So today we are launching into our second ever round of Activate.
This is a chance for us to get connected through community groups.
It's a chance to sign up and serve in a whole bunch of ministries across the church.
But as I was preparing my message this week, I was convicted that there was more to say than you should serve.
You should serve and God wants you to serve and it's okay to say that.
But this week, and in fact over the past few weeks, God has been impressing something else on my heart.
Namely, his heart.
Over the past two weeks, I've had this overwhelming sense that we as a church and me personally need to refocus on the heart of God who gathers us.
We need to stop and realise that in reality, all service, all connection, all relationship, all of that has to begin by understanding the heart of God.
If we're to reflect on what it means to serve him, we must start with him.
We must start with what matters to him.
It has to come first.
Because if we don't start there, anything that we do for him will just be a job or a task.
Something that we're required to do or a box that we have to tick.
If you remember Jonah in the Old Testament, the way he approached his God-given calling.
After running away, being rescued by a fish, hearing a second time what God wanted him to do, he goes off dutifully and does his task.
He never stopped to ask, though, why he was being sent to the city of Nineveh.
He walked into a large city.
He told them all that God was angry, that there was going to be judgment.
It was just a simple transaction for him.
And then he wandered out of the city and waited for the fireworks.
But he was disappointed when God didn't come through.
He was angry when God's judgment wasn't poured out.
He had never stopped to ask, why did God send me?
What matters to God in this?
It was never just a job.
God had an agenda the whole time and Jonah lost sight of God's heart.
So what is it that consumes God's heart?
What is it that matters to him most?
What is it that he's desperate for in any and every circumstance?
First and foremost, God is a God who desires his own glory.
And rightly so, because he is glorious.
But the way that he seeks his glory tells us a lot about who he is.
From the beginning of creation, if you start with Adam and Eve in the garden, God's agenda, his desire has been for relationships with his people.
The thing he's always worked towards has been the goal of dwelling among his people, of having that right relationship with his people.
And as you read what happens with Israel in the desert wanderings, God goes to incredible lengths to create an acceptable dwelling place for him, a sanctuary, a temple where he can be among his unworthy people.
God is driven by desperation to bring people who are far from him back into a right relationship to find what is lost.
The heart of God, the heart that we as his people must imitate and share, is a heart for lost people.
Even what motivates God in his acts of judgment throughout scripture is a heart for lost people.
Look at the way he deals with his children in the Old Testament.
He always starts with a warning.
His desire is that they might turn back, that there might be repentance, that he might not have to pour out his judgment, like with Nineveh.
And even when he does pour out his judgment, it's always motivated by love.
Take Adam and Eve right at the beginning.
They get kicked out of the garden for disobeying God.
They're kicked out of the perfect place.
But why?
Because if God leaves them there in the garden, they have access to the tree of life and they could live forever as sinful people separated from God.
God doesn't want that for them.
His desire is not that they live forever.
His desire is that they have a close, intimate relationship with him.
That they know that deep satisfaction.
God wants more for them.
And so in his wisdom, he judges them, kicks them out of the garden and begins the greatest rescue mission ever.
Why?
Because he loves his people.
Because he desperately wants Adam and Eve and us and all of his creation to be in a right relationship with him.
Because God's heart beats for those who don't know him yet.
If you look at Jesus, you get a picture of God's heart in human form.
Jesus is God's heart personified.
When you look at his life, you see everything that excites God.
Everything that's important to God lived out in our earthly context.
You can sum up Jesus' life and ministry in one word.
Compassion.
As he spends time on the earth, as he interacts with people, he looks and he sees need and he's moved with compassion to meet that need.
He sees people lost without God.
He sees people suffering the effects of a sinful world and his heart is moved with compassion to meet that need.
He was deeply aware of the suffering and need around him.
And what fuelled him, what drove his action and his teaching and everything that he did was a desperation to see that suffering relieved.
You can see it in every bit of Jesus' life.
Jesus didn't actually come to earth to do miracles.
I mean, they're the bit that often gets a lot of coverage, a lot of press, a lot of excitement.
He didn't come to earth to impress people with his power and healings.
But when he saw people in desperate need, his heart went out to them.
His compassion was aroused within him and he met needs.
The day he fed the 5,000, that wasn't on his to-do list that day.
Jesus was there to teach, but he looked and it says he saw them harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
So he met that need.
He fed them and then he spoke God's truth to them.
Jesus' whole life and ministry was about meeting the need of people.
The need that they might be restored into a relationship with God.
And sure, he spent a lot of his time with his disciples, but even there his agenda was that he would equip the disciples to continue reaching for lost people once he was gone.
The fact that we're sitting here today is a testament to how good he was at equipping them for that ministry.
But even in amongst his time spent training the disciples, Jesus couldn't help but be moved by the need that he saw around him.
He couldn't help but be driven by the urgency for lost people who were living as enemies of God to be brought back into a saving relationship with God.
He looked and saw those who didn't yet know the love of his heavenly Father and he was moved to teach them and to reach out to them.
Because in his own words from Luke 19, the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
In his teaching, Jesus even says this is what motivates him.
The thing that motivated him more than anything else was a desire to see lost people brought back, lost people found.
The lost sheep, the lost son, the lost coin, they're all stories of God's heart for that which is far away to be brought close into the love of God.
In Luke 15, he says,
I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.
God is on a mission to bring lost people back into a relationship with himself.
His heart is desperate for the people that we walk past every day.
Maybe the people we live with, maybe our neighbours, maybe those we work with, those that we walk past in the shops or catch the train with.
His heart is desperate for lost people.
And in his grace and generosity, he has chosen to include us in the mission that he is on.
We are chosen to share God's goal.
To share God's heart.
The thing that unites us as a church, the thing that draws us together, isn't sitting together in this time slot.
It's not a logo or anything else.
It's a common goal or desire.
It's a common heart, a common purpose.
It's God's heart.
God's heart for his creation, to know him and to glorify him as God.
And so this morning, I want to challenge you to reflect on how are we going at that?
Together and personally.
If we were to give ourselves a health check, would you right now describe yourself as desperate for lost people?
Desperate to see those who don't know Jesus come to discover the grace and hope that is offered in him.
Does your heart quicken and get excited when you see an opportunity to talk about Jesus?
Is your day and week and year and everything you do driven by the same goal as God?
When I was growing up, I used to live for footy.
I think I've told you this before.
It's not a big secret.
I played AFL as a kid and it was the highlight of my week.
My week revolved around Wednesday night training, Saturday games.
I would go to training two hours early just because I liked being at the Oval.
No one else was there.
I'd just take a football and hang out.
I would wake up on Thursday really excited that that meant I was in the closer to the game half of the week.
Everything was directed towards that.
I would be imagining myself kicking the winning goal.
I would be talking about how well I'd played the week before.
I was planning my career as a professional AFL player.
Saturdays was easy.
That was all about football.
I would turn up for the first game of the day, which is like 8am in the morning.
My game's somewhere in the middle and I would stay right to the end.
I'd be helping put pads up, cook sausages.
I just loved everything football.
And then on Sunday I would wake up with my brother to recover from the game the day before,
talk about how well I'd played, kick a football and start preparing for the next week again.
I carried a football around instead of a teddy bear.
I'd talk about football.
I'd force my brother to come and kick a football with me every single afternoon.
I loved it.
I lived for it.
It was obvious to anyone that football motivated everything I did.
I'm not exaggerating.
Every time there was a chance to draw a picture in class or wherever I was, it was football related.
I wonder right now, what is that thing in your life?
What is driving you?
If people looked at the way you make decisions, spend your time, use your energy, spend your money,
what would they think is your driving desire?
And is it anything like a desire for God to be glorified by lost people coming to know him?
Are we as a church desperate to see people come into the kingdom of God?
My guess would be no.
This past few weeks, while God has been pushing me on this,
it's been quite a challenging and sobering time.
I've reflected on what I was like as a new Christian.
Or even just in my early days of serving God in ministry.
I was undivided in my allegiance.
Absolute in my commitment.
I was happy to take ridicule or discomfort or whatever came my way
as long as I got to tell people about Jesus.
As long as I could tell them about this incredible love that I had experienced and tasted in my own life.
I would catch my friends at lunchtime and not let them go off to play whatever we were playing
because they needed to hear about Jesus.
Because there was nothing more important that could happen in that 45 minute break at school.
But I'm not like that now.
Somewhere over the past 18 years,
I've slowly but surely slipped back
with the tide.
I've gotten distracted
by the responsibilities of life.
By worrying about money.
Worrying about fitting in.
Worrying about how I might spend the rest of my life.
Dreaming about holidays and retirement and whatever else.
And what we need to understand
and what God has been challenging me on this week
is that everything that you have in your life,
even the good gifts from God,
war for your affection.
They war for your allegiance.
And unless we actively
draw close to the heart of God
that has loved us
even when we are sinners,
then we are destined
for apathy.
For mediocrity.
Let me share with you two traps
that we fall into
when it comes to serving God's mission
and serving God's church.
The first trap is
a roster
instead of a heart.
Like Jonah,
ministry can just become a job
that we tick.
Something we have to get done.
It's about filling a hole
rather than a heart
that's overflowing
in love for God's people.
Every single person
is valuable to God
and he has called us
to get out there
and speak to them.
He's called us to be desperate
because
he was desperate for us.
He was willing to go to any length
and he's calling us
to love people like he does.
Not just to be the name
on a spreadsheet
or a name on a roster.
A couple of weeks ago
I was having a conversation
with Candida
who's one of our 930 volunteers
for welcoming
and she came up to me
to chat about welcoming
and how we might do it better.
She had some great ideas
but what struck me
as I was chatting with her
was the reason
that she bothered
to come up with these ideas
because it's not necessarily her job.
If Candida stands at the door
and smiles
and gives you handouts,
helps with collection,
she has ticked the box.
She's done what's required of her.
But the encouragement was
it's not a job to her.
There is no box to tick for Candida.
She just has a heart
to see us as a church connect.
To see us having rich,
deep, Christ-filled relationships.
She wants this to be a community
that is so welcoming
and so loving
that any outsider
who walks in
easily connects
and gets cared for
and feels valued.
I hope I'm doing justice
to her in my paraphrase
but I just walked away
encouraged
and rebuked
because for her
there was no job.
For her, literally,
the roster is irrelevant.
This morning,
we had a conversation.
I said,
are you on welcoming?
She goes,
well, I like to just be here
every week.
That is a heart
that doesn't look at
what must be done
but a heart
that looks like God
and loves people
who are in need.
If serving at church
here has become
just one of the commitments
that you have to get done
in your life,
could it be that
desperation
and love
has given way
to rosters?
Now, don't get me wrong,
there's nothing wrong
with a roster itself.
It's a good and efficient way
for us to organise ourselves
but there is something wrong
when we have a roster mentality
to the way that we serve.
In Ephesians 3,
Paul tells us
that it's through the church
that God has chosen
to display
his manifold wisdom
to the rulers
and authorities
in the heavenly realms
according to his eternal purpose
which he accomplished
through Christ Jesus.
The church is central
to how God is working
in the world.
It's a key part
of his mission.
It's not the only place
you can serve
but it's a key way
that God has chosen to work
and so you've got to
ask yourself the question,
if I'm too busy
to commit
to the people of God
and the mission of God
through his local church,
am I wasting my time
on things that are
less important?
Now, I want to choose
those words carefully.
not unimportant,
less important.
We have a lot
of really important things
in our lives,
valid, valuable things
but if this is God's heart,
there is nothing
more important than this.
Maybe it means
we need to make
some hard decisions.
Maybe it means
we need to say no
to some other things,
count the cost
and let our heart
for God's purpose
drive the way
that we spend our time
and energy and resources.
The first trap
for us
that we need
to be mindful of
is that roster
or task mentality
instead of a heart
that shares God's desire
for lost people.
The second trap
for us
that can limit
our desire to serve,
our effectiveness
in serving
is comparison.
Let me read to you
from 1 Corinthians 12
that Tim read out for us
from verse 7.
Now to each one
the manifestation
of the Spirit
is given
for the common good.
To one there is given
through the Spirit
the message of wisdom,
to another
the message of knowledge
by means
of the same Spirit,
to another
faith by the same Spirit,
to another
gifts of healing
by that one Spirit,
to another
miraculous powers,
to another prophecy,
to another
distinguishing between
spirits,
to another speaking
in different kinds
of tongues,
and to still another
the interpretation
of tongues.
All these
are the work
of one and the same Spirit
and He gives them
to each
just as He determines.
Verse 7
is a really key verse
for us this morning.
Each one
has a manifestation
of the Spirit.
Not some,
not most,
each one
and the same
grace that
chose you
when you didn't
deserve it,
the same love
that reached out
to you
while you were
still a sinner
has now empowered
you by the Holy Spirit
to serve,
to be a part
of God's mission.
God loves to use
inadequate people.
God loves to grab
hold of people
who couldn't do it
in their own strength
and use them
to achieve significant
things for His kingdom.
Moses was a stutterer
yet he would be
God's mouthpiece
to lead the people
out of Egypt.
Any limitation
you see within yourself,
if you look out
at our church community
and you think
I'm not as articulate
as that person,
I'm not as friendly
as that person,
I'm not as energetic
as that person,
I'm not as strong
as that person,
I don't have as much money
as that person,
whatever limitation
you see within yourself
is an opportunity
for God
to glorify Himself.
It is a gift
for God
to show off
how powerful He is.
But what you have to do
is put up your hand
and have a go.
Be willing
to let God use you.
Understand
it's not about
what you can
and can't do.
It's about a God
who is the God
of the impossible.
You don't need
to know everything
about your gifts.
You don't need
to be able
to tell me
on the list
of spiritual gifts
that are in this passage
or any other list
that someone gives you
which ones you have
and which ones
you don't have.
Most gifts
are discovered
by trial and error.
Most gifts
are discovered
by trying something
and seeing God
use you.
If you're nervous
because you're not sure
what gifts you have,
you're not sure
how you could contribute,
let me encourage you
to wander around
over morning tea
see what is happening
and put your hand
up for something
because God can
and God will surprise you.
You're not signing
your life away.
It's one of the beauties
of Activate
is it's six months
for you to have a go
and see what God
will do.
Everything we do
as a church here
is aimed
at people coming
to know,
treasure,
and represent Jesus.
so any ministry,
absolutely any ministry
is a chance
for you to share
God's heart
of lost people
coming to know him.
Whether it's morning tea,
youth ministry,
music ministry,
sound,
cooking meals
for sick people,
doing admin
in the office,
ringing new people
to our church,
hospitality,
visiting people
who are unwell,
vacuuming the floor,
all of it
is about God's glory
and the joy
of all people,
lost and found.
So have a go.
Try something,
anything,
and see what God
will do.
There's no hierarchy
of gifts.
It's the great encouragement
of 1 Corinthians 12.
We are a diverse body,
interdependent,
unified,
because we've all
received the same grace.
Because none of us
deserves to be here.
None of us has something
great to offer God.
But God in his grace
empowers us
to do great things
for him.
In his strength,
in his power.
It's poisonous
for churches
when people start
getting focused
on their ministry
or their ability
or their recognition
over and above
other ones.
If the youth ministry
starts fighting
with the music ministry
for the best leaders
or for the best rooms
or for the best resources,
we're all in this together.
It's not my mission.
It's not your mission.
It's God's mission.
He has,
in his grace,
designed this body
of his
so that we need
one another
to do what he wants
us to do.
No one
is dispensable.
We need the attitude
of Jesus
that says,
what I'm part of
is bigger
than the part I play.
What I'm part of,
this whole church
on mission
for God's glory
drawing lost people
into the hope
and salvation
of Jesus
is bigger
than the bit
that I do.
It's bigger
than any recognition
that I get
or don't get.
Verse 26
is a key verse here
in chapter 12.
It says,
if one part suffers,
every part suffers
with it.
If one part is on it,
every part rejoices
with it.
It's shared rejoicing.
It's shared struggling.
When someone
becomes a Christian
in our youth ministry,
that is a rejoice moment
for the person
who vacuums the carpet
after playgroup
on a Tuesday.
When somebody
comes here
on a Sunday
and makes a good
relational connection
and starts investigating
Jesus,
that is a rejoice moment
for those
who are cutting fruit
in the kitchen
on a Tuesday.
When somebody
joins our
Mandarin Bible study
on a Sunday
because they have
come to know
the hope and salvation
that is in Jesus,
that is a rejoice moment
for every one of us.
And equally,
when somebody
loses
somebody close
to them,
regardless of
whether we know
them or sit
next to them
or are serving
in the same ministry
of them,
that is a struggle
moment for all
of us.
We are a body
unified.
What we are part
of,
what God is doing
is bigger
than the part
that we play
individually.
Jesus can work
in spite of us
and thankfully
sometimes he does.
He can work
around us
or he can work
through us.
Which one do you
think is most
beneficial to him?
It doesn't matter.
He can achieve
the same outcome
whether we're
involved or not.
But which one's
most beneficial
for us?
God has included
us for our
sake,
for our joy,
that we might
know that joy
he talks about
in Luke 15,
that rejoicing
over a sinner
who repents,
that we might
rejoice as his
body,
as other
churches grow,
as the gospel
goes out,
as missionaries
bear fruit,
he includes us
for our sake
and for our
joy.
And so what
now?
If we need
to acknowledge
and I want to
say personally
I do and
possibly we
do,
that we are
not as
desperate as
God has been
for us,
what now?
Two things.
And this
is cannot
be overstated
for importance.
Remember
God's grace
to you.
Don't walk
away feeling
guilty because
you failed.
Don't walk
away kicking
yourself and
trying to
self-generate
desperation.
Remember
God's grace
to you.
Remember
his incredible
love.
Remember
the lengths
he went
to,
to draw you
back into a
relationship
with him.
Remember
how far
away you
were.
Maybe
like me
this week
you need
to be
reminded
of what
it is
to be
forgiven
by Jesus.
What it
is to be
loved by
Jesus
unconditionally.
What it
is to have
your saviour
die in your
place and
take your
punishment
and instead
offer you
freedom and
hope and
future and
eternity.
When we
know that
love, when
we know that
love that
will never be
taken away,
that love that
is doing a
work in us and
guarantees heaven,
then we can
look and see
the people who
are where we
used to be.
People who are
still far from
God.
people who
are in
desperate need
and we can
accept the
joy that God
is offering by
taking the
hope of the
gospel to
people who
are lost and
hurting.
Soak in
God's word.
Get to know
his heartbeat
again.
It's there over
and over in
scripture.
He loves us
even while we're
sinners.
He chose us
before the
creation of the
world.
He loved us
enough to send
his son,
soak in God's
word, hear
God's heartbeat
and then
gradually you
become more
and more like
him.
You begin to
take joy in
what he takes
joy in.
You begin to
be increasingly
upset by the
things that
upset him and
you begin to
be increasingly
desperate for
that which he
is desperate
for.
People who
are lost.
We need to
remember God's
grace.
God loves to
answer prayers
that honor
him.
God loves to
answer a
prayer when
you go to
him and
say,
God, I
want to be
the person
you want me
to be.
God, I
want to love
what you
love more.
God, I
want to stop
being distracted.
I want to
stop paying
attention to
things that
are less
important.
God, I
want you to
give me your
heart.
God, I
want you to
love me.
He loves to
answer that
prayer.
He loves to
redefine lives
and give us
purpose as a
church so that
we might
joyfully
sacrifice,
joyfully pay
the cost.
And he
loves to
empower us
to do more
than we're
capable of
on our
own.
God's desire
is not for
a big church
or a small
church or a
medium church.
God's desire
desire is for
people, for
your husband
or your
wife, for
your son or
your daughter,
for your
neighbour or
your work
colleague, for
people you
haven't met
yet, people
who right now
live their
lives in the
shadow of
death.
For those
individuals,
God's heart
breaks.
So let's
ask God to
give us that
heart as
well.
Let's ask
him to
empower us
to resource
us, to
equip us
so that we
might be a
part of a
body that
rejoices
together and
suffers together
for his
cause.
Let's do
that now.
Let's do
that now.
Let's do
term
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