Irresistible disciples

Good Evening! How are we all. Last full day today. Anyone feeling particularly tired?

I would love it if you could turn to the person next to you and tell them what your favourite film is and why?

My favourite film growing up was Lord of the Rings, I’m not sure if you have ever seen it, but that was a film that I loved. The epic adventure. One of the things I love about films is you get lost in this other world. And I also believe that films can be really useful in helping us understand what it means to be church and I think that is true of Lord of the Rings. But more on that later.

Just to recap where we have got to so far. Well I’ve argued that Jesus is irresistible.

On Monday I said it was about the message and not the miracles and that Jesus is full of compassion.

On Tuesday we went through that message that Jesus is king, he has defeated death and his kingdom is an upside down kingdom. Jesus is the king? Is he the king of your life?

And yesterday we heard that the heart of Jesus is gentle and lowly. He says to all of us, come all who are weary and burdened. Come as you are. I spoke about this Japanese word called Kintsugi.

Yesterday I didn’t have my powerpoint with me and so here is a picture of a Kintsugi pot. I said that the heart of Jesus is like Kintsugi. No matter how broken we are, the heart of God is to restore. To create beauty from brokenness.

To me this is irrestible. Why? Because the God of the world invites us to come to him as we are. We don’t have to do anything other than come as we are. That is irresistible.

Well today I want to look at three things and ask what does this mean for us as we go from here.

We do this together

We do this for the world

We do this with God

And our passage, do have it open is Acts 1. Jesus has just risen, he has defeated death and he is with his disciples and he says this.”

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The disciples are basically like what is next?

first thing to note is that Jesus says to his disciples, go and be my witnesses. What does it mean by witness. Well remember I asked you what your favourite film was, as you told the other person you are witnessing to that film. You are telling other people about how great it is. You are representing that film. So Jesus basically says go and represent my kingdom. Everything I have taught and done

This kingdom of love. A kingdom where broken people are welcomed to come to Jesus and acknowledge him as King.

So firstly we do this together.

When Jesus says be my witnesses, notice how it is in the plural. When Jesus talks of coming to him it isn’t just about being an individual. Yes Jesus calls us as individuals, there is beauty in that his call is for everyone. He knows your name. He looks at every single one of you and says, whereever you are at come to me all who are weary and burdened.

But if you come to Jesus then you are invited into not just a relationship with God, but a relationship with his people. Some people call this a kingdom people. So going back to Lord of the Rings you will know that one of the main characters is Aragorn. I love Aragorn, when I was younger I used to the play the Lord of the Rings video game and would always choose Aragorn. But if you know the story Aragorn was a lone ranger, doing things by himself. It wasn’t until he became a part of the fellowship of the ring, a group of people, who were from very different backgrounds who had the job of destroying the ring that he was able to fully realise who he was, the king of Gondor.

It’s the same with faith. God doesn’t call us to be a lone ranger, he calls us be together. We do this together. We live out our faith together. It is why we do reload groups. As I said I got married last year and it was actually the last time I saw Simon Cansdale who married us. And my best man was there who was a friend from Download, we have lived life together. Encouraging one another, praying for one another, listening to one another and showing love to one another. For me this is what church is about.

I am passionate about church. The church is a place where broken people like you and I come to be remember and celebrate that Jesus is king. We are supposed to encourage and support one another. For me this week even as the guest speaker I have been encouraged and I feel I have gone deeper with God.

Keep reminding each other of the love God has for us. That Jesus is king of our lives and his heart his gentle and lowly. I believe that as we do that not only do we encourage each other to come God we also are a part of the Kintsugi process, the restoring process. Because if we love one another as Jesus loves us, it restores us.

I said yesterday there were some days which were very dark for me and I remember coming to a download week away and I felt so loved and even as a leader. And it was a part of the process of God bringing healing to areas of my life. The good news is we don’t walk alone. In another place in the Bible in John 13:35 Jesus says, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. So to be a witness means to do it together. What would it look like if Download was a place of Kintsugi love?

You might graduate from Download but you never graduate from the church, because we always need encouraging, reminding that Jesus is king and what that means for our lives. There are always moments where we have told eah others burdens. We are meant to do it together.

We are called to do this for the world.

I wonder if you have ever been anywhere amazing and wanted to share it. A few years ago I went to New Zealand and it was incredible and I couldn’t help but talk about it. SO much so that a couple of lads from my old reload group did exactly the same trip with the same tour bus a year later. It was as if I was representing the Kiwi Experience. Similiarly in our reload group yesterday the guys were chatting about five guys about the incredible milkshakes. Shout out to the Year 10s. Even for me, being dairy free, I was drawn in by these milkshakes. They were representing five guys.

So Download, church, where we celebrate that Jesus is king and love one another, is called to represent the kingdom of God to the world. Be my witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea Samaria and the world. Its interesting that Jesus says Jerusalem, which is the place where his disciples would have been comfortable. But also Samaria, a rival to Jerusalam. It might be a bit like Southampton or Portsmouth or maybe a rivalry between Henry Beufort, Kings and Westgate and any other schools or colleges. And then the world. This message of Kintugi love isn’t just for us, its for the world to know.

I think it is irresistible. These week aways are a foretaste of that love, its irresistible to be loved. Its why Jesus was good news to those who were unlovable. I don’t know about you but I look at the world around us and think wow it really needs to hear this message of Kintsugi love. You only turn on the news and you see that so clearly. We have just been through an incredibly difficult time as a country. As you have received love from God this week o and love the world, wherever you are.

We do this with God

When I was younger if ever there was an issue in our family my Dad would solve it. He was a like a super hero. Some of you may have or are starting to learn to drive. Well its expensive even back when I was learning so I got lessons with a guy who was training to be a driving instructor. And it was great for him, he got to practice his instructions and great for me because he gave me free lessons and we used my Mums car. And one day I had been driving with this guy. And I remember driving up to the drive. And then my foot slipped from the brake onto the accelerator. And we drove straight into my drive at speed. Only for my Dads car to be there. I end driving straight into my Dads car, which careers straight into the garage. Its literally carnage.

There is glass everywhere, my Dads car had a huge dent on the back and the garage paintwork is ripped. My Mum and Dad come running out and I literally peg it inside and burst into tears. I was devastated. My Dad was able to fix it. He bought a whole new bonnet for my Mums car and fixed the garage. And that was just one example of many. He used to fix everything. whilst that was amazing and I was so blessed by those things, the truth was I just wanted to do things with my Dad and spend time with him. But he would be so busy doing stuff, I struggle with that too today now that I am older and married. My wife just wants to spend time with me, but I want to be her hero and fix everything. I think that is the same as God, so often we think we need to go out and do things for God.

But we do things with God.

But notice what it says in these verses. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Because Jesus says to his disciples to wait until the Holy Spirit comes. There is a danger that we end up seeing faith as being really nice people. That it is so about love and loving people. Or that we have to be like avengers and save the world and its all on us. We can forget the God part. Because God is love. And we love the world not out of some moral duty, but because we believe that Jesus is the king who loves to restore. We don’t do this by ourselves but in partnership with God.

Quite often leaders of Download are people who were in Download themselves. I used to be in Download, Tommy, Tom, India, Harry and Alex Sermon who was in my small group at the last week away. What you soon learn if that is ever you ever become a leader is that leaders are awesome. They put in so much time and effort and love to make all this happen. But every morning we have a prayer meeting, why? Because we know we partner with God in this, in fact he takes the lead.

As you go from here my prayer is that Download and wherever you go might bring this Kintsugi love to the world. This love that reaches out for the broken and needy and through the love of God through us we would see broken lives restored. But go, knowing that God is with you already working.

SO as we go from here,

We do this together.

We do this for the world

We do this with God.

He is the kingdom builder and he wants us to join in as we come to him.

What would it mean if Download was a place of Kintsugi love.

I would love to pray for some people. Firstly I feel there are some people here who really wanted to get prayer yesterday but didn’t. Now is a chance to respond. We would love to pray for you.

Secondly maybe some of you feel like a lone ranger, you feel God is saying come to my family and do this together. You are not alone.

Lastly maybe some of you have been trying to live out the Christian walk by yourself and you want to receive prayer that as you go you may begin to learn what it is to love the world with God, rather than for God.

I’ll pass over to and they will lead the response.