ROWING - The church was birthed for mission

Eliud Kipchoge is a marathon runner from Kenya.

Eliud is not just any marathon runner, he’s the world record holder for the marathon at a time of 2 hours 1 minute and 39 seconds.

Incredibly fast, incredibly talented.

But Eliud and a team of others began to wonder if it could be humanly possible for the marathon to be run in under two hours.

What would it take for a human to beat the two hour mark?

So a team came together to see if a human could run the marathon in under 2 hours.

On their first attempt, they failed.

Eliud crossed the line in 2 hours and 26 seconds - that’s one second a mile he was off the pace.

So the team got together and tried again.

And on the 12th October 2019, Eliud and his team did what was considered humanly impossible.

He ran the marathon in under 2 hours - 1 hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds.

Eliud said it was like man making it to the moon.

And just like Neil Armstrong didn’t make it to the moon on his own, Eliud was part of a team that achieved this.

On his own Eliud was maxed out at 2 hours 1 minute and 40 seconds.

To get under 2 hours took a whole team of people.

A team of runners ran with Eliud in a V formation just like birds migrating long distances.

People on bikes brought him food and drink, some people drove cars to set the pace, with a green laser showing the runners where they needed to be on the track.

Scientists created new shoes which you can see in the picture with carbom fibre plates in them to maximise the cushioning and spring effect.

They used a special closed and very flat track.

And they brought in a crowd of people to cheer - to give Eliud that psychological boost.

Keep going - you can do this.

Eliud is an incredible athlete - the world record holder in fact.

But to run a marathon under 2 hours took a team of people.

It took people partnering together, each using their different gifts and passions, but working towards a common goal that made the impossible happen.

We’ve spent four weeks now talking about personal evangelism.

How you can witness by Growing as a disciple of Jesus, Building intentional relationships and Knowing Others and sowing seeds in conversation.

But there is more to being involved in the great commission than each of us doing our own thing.

One of the best kept secrets of Christian mission is that we don’t do this on our own - we are a team of people coming together and working towards a common goal - of inviting people to trust in Jesus the Risen King.

Today we are going to cover the principle of “Rowing Together”.

We are going to change our focus from what we do on our own to what happens when we partner with others, when we work as a team.

And there are two partnerships we will need if we are going to see the humanly impossible happen.

Picture yourself in a rowboat with the other people in this church.

We are all in a boat together and each have a set of oars.

What are we going to do?

How are we going to use those oars?

What will it take for us to get that boat moving smoothly towards the finish line?

We need to work together.

If we don’t we go around in circles, or worse still we move away from the goal of the finish line.

If someone doesn’t work with the whole team they can really make things difficult.

Everyone needs to work together, some will row, one will steer the rudder.

Others will be encouraging those rowing.

But for the boat to go where it needs to, to the goal of the finish line, we all need to be in agreement of where that is.

Likewise, we the church need to work together on mission.

So let’s take a look at our text today to see what we can learn about “Rowing Together”

Let’s dive in and start with Matthew 9:35

Matthew 9:35 NLT

35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.

If anybody was capable of doing mission on their own, it would be Jesus.

Jesus who can perform miracles and who always knows the right answer and knows who to call and when.

Jesus who knows when to meet people at wells and when to move from town to town.

If anyone could go solo, you would think it could be Jesus.

But Jesus sees the crowds, he sees the harvest is plentiful and he feels the urgency of the situation.

What does he see?

He sees the real situation of the people.

He sees sheep without the shepherd who are harassed and helpless.

Jesus looks at them and he’s filled with compassion.

Their plight.

They are lost.

And he feels it because he’s the shepherd king.

He’s the one who has come to provide peace and safety.

He’s the one who has come to lay down his life.

We need to see!

Are we even looking, or are we heads down?

Have you ever tried sitting somewhere and watching the people around you and thinking about their state without Jesus.

A football game or a shopping mall or a high view where you can see over the city.

At the motorsports, a concert, the coffee shop or the markets.

Do we see people who are successful and happy and are better off with Jesus, or do we see people as they really are?

When we look, do we judge or do we love?

Are we moved with compassion?

People are like sheep without a shepherd.

Moving to this new exciting attraction or that experience.

Following this celebrity or that fad.

The problem isn't that they are sheep.

The problem is that they don’t have the shepherd.

Now here is the challenge if you can’t sense the urgency, take the time to start looking and praying for this type of compassion.

Go on a hike with a view over the city, or next time you get groceries, grab a coffee and sit and look.

Pray.

When Jesus says to his disciples in verse 37 “the workers are few” - he’s not kidding.

It’s a total understatement.

The worker count is one.

Jesus.

He’s the one travelling around through the towns and villages.

He’s the one doing the teaching and healing.

But the harvest will need more workers.

How can one man reach all these people and meet all these needs?

So what is Jesus’ solution?

It’s in chapter ten.

Matthew 10:1 NLT

1 Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.

He begins an intentional partnership with others.

He calls and creates a community that will help him.

He designates 12 of his disciples as apostles and then sends them out.

The number 12 is highly symbolic.

It represents a new Israel, a new people of God.

By selecting 12 and sending them on mission, Jesus is saying the new people of God will be people who go out on mission.

But what’s important here isn’t the individual identities of each person -

Matthew tells us almost nothing about the 12 - what’s important is the creation of community that will go on mission together.

They will continue to do what Jesus has done - teaching and healing.

Jesus’ solution to the harvest being plentiful and the workers few is to create a church who goes on mission.

Mission is one of the purposes of this church

It has to be central to our identity, otherwise we aren’t really a church.

Instead we would just be a social club deluding itself that we are a church.

One of the things I used to say to the congregation of the Woodford church we planted was that we needed to stay true to our purpose of bringing people into a relationship with Jesus.

That if we didn’t keep this as our main focus we should close up and go and join the local Lion’s club.

But that they wouldn’t want us because they knew what their purpose was and were getting on with doing it

Is mission part of your identity?

Do you see yourselves as sent ones.

Do you see yourselves are people who are working together to continue the mission of Jesus?

But really to ask that question is to ask, does this church have you?

Because after all, what is the church but the people?

Even if we had bricks and mortar these things are not going to love their neighbours and speak of Jesus.

Buildings are only tools that help us.

Each one of us is part of the partnership here at Renew Baptist Church.

It’s not my job or Toni’s job or your job to do mission.

It’s our job.

We work together.

So let me give you three things I think you could start on.

This isn’t the whole list, it’s the start of the conversation not the end.

But here are three ways I think you can begin to partner right now.

Firstly - use your gifts and talents and passions to partner with the church.

We are all different.

We all bring different things to the table and that’s on purpose.

There is lots we don’t know about the 12 apostles - Matthew doesn’t tell us much about them.

But he does tell us they are different.

Peter the fisherman, Matthew the Tax collector, Simon the Zealot.

People with different lives, different skills, different abilities.

But Jesus calls them together and says you’re my community - go.

Somehow they are going to compliment and partner together.

Eliud Kipchoge had a range of skills on his team.

Every one of them was important.

If he didn’t have someone on a bike riding out to hydrate him, he wouldn’t have been able to keep up his pace.

Even the crowd cheering was an important change they made between the two attempts.

If you can’t do anything else, can you cheer?

Can you encourage people who are trying things?

You bring your own skills and talents to this community.

Use them.

We need them.

We need you to partner together.

Secondly, Innovate, try new things.

Our culture is changing.

So we know the things we did in the 60s, 70s and 80s aren’t working any more.

We need to think of new ways to reach people and grow for the Australia, for the culture we find ourselves in now.

And if you fail, that’s a lesson.

Be like Eliud’s team.

Come back together “oh, so close - how can we try again” “What else can we do” “what else can we change”.

Keep trying ideas, keep trying new things.

Keep supporting each other, and don’t worry about failure.

It means you are one step closer to the next right thing.

And finally, Welcome new people.

This point of mission, of being sent, is so the church will grow.

We want new people to come to know Jesus and become part of the partnership.

We want new people to come through those doors who are exploring Jesus.

Welcome them.

Make room for them.

Help them belong.

We know that one of the things that is changing in the way people come to faith is that people want to belong before they believe.

People want to come through that door and meet you.

They want to know that they belong.

And as they feel like they belong to this community, then comes the belief.

So welcome people, help them belong and journey with them towards belief..