January 6th, AM

So high on Madam, I'm one of the leaders here and it's it's always strange when the kids leave and then it's like a giant vacuum in the front of the church and chewed crayons to the back. So I'll reach long night over the top and I'm not quite a hundred percent today. So I apologize for that in advance on try not to call from the microphone or on you, but I think probably about 80% of us are sick in some way or other just now so like we'll be sick together. Okay, and you should feel free to call freely from the back and I'll come freely from the front and I will manage that's just the truth of being in a broken world. I'm going to be a little longer than refined is not that much longer and I wanted you to know it's planned. It's not an accident. That's the main thing to know there because there's there's a lot to say so I once a year we want to take one and Sunday just to step back and remember together the division of the church. I want to talk about the question of why are we here? It's just one of the key questions of life. I think it's a question a lot of people struggle to answer with Confidence if you don't the average punter in the street grab them shut them and said, why are you here? I don't know what's going to answer they would give you but I'm not sure they would have very much confidence in it or or much conviction about their answer is one of those questions, but the world I'm distracts us from here to co-op in the detail and the busyness of line for War 2 Co-op in the the trivia of our Modern Age in a minor news stories. This is going to be another via how many times now has the news told you there's going to be another cold spell coming shortly every week since March they filled us is going to be another cold spell coming the latest celeb an outfit or just can't pictures of the world tries to distract us from the big questions of life, but it's more than just distraction that keeps us away from these questions of life in a purpose, but they're totally seats. You're welcome to have a seat coming in your you're welcome to have a seat. You shouldn't feel stuck at the back. I'm in a company. That's what you get. More than just a distraction more than just distraction that keeps us away from the question of purpose of a question. That scares us. I think a little bit the question of why we're here because if you answer a question like that, why are we here? Well, I have some significant consequences then for how you're going to have to live and let's be honest. We already had some plans about how we're going to lay. We had some ideas about what we're going to do with our time plans. We didn't really want to change about how we're going to spend our lives. So think it's it's a question we distracted from why are we here? It's a question. That scares us. Why are we here? What is a question? Not just for individuals as a question organizations need to ask as well. And I think many organizations are similarly call Roy about why they really exist. You might get an answer from the top level that says we are about maximizing shareholder value or something like that, but those those sorts of reasons for being or not that convinced. Press again businesses are distracted by the business. Press they're scared by the consequences. If we want to be crystal clear on why we are here I want to be crystal clear on what our purpose is on what our goals are one famous business Dory talks about this idea that if you haven't said the vision in 21 days, nobody has any idea at all. What division is you have to repeat the vision that often are not quite done for 21 days cuz you don't feel a little bit extreme. But once a year, we won Sunday to restate our vision and if your irregular with us, well, this is a secret. So we're glad to share these things with you and hopefully as we talked about why we're here and we're going to conduct yourselves as a result. You might see some degree of logic in that some degree all kind of reasonableness in some coherence in how are behaving and what we say, we believe what we say RP And our goal is and let me strike a few things off the lights when we talked about what I purpose and goal as an organization might be you know, what church was just like those cozy old slippers which fits perfectly to help us with snuggle around and relax. They got no rough edges are the pointy bits that make you uncomfortable Duvall been rubbed a hole you get is smooth warm soft relaxation. That is that is not at all what we're aiming to be as a church here. We're not shooting for on a spiritual high on Sunday. It will carry you through the week with the minimum inconvenience, but that is really not what we're aiming to pursue. Subtract makes you feel uncomfortable from time to time that is precisely what we are aiming for. Angel isn't to become an established church either. So I go listen to get out of this startup nomadic stage that were living in the Middle with Alyssa tendon challenges and the occasional chaos arrive a kind of stable grown up. I'm established which has a reputation the kind of church the kind of church which has a building Don't you have seven you will have noticed we have been talking about building koala over the last few weeks haven't way and we'll talk about it quite a lot more yet. And it's actually a really exciting thing that we get to talk about Prospect Avenue building. We started out planning to be renters for the long-term. All that was our plan was not really Titan property, but it turns out renting space in particular renting space that has enough room for us and for a few different rings for the children when you get just a little bit bigger than list starts to become a significant challenge. Soap so I'm going to get seriously expensive. So we're thinking about building because space is going to become a pretty essential part of pursuing are real going if we keep on growing but you need a building is not our goal is stablished men is not our goal. That's not what we're after. It's just a means to an end is just enabling the mission is not the mission. So we're not aiming to become an established church, even though apparently a Bad Thing To Be An established church. That's just not that's just not the main thing is no or after say what else we're not trying to be what we're not trying to be a big church though. I do have a functional for smoke machines as your new question. We would like to be a bigger Church. Even though that would bring challenges will bring complexity. We need to think about a bigger space. Well that's complicated. If you've been involved in that process already. We need to think about how to look after significantly more children that is complicated. I can tell you for sure who need to think about how to build real community and how to care for each other but we no longer all know each other when they're people in the room that you've never seen before and that's just going to be the way it is cuz we're a little bit bigger. We would like to be a bigger church. We going to be quite a bit bigger as a church really, but that's not our end goal, even though it's no bad thing. Our end goal is to win as many as possible for the glory of God always in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. He's one of Jesus's first followers and he writes in one of his letters to the churches in 1 Corinthians 9:19. He writes about how he's conducting himself in his life how he's acting towards Outsiders and those inside and he says the reason he's doing it all ways to win as many as possible to break that down a little bit for you to win as many as possible. He means what he's talking about people to win as many people as possible. Why is he talking about winning because there is a competition for people There's a competition for people there are competing faiths are there are straight up. Let's not dance about that fact is true. There are competing worldviews right there competing stories about to we are about how we came to be here about what life is all about. About how we should live as a result. Not going to the church to be ready up front about it is to win as many people as possible to the truth about Jesus that the truth of the Bible tells us about who he is about what he's done and about how significant that is for everyone who trusts in him? And we want to pursue that as an urgent priority quite simply because it is urgent that the Bible tells us each human has a limited amount of time to respond to the message just a limited amount of time. Nobody knows which day is going to be their last. Nobody told me as we stay is going to be their last.

The Bible tells us we live in the middle of a world that is perishing because it's turned away from God and yet God through his own son. Jesus comes to this world. We just turned away from him and opens the way back to life. to his own son Jesus

when you think about it if Christians believe what we say, we believe if it's really true that Jesus is the only way to life from a world filled with death. That is pretty hard to have any other go really make sense.

And actually quite a lot of people recognize this I was reading one a blogger Luke muehlhauser is an atheist bloggers. In fact, I but he gets this really clearly and he presented with a kind of a metaphor with the word picture with the story and. He did this for you says What say we all lived in Poland at the start of World War II and you got worried that soon that the Nazis were going to invade the town where several of your friends and family lived unless he's going to take Jason camps in Chains and possibly kill them and let's see this information came from a reliable source of very reliable source so that you really believed it was going to happen. Would you just go on about your life? Would you just mention this to your friends and family and passing and send them the occasional track for the information on the threat of the Nazis, but would you merely pray for them to see the threat and save themselves?

Is 20% a picture of just how irrational it action is in the face of what we say we believe. Sza, would you do everything you could? Save your friends and family. I said maybe you would drive out there. Maybe you would try and convince them of the threat until you were blue in the face. He says maybe you've refused to leave until they came with you. He says maybe what he says, I don't know why he would be pretty drastic Isis. I know if I was in that situation, I would do some pretty drastic things to save my my friends and my family. Now he's point with that picture. Is the show if we really believe what we say we believe in this is an atheist speaking. He says if you really believe these things, I'm sorry. I'm not doing it. I'll Make A Way. I'll go to the side. If we really believe these things we say we believe if you really believe this is life and death like we say it is than anything apart from the utmost urgency makes no sense whatsoever. I made a mistake. This is what Jesus clearly teaches week by week. We've been working through the Gospel of Luke and will carry on doing that in the year ahead. And Jesus is going to lay out for us the reality of this black and white choice this life and death choice this urgency. This limited-time this Primacy of the mission were involved in over everything else. If you really believe this well, how can we justify any other Mission any other priority? I any other purpose than trying to win as many people as possible is be at the only thing that makes sense. I mean what else could your life be about? The matters of hoot if there's something like this going on.

David plants a great Christian writer from the current Age and and he writes about this. He says on the last days as we won't wish we had made more money. I won't wish we'd acquired more stuff. He says we want wish we'd lived more comfortably or taking more holidays or holidays or watch more television. We wish we pursued a richer retirement or been more successful in the eyes of the world. I never wish we could have more of ourselves to this one thing that really matters to living for this last day. That is the day of judgement. Search Logic simple logic that tells us this has to be the overriding purpose for the church, but it's not just Logic the cause for this for Christians for church. Is it Jesus in South Dakota this you see a Jesus who has done everything for us. He leads us in his mission and he calls us to Sheridan called the father sends Jesus the son his only begotten son into the world. That would kill him. I reaches out to that world in love at a terrible cost. In order to rescue and then Jesus sends us on the same mission. Does John 20:21 as the father sent me I am sending you. The way Jesus was sent into the world to seek and to save is precisely an antonym for how we are sent in the world to seek and to save them. This will have a cost just like it did for Jesus but we're not sent a loan or unprepared or on a quit right here. He tells us rep receive the Holy Spirit. He gives us a spirit his internal. I'm Supernatural empowering for this Mission and he doesn't send us a lot and he sends us as a body as a people as his church. I want rent in Stokes bat house under the church is the body of Jesus on Earth today or it's different parts working together to carry on his mission. So well with his power and spirit wear it as a body together, but this is making a mistake. This is our mission by the command of Jesus to everyone who takes the name Christian. I have one who calls Jesus their Savior and Lord and let that term Lord simply means my boss. The one who gets to tell me what to do when we're going to go and make disciples read Matthew 28:19 and stuff that are the key phrase. So one more thing to say on this, okay, it's life and death. It's rational its logic is Jesus command its obedient is required. But it's also the only thing they can actually transfer my broken world that we live in today. But you know, we live in a broken world. You just have to watch the news to see that is true education hasn't fixed it. What Educators Society we have today? How much is that helped? Politics has them fixed it. What's the different political systems? How's that working out for US. Democracy has them fixed. It. Independence hasn't fixed. It Union hasn't fixed. It development has them fixed? It science hasn't fixed it. And that's because there is no fix for the problem is not out there. The problem is in here. The problem is in ass. And it's a problem. The only Jesus can fix we are broken as people. We've been corrupted and twisted inside. We were that way from the moment. We were born. There's no way we can fix it is only the work of Jesus that can change that. And as Jesus starts to change us from the inside out as we follow him. Will that is something that can change the world here and now as well as changing our Eternal destination me to be a big exam prep secret of the Clapham sect France you haven't back in the early 1800s is a group of Christians living in London. They managed to make huge changes to the way first Britain and then the whole British Empire approach slavery ended up succeeding in the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire what a remarkable impact of transformed hearts into transformed life transforming Society. Let me give you a smaller picture instead of some of you here helped out of the Bethany night shelter Christians working together to create a space which is safe and warm where those who are without a home a difficult time of the year can come and find somewhere to be care for. That is the transformation of hearts and lives working his way out through people. So why are we here? What's all going on goal is to win as many as possible because it's urgent I'll because it's Jesus command because it will change the world. That's the plan been the plan from the beginning and dumb. Delete is a hive City. We're convinced. This is the right plan for us. So the key question then becomes how right how are we planning on going after that go? What's the church we trying to be in pursuit of that? And I'm I'm trying to break this damn pretty quickly. I'm putting under two headings on the one hand. adding but that I'm putting focus on how our own church is going to pursue winning more people as followers of Jesus. How is it we're going to see people added to our number had we plan for that to happen to the kind of nuts and bolts practical level the day-to-day Trends and movements time thing. And then multiply level house this play at one level up. Okay, how do we plan and prepare and invest in order to multiply this Mission because that's the only way is possible to change a city or a country or a world. start with ad

What's the vision for our own church to win more people as followers of Jesus? I want to give you three mutually reinforcing pillars of first. wannabe people to have heads and hearts captivated by Jesus by Shoei is by what he's done heads and hearts captivated by Jesus and his forehead changing Gatherings go when we come together in these gatherings is to change our minds. For the Bible of the center, then we make it the the agenda for what we're learning and thinking about together the thing that shapes our how we think and how we drive. We have a teacher each week. He's dug deep into that taxed on their homework. We deliver extra week detailing weekly in our I'm t5r choking through the text in tennis in 10 intenso every week. We publish a short video sharing more what's been learned on our Facebook group. I'm going to go listen just a broadcast lots of information. That's a pretty ineffective way of communicating and some changing heads. I'm so we want to help him aspirin help us learn want to help us grow. Have you been with us before you notice? We have a strong participation emphasis these morning Gatherings will discuss with one another the things were here and we'll ask questions and answer them. We invite interaction. In our evening Gatherings, we dig deeper into the talk in small groups and that's going to start back up next Sunday. If you want to join that you're really welcome is 5 p.m. And its really easy. So it had changing through our Gatherings, but I wasn't isn't just for heads were also going for the hearts. We're looking for heart-stirring Gathering to see God has made us all people to think and you feel now you can be moved. So what we saying what we see what we say all these things matter to us. I would put a lot of effort into a music and visuals. God is giving us a lot of talented people are so wonderful thing. We put effort into that because it's one of the ways God calls us to express ourselves to him. But also is one of the ways God has designed us to be moved to be provoked to be stirred or we can be affected by what we sing and what we say and what we see we can be moved by these things are going is to fire up our hearts and our passions for God and then have those things lead us into his mission was not just our Gatherings together. They're doing these things that feeding our captivation with Jesus through the week. We share in prayer together. So we have a daily prayer text on which you will be welcome to join. The instructions are on slides after the Gathering and each day. We we share together in a point for prayer. I'm through the week going to be a family that Spurs one another on to love and good deeds and it said the book of Hebrews tells us to do that Hebrews 10:24. We connecting or evening small groups for the other connect to other groups to you like him the Women's Bible study just starting up. I like informal Gatherings like the relationships that are naturally building between us as people. And of course is the opportunity for some more intensity through that most my training program. I feel the time flexibility for that. But the first pillar we want to be a people whose hearts and heads are captivated by Jesus second. We talked about everyone everywhere everyday Mission. We understand our mission is to win as many people as possible. We think that belongs to everyone I belongs to us everywhere. We are it belongs to us every day. We're at church where everyone thinks of themselves as being on the front line. Our goal is to reach out with Jesus to a desperate World on there for a lot of us in particular for me. I'm this is a huge challenge. This is not my gift for somebody to be at the front of church is no good in that sort of thing. But I'm no good at that sort of thing. That might see in a better idea to leave this to The Talented or the professionals. But remember this is life and death. Picture this way. Okay picture this way if people are drowning all around you and you can swim just a bit. And you can get in and try and rescue some people hate and if you can't swim but you can throw a life ring is somebody while you can throw a life ring. It's an emergency. So done just leave it to the professionals the gifted the elite. Everyone involved everywhere on Mission follows us everywhere Our Lives take us to our colleagues that we work with those we meet with at the school Gates the friends. We hang over the weekend or sports team the neighbors over the fence all these different people need Jesus. Our church is for all these people. So it's going to be gathered yours is what we plan to be from the beginning not just reaching one local community about all the different places that we connect with people to everyone everywhere in the everyday wear Church, which thinks about helping others discovering Jesus becoming something everyday something we can manage more than once in a blue moon something that we weave into the ordinary stuff of life. We're trying to grow a new normal which helps us pursue meaningful connection and spiritual conversations in the everyday. We're not trying to be a church that has the occasional big mission events around. Whichever one comes to Our vision is a church filled with people taking small regular steps of mission the small things that can the small things that even I can manage. I just wanted to Haddon Heights captivated by Jesus to everyone everywhere everyday Mission final picture for that Edition flag. A welcoming growing family now right back in the earliest stages of the church is just as the gospel begins to break into non Jewish peoples and the Apostle James was one of the first leaders in the church. He says that she says we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles. She returning to God that's acts 15:19. We shouldn't make it difficult for the Gentiles returning to God as point was we want to minimize the barriers for people who are becoming Believers. That's the underlying motivation for this third pillar of our add fish one of your welcoming growing family what our Gatherings to be welcoming. So we buy we will work hard to make this accessible to people here in new to this. So we spend so much time explaining things which might be new to be unfamiliar with church each week. That's why we work hard to avoid inside a language. You're not very good at it. But we going to keep on trying to eradicate words that aren't immediately transparent that makes sense to people have The church is beyond our Gatherings that we want to be a church community that welcomes people turning to go to a place where people can find a sense of belonging even as their faith grows, even as they Journey towards believing grabs a community which has the space in the heart to embrace new people rather than keeping the mud distance a community encourages and invites people to join. A business to build a family not an organization Community with a real depth of connection one of her see that by being honest and real about who we are and sometimes we can present a very polished front we can look like we got it together and other things are going. Okay, but that's not a life. That's no real that's not real for Christians either. We want to be a people who share honestly the mess and the Brokenness of our real lives rather than hiding from each other. Went to live is the the family of the forgiven not the family of the sorted. When I started yet not finished yet. All of us are still journeying towards that promised Perfection. We will get there Jesus promised that we just know there yet.

So what level of my vision I had to focus on how our own church pursues winning more people as followers of Jesus three mutually reinforcing pinners, right? You can see how they reinforced heads and hearts captivated by Jesus leads us into everyone everywhere everyday Mission and everyone everywhere everyday Mission brings us into contact with and connection with people who we can welcome sign to a growing family. And as we see people welcomed into a growing family one more more captivated by the Jesus who saves them worthy something that's a really helpful reinforcing South things at the heart of how we conduct ourselves, but we're not done and I'm really sorry because that is really rather long for steaks, but I'll talk at slightly faster and that'll be all right right from work. If you take pieces out you lose something critical to the overall Vision. So try and stick with me just a little bit longer and we will make it that's the ad level that one level up. How do we plan to multiply the mission because it's the only way in the long-term to win as many people as possible. You see where we're at church plant, right? That's the mess for we've been using for the last little while I think we need for a minute. Okay. You got a garden patch a nice New Garden patch. It's nice to be dug out of her, okay. How does one plant come to fill an entire Garden patch? how does one tree come to fill an entire Forest is it by growing ever ever ever larger into one of Mega blondes know it's it is by reproducing by taking the seed that was first planted regrowing it and planting it again and again, And again, and that's what's going on at the most by level of the vision. We're not aiming to become a big church just to become a big shirt size is way too small given our Master given this Mission. We been talkin about given the urgency and the significance of what were involved in When is change the city? We need to change the country. We are aiming to change the world that's ridiculous ending isn't it? But it's actually reasonable future we've gotten to the size of Murray Field Stadium modestly successful. Things are going quite well quite impressed with ourselves and there we are sixty-seven thousand people that be cool with 67,000 people at church in the morning. Would that be cool sort of a man? That is a fair-sized come to the city. The city is about 40 of 400,000 people. It's a fair-sized chunk of The Wider lothians the Legends by 850000 people 67850 thousand. That's a fairly size tongue. The really that's just a drop in a nation of 5.8 million people. That's just a speck in a world of 7.7 billion changing the city or the nation. Let alone the world is completely impossible and side of this multiplication this reproduction. That's where our vision not just to add but to multiply cuts it and we said from the beginning on ambition was to plant more churches. The five years out is our initial stabbed. I want my be reasonable and what could conceivably be possible for that the prom we plan to do something five years out of course is five years away stays around five years away so you can have some reason for something 5 years in the future forever and you never have to get there. So we need to put a date on it to make sure it stays put and that would be 2020 323i feels far enough where the members not too terrifying but it will Rush up on us. It's scary, but it's still feasible is still within the Realms of possibility that the first part by X and then really is an ambition to plant. an ambition to plant churches don't plant themselves just like babies make themselves and their their steps involved in reproduction their decisions other actions their processes which take time to work through Our business to be deliberate about working through towards planting again. And again and James are plant cells have the same vision to work through to planting again and again,

That the sort of action has the potential to change the world. What does it take to plant a church with a bunch of here today? Who's been on the whole journey with Hive City just going to send it because you have been there and you've done that. Are you been there? And you've done that? It is not rocket science. Is it really but neither is a walk in the park Lansing means a whole new church a whole new baby a whole new body painting means recognizing and reproducing every part. Chobani more people you can stand at the front end 12 but easy to come by. During what part of the body that you might think of that being. Maybe it's a meth or maybe it's just a ton by imagine. If you just reproduced a tongue you are short on body and that is not reproducing a church. We need to multiply people speak at the front sure, but we got the most lightest reproduce music by those who are teaching our children. We need to multiply that you were praying behind the scenes. I would need to know for those who are organizing and administering quietly waiting to multiply those who are working to integrate newcomers Wheaton most by those who quietly care for others who are in need of Anita most by those who are encouraging the young who's faith is growing. Rated X 0 financing the needs of the church. We got almost let those who set up and take down each week every single part and the Bible uses a master of body as a metaphor for the church and number X says every Parts critical says every part of significant. Not just the visible not just allowed. We're different. We're all significant parts of the body that reproducing every pain and how is something like that happened while I was at a conference back in November one of my key takeaways with these four letters IC. And you on Sat for life is ICN you but if you say it fast it says I see in you I see in you and that was the idea. The idea was to look for tension within the others around us knowing God has placed it in them. He's prepared and events going good works for each of us to do through the gifts. He has given us Ephesians tells us

This is just at the conference was you could start the ball rolling simply using those four letters. Look at something saying I see in you someone who could I see. I knew someone who could teach children I see and you someone who could pray with a sort of persistence that we will need. I see in you someone who could lead a new church plant. Who is giving you that sort of challenge looked you in the eye? Suggested that you step up and play a part. I can be really significant you can imagine for letters could change your life. Now I could do this. I'm back up and trying to do this more and more. I'm not very well, but I've been trying but that's not enough to see us reproducing every part of our church want to challenge us to do is to try and build a culture where we all think. This is our part to play but we all think Joe. I know I play a role in this church. I know I am significant and the things I do matter because the Bible tells me I'm a part of the body and I am significant now, how will I reproduce myself in a few cuz I reproduce myself in Look for the potential God has placed in others. Call them to exploring. And as we find others looking to explore their potential that's encouraged them. Let's spread them on that support this give them opportunity. That's off of the my hand up his head when I go about it. Here's what I've learned kids while I get wrong most often. When I do this you want to try with me. Do you do you want me to help you have a good with it? You want some feedback on how you did? You are Church the soul and stretch every one's potential. That would make this for the most vacation possible.

Now I know that's been a little long. I think it's really important for us to remember from time to time why we're here and how it is. We're planning on going about pursuing that mission. I will here to win as many people as possible. It's an emergency. It's a command I can change the world. And we were going to do that works on two levels adding when our heads our hearts to be captivated by Jesus. We want everyone everywhere everyday engaged in Mission. You want to be a welcoming growing family? And the next level of don't have a clear ambition to plan 2023 forget tattoo winning the 2023 tattoo. That'll be good recognizing and reproducing every part of the body and seeing and stretching everyone's god-given potential because God has given gifts to all of his people. He prepared good works for each one of you to do in events. Not one of you is insignificant in his body. That's what we're about. That's the vision for Hope City Church service in last year salvation this year to I'm a prank and then we're going to flip into Q&A and then what we'll do is we'll just give you a minute to think about questions you'd like to ask. I'm in by the other leaders to come and join me and we'll try to answer those questions together, but let's pray first.

Got to go. Thank you that you have saved even us. Your Grace is so Marvelous Toy. And so easy for us to ever look at it forget

I know it has you save us we see the plant in the urgency in the Peril of those around.

Thank you that your son came to seek and save the lost and send us into that same mission.

Please I'm not with you at church. That pursues winning as many as possible. To transform the world for the glory of God. Please help us as we think about all these different pieces and how they might fit together as we try and create and shape and retain culture. Please. My your kingdom come I might your kingdom come through US my wife a wonderful joy of seeing you bring you life and people around us. He's not to be able to do this together as your one body.

I'm not going to do this by the power of your spirit work within us a man.