my goodness to 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:27.379 pass in front of you, but you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. And so he makes 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:33.920 Moses stand next to this rock and then passes by, and Moses glimpses something, has this revelation 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:38.240 of who God is. And when he comes down from the mountain, people are frightened because he's glowing. 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:45.080 They're so alive with a sense of the presence of God. And even in this passage we've just looked at, 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:51.139 we can see Jesus creating revelation for the disciples. He says to them earlier on, 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:57.680 when he was alone, the 12 and the others around him asked him about the parables and he told them, 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:03.180 the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything is 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:08.060 said in parables. And you can see him again revealing, breathing life, speaking in to help 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:16.339 them understand, telling him who God is in relation to them. So my experience when I became a Christian 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:23.420 was that when I made a decision and said, actually I want to give my life to you God, I ask that you 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:29.220 would forgive me for my selfishness and you would fill me with your love. In that moment that came 00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:35.740 about because I'd had a revelation of who God is, that actually God's desire as our creator is to be 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:41.220 in relationship, to be involved in our lives. That led me to that moment of standing there 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:47.240 with some tears down my face and snot on it probably at the same time, just opening up before God and 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:54.220 saying, actually, I want you in my life, Lord. And at the time I remember I was 18 and I think I had 00:08:54.220 --> 00:09:01.419 everything I needed in life. I had a mountain bike, a girlfriend, a job. I was quite fit. I had plans 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:06.459 ahead of me. I was doing lots of exercise. But in that time I remember just noticing there's something 00:09:06.459 --> 00:09:11.860 missing. And as I searched I met Christians all over the place who were quite proactive and would 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:16.759 talk to me and give me words or give me a bit to the Bible. I read the Bible a bit and then I started 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:25.219 to have experiences of God in some meetings I went to. And this revelation of who God is led me to a point 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:33.060 of giving my life to God. And this sense of revelation, this encounter, this moment of clarity, 00:09:33.160 --> 00:09:41.180 a moment of clarity, I think is so crucial to root us, to put us in the earth like that mustard seed 00:09:41.180 --> 00:09:48.300 so we can start to begin to take roots and flourish and grow. What I notice is when people are really 00:09:48.300 --> 00:09:53.620 struggling with a relationship with God, often that revelation is missing, that encounter, that clarity, 00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:57.360 that truth of who God is and God's love for us. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:05.200 I remember when I walked away from God around 19, a year later, I sort of started to give up on God a bit 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:12.580 and choose to not engage, to not pray and to make some other choices that weren't great. And as I did it, 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:19.639 the revelation was still so strong. It's like falling out with someone who lives next door, but they're 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:23.580 always next door. You can't really get away from them. So even though I was walking away 00:10:23.580 --> 00:10:29.660 doing my own thing, I could sense that the truth and reality of God was still there because of that 00:10:29.660 --> 00:10:38.920 initial revelation. So we need a revelation of who Jesus is to help us plant and begin that connection 00:10:38.920 --> 00:10:45.740 in deep roots. But also I think we need revelation as we go throughout our lives. Reminders, deeper 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:55.879 understanding, fresh connection, fresh encounter. And I had one of those moments when I was ill in 00:10:55.879 --> 00:11:01.639 COVID, I was in hospital, and I'm conscious of a very sensitive period of time for some in the room, 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:08.919 and I was frightened. I was being given more and more oxygen, just declining. And I was starting to 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:16.539 think, will I actually come out of here? And the cleaner came into my room, and I noticed as he was 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:22.539 cleaning, he was just singing worship songs. I thought they sounded like worship songs, very quietly. 00:11:22.979 --> 00:11:28.360 So I said, I mean, it sounds like you're singing worship songs. He said, yeah, they are. And actually, 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:32.199 as I walked past this room, I saw you, I felt prompted to come in. 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:43.560 And I want to pray for you. So he did. And in that moment, for me, was a moment of revelation, 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:54.220 in a moment of need, that my family couldn't visit. I was scared, but actually God reached out and met 00:11:54.220 --> 00:12:03.320 with me. A revelation of God's love, that we can't move, get anywhere away from the love of God. 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:11.680 So we need revelation, a profound one, that causes this initial encounter. It might be drip feed over 00:12:11.680 --> 00:12:19.379 time or a particular moment, and we need regular sense of reminding and deepening of the love of 00:12:19.379 --> 00:12:25.399 Jesus for us, and all the promise that brings. So why don't you just take a moment and pause? 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:30.360 And maybe you're someone who's thinking, right now, I could do with one of those moments of 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:38.439 encounter. Or thinking, actually, I don't feel so rooted. I need to know more of who you're God. 00:12:38.439 --> 00:12:46.379 I need you revealing to me. If that's you, then open your hearts to God. Open your hearts to Lord. 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:53.980 Lord, we ask that you would meet with anyone in here who is just seeking your love, your revelation, 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:01.379 a fresh encounter, whether they are carrying a wrestle from illness, or grief, or pain, 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:09.299 or just distance from you, Lord. In your name, Lord Jesus. Amen. 00:13:11.299 --> 00:13:14.700 I'm afraid that's only point one. You've got two more coming in front of this, so stick with it. 00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:19.700 The next one is nourishment. And... 00:13:24.520 --> 00:13:27.460 Sorry, bear with me. 00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:38.660 Earlier in the chapter, Jesus says, the seed sprouts and grows. The guy goes to bed, has no idea 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:46.500 how this works. The seed grows. And so I think our nourishment really does come through our encounter 00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:53.639 with the Holy Spirit, through worship, through prayer, through scripture, through the Bible, 00:13:53.879 --> 00:14:00.399 through an understanding of God, and through community. Now, given that we're not here all day, 00:14:00.439 --> 00:14:04.579 you don't have to listen to me for that long. I'm going to touch on this briefly in just two buckets. 00:14:04.580 --> 00:14:12.680 One bucket of how the Holy Spirit meets us through worship, through prayer. And then one about 00:14:12.680 --> 00:14:19.060 community, and what God might be saying to us about that. Now, in these verses, I want to read, 00:14:19.139 --> 00:14:25.000 there's such a strong story about the Holy Spirit in John 14, 26. But the helper, as Jesus is saying, 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:31.039 the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:36.940 you remembrance all that I've said to you. In verse 16, sorry, chapter 16 in John, 00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:42.120 nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is your advantage that I'm going away, for if I do not go 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:49.799 away, the advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. John 20. And when he said 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:56.719 this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. It's clearly such a strong story 00:14:56.719 --> 00:15:03.359 from Jesus and all the writing in the Bible and the New Testament profoundly, that our nourishment, 00:15:03.579 --> 00:15:09.139 our growth comes from the Holy Spirit. And for our vision in Christchurch, we, as part of our 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:15.079 refreshed vision, going forward is for a deeper encounter of the Holy Spirit together and individually 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:19.879 to more profoundly know the presence and love of God in our lives. 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:28.680 And then building on that, some more verses, when we think about prayer and worship. Psalm 119, 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:35.639 your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. Colossians 3, 16, let the word of God dwell in you 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:41.040 richly, teaching and admonishing with one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:47.379 songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And then Psalm 150, let everything that has breath 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:55.480 praise the Lord. Such a strong narrative again of worship, of prayer and of coming together in that. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:04.819 And my experience is that when we are alive in worship, when there's a sense of prayer and connect to 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:10.560 this, when there's a sense of giving space and encounter for the Holy Spirit, there's growth. 00:16:11.400 --> 00:16:17.840 There's growth in individuals' lives. There's an extending of what we do here out into the community. 00:16:18.520 --> 00:16:24.120 And so a question I'd love us to consider is where's the aliveness in us? How are we doing 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:29.560 in our relationship with God? How are we doing in prayer? How are we coming to worship with an open 00:16:29.560 --> 00:16:34.460 heart, with an expectation of the Spirit of God meeting with us? Just how are we doing? 00:16:34.820 --> 00:16:39.180 It ebbs and flows. So let's take a moment and just really consider that. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:48.680 I want to talk to you about a story that really came to mind here. A sense of coming together, 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:57.940 the Holy Spirit, Scripture and worship surfacing. I was in America at school for a year when I was 00:16:57.940 --> 00:17:04.640 just after 18 to 19, just become a Christian. And I had this strange thing that after I became a 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:09.000 Christian, for a while, if someone was filled with the Holy Spirit, I could see it in their eyes. 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:15.800 Kind of sounds strange to me now. But at the time, it was really visible. And I remember arriving at 00:17:15.800 --> 00:17:20.420 this school in North Carolina. I'd just flown over, I'm bleary-eyed, picked up from the airport, 00:17:20.600 --> 00:17:24.380 driven to this school in the Appalachian Mountains, where I'm going to spend the next year. 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:29.380 And one of the first people to welcome me was the chaplain, Terence. Terence Olspar. 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:35.000 Sorry about the accents. If you know Americans here, you can quote that. And as I met Terence, 00:17:35.040 --> 00:17:39.100 he shook my hand and welcomed me. I looked in his eyes and I thought, you'll feel the Holy Spirit. 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:43.520 So another time when I met in one of his prayer groups, I just asked him quietly, 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:48.720 are you filled with the Holy Spirit? He said, well, yes. Why would you ask? And we had a good 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:55.160 conversation. But at some point, he said to me, look, I've noticed that in some of our prayer 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:59.460 meetings, I hear you very quietly at times, though, praying in tongues. If you're not familiar, 00:17:59.580 --> 00:18:03.940 tongues is a prayer language, which when you meet with the Holy Spirit can be given to you, 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:08.540 a way of you connecting with God deeper than just your sort of conscious processing of what 00:18:08.540 --> 00:18:13.400 prayer shall I make. It's a prayer language. I said, yes, that's something that happened to me 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:18.800 after I became a Christian. I got prayed for and got this prayer language. So yes, I do pray in tongues. 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:23.820 He said, well, I've always really wanted to have the gift of tongues. I wonder whether you'd come 00:18:23.819 --> 00:18:29.139 and pray with me. He said, I'd be happy to. So we met one evening to have a conversation, 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:36.559 cup of tea and a prayer. Terrible tea in America, but never mind. So he said, well, how do we do this? 00:18:36.679 --> 00:18:41.279 I'm thinking, well, you're the chaplain. He said, well, when I got prayed for, this is how we did it. 00:18:41.339 --> 00:18:47.519 The person said, well, won't you ask God? I'll ask God on your behalf. I'll pray in tongues over you. 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:51.379 And then you just wait and allow the Holy Spirit to give you a language. Don't try and force it. 00:18:51.380 --> 00:18:56.900 It'll come. So why don't we do that? He said, sounds great. And so that's what we did. And as we prayed, 00:18:57.020 --> 00:19:04.220 the sense of the presence of God just dropped on us like a blanket around us. It's like that sense of 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:10.660 when you're feeling very in love with someone, but so much more profound and deeper. So the sense of 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:17.080 presence of God was just on us as I then prayed in tongues and waited for him to give it a go. 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:21.500 And he stopped me after a while and said, look, I can really sense the presence of God with us, 00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:28.480 Alex. He said, but do you speak Greek? And I said, well, no. He said, well, you're speaking Greek. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:33.240 You're saying, thank you, God, for Jesus. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your presence. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:39.259 You're just repeating that over and over again. He said, the issue is I speak 11 languages. 00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:45.480 And if I speak now, I feel I'm just going to speak in one of the languages that I already have. And so 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:51.960 what I know is I can sense the presence of God. And as I can interpret what you're saying, I know 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:57.779 this is a gift from God. I know tongues is something from God. And so I feel relaxed that when God wants 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:03.000 me to have this, he'll give it to me. And that's okay. So I'm good for now. Thanks very much. 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:08.240 But that sense of we're coming together, there's a sense of worship. We're praying 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:14.200 in the presence of the Holy Spirit. And then there's a revelation of who God is, but a nourishment, 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:20.480 an encouragement of feeding of his faith and mind, and it grows. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:31.660 I recently heard a church leader, Pete Hughes, who leads KXC Church in London. They have a number of churches 00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:38.000 together. And he was speaking at a wildfires conference. And he did a really powerful talk. 00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:41.779 And there's one moment of it that really came to mind, as I was thinking about this morning, 00:20:42.120 --> 00:20:48.279 for us to reflect on. He talked about this notion of never coming to the altar empty. 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:54.200 Now, we have an altar somewhere back there, but we don't need an altar because Jesus was that final 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:59.839 sacrifice that broke the power of sin and death and enables us to connect with God directly. 00:21:00.819 --> 00:21:05.279 He talked about when you see altars, particularly in Asian countries, you know, people don't rock 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:09.619 them empty. They have a gift. They have a garland, or they have some food or something to leave. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:15.920 So there's a principle here about never coming to a gathering together, whether that's a home group 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:22.660 or a meeting like this or Wednesday morning communion with empty hands. And he talked about 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:30.340 three things. Coming with our pain, that actually we come before God real, as we are, not a mask, 00:21:30.840 --> 00:21:35.779 because this is the very place to bring it before God when there are wrestles, pains, challenges, 00:21:35.840 --> 00:21:41.940 or hurts. Coming with our repentance, the revelation where we're realising actually I'm making wrong 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:48.640 choices here, that we bring that before God as well. And that we come to the altar, we come before God 00:21:48.640 --> 00:22:00.080 together with worship in our hearts. So just consider for you what it is that you recognise you need for 00:22:00.080 --> 00:22:06.700 your nourishment. Is it an encounter in worship? Is it in your prayer life? Is it meeting with the Holy 00:22:06.700 --> 00:22:13.400 Spirit in a new way? 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:20.980 To Lord, for those who are seeking you, Holy Spirit, meeting with you, we pray for that encounter 00:22:20.980 --> 00:22:28.700 to come about. For Lord, those who are feeling like the prayer aren't answered and it feels like it's 00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:34.660 blank, I pray, Lord, that you would tear down the wall that feels like it's there and meet with them 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:41.660 and bring answers to those prayers. For those, Lords, where worship feels stuck and it's hard to 00:22:41.660 --> 00:22:46.480 raise a sense of connection to you, we ask, Holy Spirit, you would meet with them the moment they 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:54.279 stand faithfully before you and they would encounter the joy of worshipping you and knowing 00:22:54.279 --> 00:22:57.920 your love. In your name, Lord Jesus. Amen. 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:03.059 Okay, third section. You still with me? Okay. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:06.019 Is Isabel awake? 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:10.319 Is Isabel awake? She's awake? I think so. Good. Got the thumbs up. 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:17.059 When I was younger, I was part of the Catholic Church and so I grew up where the priests did like 00:23:17.059 --> 00:23:21.700 10, 12 minute sermons. I love that. Short and sharp. I'm breaking one of my rules. I'm going a little 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:27.819 bit longer here. So the third bucket that I felt was so, or actually this is still the second bucket, 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:33.160 isn't it? Sorry, second bucket, is community. The sense of how important community is for our 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:40.299 nourishment and growth. And in 1 Corinthians 12, there's one body but it has many parts. But all 00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:46.240 its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We're all baptised by one Holy Spirit 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:52.640 and so it's all formed into one body. The eye can't say to the hand, I don't need you. The head 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:59.359 can't say to the feet, I don't need you. In fact, it's just the opposite. In that way, the parts of the 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:05.759 body will not take sides. All of them who take care of one another. If one part suffers, every part 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:12.319 suffers with it. If one part is honoured, every part shares in its joy. You are the body of Christ. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:22.000 Each one of you is a part of it. When I look at Christ Church, when I look at us, I see the parts 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:30.819 of the body and I see some real fruitfulness. I see Rita and Ken leading Alpha with passion and 00:24:30.819 --> 00:24:37.759 people coming to know Jesus. I see Russ and colleagues leading Living Life to the Full and 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:46.160 helping people find breakthroughs and being drawn into our community. I see Jill and Kate with the 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:51.400 Chatty Cafe, really creating a sense of connection and relationship in a community for those who 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:58.099 particularly feel it's lacking. I see Marion and others on the Wednesday communion. Helen with the team 00:24:58.099 --> 00:25:04.379 and Refresh. The TLG coaches investing in the lives of young people in schools. The home group leaders 00:25:04.380 --> 00:25:11.740 and their groups and there are many others. There's a sense of the different parts of the body at work, 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:18.360 bringing Jesus to others. And in that, that sense of we are the hands and the feet and the voice 00:25:18.360 --> 00:25:23.960 of Jesus around us. And it's not enough. It's rich. It's meaningful. It's creating breakthrough 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:30.240 in people's lives. And God, I think, is asking us to be even more fruitful than that. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:41.019 I remember about 10 years ago, I was fairly bored with church life. I felt like I'd been going to 00:25:41.019 --> 00:25:46.519 church for 45 years and sort of very meaningfully since I was a Christian for 35 years. And I just 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:51.339 felt a bit bored. And I was chatting to a friend, Libby, who's a vicar. And as she heard this, she said, 00:25:51.579 --> 00:25:56.859 the issue isn't the church, it's you, very encouragingly. She said, you're not engaging properly. 00:25:56.859 --> 00:26:02.319 She said, don't be waiting for some sense of what your particular core or unique contribution 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:07.459 is right now. Your responsibility as a member of your church is like being in a family. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:12.979 We have a family gathering this afternoon. It's why I'm wearing a shirt rather than a t-shirt today. 00:26:13.479 --> 00:26:17.919 And when we go there, we won't sit around and expect others to wait on us and do the clearing up, 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:24.299 the 17 of us. No, we'll get up and we'll all muck in. In the same way, there isn't a sense of, 00:26:24.299 --> 00:26:29.960 are you calling me to volunteer in this way with the welcome or with hosting or this? No, 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:36.960 but a sense of this is family responsibility to muck in and be a contribution, to be the body at work 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:44.059 in our everyday work as a church family. And yes, there are elements where you might have a particular 00:26:44.059 --> 00:26:49.759 calling or gifting where God is saying now, yes, step into this. Fantastic. And we need to be doing 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:56.559 that as well. So again, as we think about our vision as a church, think about our contribution 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:02.339 in this community, think about outworking our calling. As part of that, I encourage you, consider 00:27:02.339 --> 00:27:08.559 actually what is your way of giving in your time? What team could you be a part of? Where can you bring 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:21.700 encouragement to others? Where can you be praying? Third, optimal frustration. It might seem like a 00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:29.039 slightly strange concept, but it really came to me clearly as I was praying for this. The growth only 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:35.740 really occurs when there's a level of challenge and pressure. And in my work, we look a lot at 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:40.799 developmental stages in childhood and how for children, there's an optimal frustration they 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:47.200 need from naught to six to grow really healthily. Not enough challenge, they don't grow right psychological 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:54.799 robustness. Too much challenge, it can limit that robustness. Into adulthood as well, that there are 00:27:54.799 --> 00:28:01.140 these developmental stages for us. And that as we press into challenges, as we face new situations, 00:28:01.140 --> 00:28:08.440 as we learn, as we press in, that actually we grow and develop. If any of you are trying to work on 00:28:08.440 --> 00:28:12.880 your fitness, you'll know that when you stop, you start to atrophy and your muscles become soft and 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:17.600 you notice how weak you are. And I tried to pick something up at home and I realised I was becoming 00:28:17.600 --> 00:28:24.800 weak because there's a lack of challenge, a lack of appropriate pressure, of optimal frustration for my 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:32.399 muscles to actually keep the strength. And as you read in scripture and the Bible, there's an ongoing 00:28:32.399 --> 00:28:42.759 story of challenge, of invitation to press in, of a need for growth, a need for participation. 00:28:45.099 --> 00:28:51.240 And so you might be in a time where you're feeling a particular level of challenge. I think a key 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:56.900 question is, God, is this something to be praying against? Is this attack in some way in my life? 00:28:57.099 --> 00:29:02.940 Or actually, is this something you're simply wanting me to engage and press in and learn from? 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:09.900 When I work with leaders, which is my everyday work, I never work with senior leaders who are effective, 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:15.400 who haven't been through challenge and face failure, because that is part of that growing and 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:22.680 strengthening and evolving. In the same way, we will face all sorts of challenges that we grow in our 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:29.180 faith and our learning and our new understanding of Jesus. And in that, that's where we need each other, 00:29:29.340 --> 00:29:36.460 the encouragement, the insight, the wisdom, and we need the Holy Spirit to nudge us and help us as well. 00:29:36.460 --> 00:29:48.279 So a parable of growth, a narrative of growth throughout the Bible, and that needs revelation of Jesus. It needs 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:55.900 nourishment, and also it needs a level of challenge and a wrestle for that growth to really be truly fruitful. 00:29:57.799 --> 00:30:05.720 Well, Lord, we give you these words. Lord, remove anything that isn't from you. Lord, 00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:12.559 stir our hearts where you're particularly prompting us to respond, to press in deeper with you, Holy Spirit, 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:22.180 to press in to our community, to attend to our roots and what needs changing so we might be more 00:30:22.180 --> 00:30:27.480 nourished and flourish more greatly. In your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.