Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Bless you. Please, please calm down.
You bunch of, I don't know what you know, you bunch of wow,
honestly, thank you. Didn't think I had any more
tears in me actually, but here we go.
Last week was my proper last sermon 'cause I preached for 35
minutes. I've only been given 10 minutes,
which is a bit dangerous because, well, you know, I have
a habit of going over as you know, but in the short time in a
moment, I'm going to invite up my better half, my beautiful
wife, Steph. But yes, we're is right.
But before I do that, I just want to share some thoughts and
some words. Firstly, I actually just want to
say thank you to the wonderful John and Debbie Wright, our
national Directors Vineyard. Can we just honour these guys?
Thank you for being here. Steph and I have just been so
blessed by your support and your love and your friendship these
past seven years. We've had some good times
together. And thank you for being here on
our on our last Sunday. And I want to say as a movement,
we are so blessed to have John and Debbie as our leaders.
I am so grateful to God for them and their faithfulness to the
Lord and their passion for him and his church.
And can we just give them another hand, please?
We love you guys. Bless you Well, church, here we
are, our final Sunday with you as your pastors.
And I appreciate this has probably felt like the longest
goodbye ever, which I'd like to apologize for.
Everything seems to be the last of.
And it's hard to put into words really, truly what this journey
has meant to us as a family. You know, 13 years ago, Steph
and I with two young girls and Steph was preggers with Daniel
of preggers. Check me out, Walk through those
doors. And here we are 13 years later,
a little bit more grey hairs, but what a journey it's been.
I look around the room at all of you guys and I recall the
stories that we've shared, the highs, the lows, the ways we've
seen God move. And I want to say from the
bottom of my heart, Steph and I and the family will carry you in
our hearts always. And we will be forever grateful
for the privilege, honestly, the privilege and joy it has been to
be your pastor for this season. Thank you for letting us love
you. Thank you for letting us lead
you. I'm so grateful to God for this
opportunity. But today, as I end, I don't
want to make this about looking back.
Rather, I want to spend a short time looking ahead because while
we are moving on and soon you will have the wonderful Chuck
and Taron Freeland, our next senior.
Why do you stand, guys? Come on, please stand.
Here they are. You know, Steph and I are so
grateful for you, too. We love you guys and we're just
so excited for you in the church.
And you know, as I said, as we move on, what this moment
represents for us is this a reminder that one thing that is
constant is change. Why, I hear you ask.
That's a very good question. Thank you for asking it.
Because God and his Kingdom is always on the move, Amen?
And we, we are a people on a journey.
We are a movement on the move. And at Verso, we will always be
a church captured by the Great Commission to extend His Kingdom
as we make Jesus known to a world around us.
Amen. And so I want to leave you with
three reminders. Every preacher loves a three.
I did have 9, but I didn't have half an hour.
So you know, there we go. Are you ready for the first one?
Well done #1 is this the more of God, the best yet?
Ephesians 320 says this now to him who is able to do abundantly
more then all that we ask or think according to the power at
work within us. Listen Church, don't be lulled
into the belief that the best days are behind you.
God has even more always. His Spirit is still at work, His
promises are still true, and He has not finished with you yet.
Listen, Church, you've seen him move how we have seen him move
together these past seven years so powerfully in our midst.
But hear me when I say you haven't seen everything yet.
You've tasted his goodness, but there is more to come.
You've seen the miracles, we've seen the healings, we've seen
the freedom. But that is just the start.
You've watched as we've grown, as as we've extended our reach
to reach the lost. But that's only the start.
And so my encouragement to you as we leave is simply this.
Keep pressing it. Keep seeking Him.
Keep expecting Him to do immeasurably more than you could
ask or ever imagine. Because God is seeking a people
who are walking by faith, not by sight.
And listen, God is always a rewarder of those who diligently
seek Him. Hebrews 11/6.
I wanted to share this. The best is yet to come.
There were promises on this house that have yet to be fully
fulfilled and we are excited for what is coming next.
I said 3 Didn't I #2 love and serve one another?
Jesus, His own words. John 1335 He said this.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples.
If you have love. Jesus made it plain the way.
The world will know you belong to Him by your love for one
another. Notice he didn't say by your
building, by your exploits, by your programs, by the sermon, or
by the music. All good though they are and
have their place. But how will the world know that
we are his? By loving. 1 So can I ask,
Forgive quickly, serve humbly. Honour one another above
yourselves. Carry each other's burdens as
you already do. Cry with one another when there
are tears. Laugh with one another when
there is laughter. Let us continue to make this
place a place where anyone who walks through these doors at
Saint Albans, doors at Hatfield or the doors at Hemel, a place
where people feel the love of God, the love of Christ, even
before they hear a single word spoken.
Let your love friends, be louder than your words.
Let your serving be the sign to the world that Jesus is alive.
In this church family, we first love for one another and I want
to say thank you for loving Steph and I as well.
And as I bring this plane to land, Please ensure your
seatbelts are fastened and your tray tables are up.
We may go in for a bumpy landing #3 keep Jesus at the center.
Keep Jesus at the centre of it all.
Hebrews 12/2 says look into Jesus founder and effect.
Jesus is our foundation. Jesus is our hope.
Jesus is the one who started the work in you, not the leader,
Jesus. And he will bring it to
completion. As the leadership transitions,
as seasons change, as the future unfolds, always keep your eyes.
I want to encourage you in this next three months as we
transition and we have the wonderful team here leading and
they're going to do a fantastic job.
And as we prepare for January the 11th when we celebrate,
we'll be celebrating from a beach in Australia watching you
online, but we'll be there watching as we Commission the
wonderful Jack and Taran to lead in that time.
Don't get distracted, don't lose sight of your first love.
If you'll keep Jesus at the centre, This church, this church
always thrive. How do you do that?
You surrender it all to Him. You lay your life down for Him.
Why? Because He laid his life down.
You know, it says in Romans 12/1.
Brothers and sisters, in light of God's mercy, in light of all
that He has done for us, offer yourselves as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, because that is your
worship. You know words.
Love is not words only. It is a life and obedience to
Him. My my encouragement to you is
this lay it all down for him. That's the best place to be with
that I am. God bless you.
Let me invite Steph up to join me.
Come up, Steph. Oh gosh, you prepare yourself,
but you never quite know how it's going to feel when you get
up here. But thank you for that beautiful
applause. It means so much.
Gosh, where to start? Haven't got much time.
So just really touching what Mark said, you know, coming
through the doors 13 years ago, almost 13 years ago, we, we knew
we'd arrived home. We both said to each other, this
is going to be our home. But gosh, we didn't know then
what God would have in store for our journey here.
And we're just so grateful. I'm just looking around the room
now and looking at all these beautiful faces.
Many we've journeyed with, many I've prayed with.
It's been a privilege and an honour.
And Mark and I leave here more richer than when we came through
those doors. And we're so, so grateful to
God. We want to thank you for loving
us, for releasing us so beautifully with such grace.
Because it's not been easy, but you've chosen to, to do that and
you've really blessed us in that choice.
So we wanna thank you. I've written down notes, but I'm
not one to read from notes, as you know.
I like to just speak from the heart.
So I'm gonna, oh, I asked the Lord for a word, 'cause you
know, I love to give words. And I've struggled actually.
But this morning during the worship, when the sound went a
bit funny, I was like, OK, Lord, you're doing something, you
hear? And immediately he gave me a
picture of all of you and us on a battlefield.
And there was multitudes, multitudes of us.
And in this beautiful picture, Mark and I actually, and the
kids were taken out and it was almost like we were being taken
away to rest. And I continued looking at this
picture, and I could see drummers drumming.
I could see the messengers running backwards and forwards
along the lines. I could see people watching on
the walls looking out for the enemy.
And I saw Chuck and Taryn being bought in to lead at the front.
And some of you have been called to lead just behind them.
And I just want to encourage you that this is you are going into
an exciting season. This is not the end.
You've been called as a mighty army and warrior for the King of
Kings and he wants you to continue on.
He wants those that have been called to drums, they continue
drumming, those that have been called to bring the messages up
and down to those who are at the front and those to watch out for
the enemy to watch. I wanna ask the Lord to bless
you that you would continue in that journey and that you will
continue with might and power. And we will be watching.
Well, from the beach in Australia.
Don't be jealous. I'm just saying.
Which is gonna be amazing. We are.
Yeah. We're looking forward to that.
But no, on a serious note, I pray the Lord would bless you
and that you would know the strength of the Lord in this
season and in these three months, as Mark said, when we're
not here, that you would be a blessing to those that have
stepped in to lead you and to walk alongside you.
So many thank yous. I love you all and we thank you
all, but I just want to thank my children really quickly.
Where are they? One there, two over there.
Lucy, Ellie and Daniel. Good luck.
Stand up, stand up. God bless them.
We thank God for our beautiful children and you know it hasn't.
It's not a choice they made. We made the choice for them and
they've been amazing. It's not been easy, but I really
believe the Lord's got some great things ahead for all three
of you because of your faithfulness to us and because
he's seen the sacrifice. So I'm really excited to do the
journey with these kids. We're looking forward to this
next season with you for the joys for the for for so much, so
much is coming. So many good things for all of
you. Yeah.
So this is my final for you and I'm gonna hand over to you.
Am I rambling on? Oh, you're.
Doing looking at me like, no, I'm not.
This is beautiful. It's wonderful.
Yeah. We we can actually lock the
doors and keep people in the room for as long as we want.
Keep you in. I'll pass back to Mike.
Well. That bless you that that's it
from from us for now, but we'll probably be back pop up back on
the stage in a moment. But we're going to invite up the
wonderful John and Debbie. So let's give them a hand as
they come to the stage. Give them a mic.
I think I'll manage with this. It's OK, Richard.
Thanks. So anyway, we're really
delighted to be with you today, participating in what is really
quite a a key moment in the life of this church.
Debbie and I were present seven years ago when Christopher
Slain, who planted and LED the church here for three decades.
They handed on the baton of leadership to Mark, and it's
been just a really a joy to watch on from the sidelines and
see what the Lord has done under his leadership and with Steph
since then. Over these last seven years,
Mark and staff have pastored and taught and cared for and loved
those of you in this room, many more beyond, as well as those of
you, you know, sort of watching virtually or in the other two
sites. And it's been a wonderful thing
for many of you. They've envisioned and shaped
this church and its ministries, not least Verso Care, showing
the love of Jesus in practical ways, verse in music, crafting,
recording homegrown songs and events like Love Your Street,
where I'm told you carried out over 1800 hours of actions,
reaching out to your neighbors and friends.
And as a church, you've expanded beyond these walls into sites in
surrounding towns. Under their leadership, this
church has thrived. Debbie and I love Mark and
Steph. I've particularly got to know
Mark over recent years, especially through the lunches
that we have had together every few months.
He's driven up to Nottingham again and again, discussing life
and ministry and church health and church growth.
I appreciate his passion, his energy, and his desire to learn
and to grow as a husband, father, leader and pastor, and
his desire to be obedient always to the Lord's leading.
Marcus Steph, you have faithfully served the Lord in
the assignment He gave you 7 years ago.
You have fulfilled your ministry here.
You've run with perseverance. You just refer to the same
chapter, this leg of your race with your eyes fixed on Jesus.
You've run with perseverance. And as you continue to follow
his lead in whatever the next leg of the race holds for you
and your family, we trust He will continue to bless you and
many others through you. And we want to pray blessing
upon you both, and Lucy and Ellie and Daniel with gratitude
for all you've poured into this church and to ask his blessing
for the next leg of the race that he's marked out for you.
We also join you in praying for His continuing blessing on Verso
Vineyard as you as a church, continue to press into your
calling to create spaces and places for people to encounter
Jesus here in Saint Albans, in your neighborhoods, your
workplaces, your schools, on your streets or anywhere you
find yourselves. To continue to serve God and
each other in this church. To work alongside each other, to
pray for each other, to grow in your discipleship, and to love
and care for those in need. In other words, to continue to
partner with God in extending His Kingdom.
Chuck and Taran, who will be picking up the baton from Mark
and Steph in January, are exceptional leaders.
They work closely with Debbie and me as our as two of our four
associate national directors and our truly extraordinary people.
We are very confident that they are called and well equipped to
lead you into the wonderful future that God has designed for
you. Today is a significant moment in
the life of this church. As Mark said last Sunday, there
are, of course, mixed emotions. On the one hand, there is
gratitude, which they feel for you.
And I would add, you feel for them.
And there's sadness for Mark and Steph as they leave this
wonderful church which is so dear to them.
And there is sadness for you as you say goodbye to your dear
pastors. There's also excitement for what
God is going to do through Chuck and Taran and you all in the
next chapter. You may be sad to be saying
goodbye to Mark and Steph. You may be reflecting on the
past with gratitude. You may be excited about Chuck
and Taran joining you and leading into the future.
It's entirely normal to feel a range of emotions at the same
time. 1 doesn't exclude another. Being thankful for the past,
grieving the loss of your beloved pastors Mark and Steph,
and celebrating with expectation as you enter this new season
with Chuck and Taran are all healthy parts of processing a
significant change like this. Today is a moment to remind
ourselves that this church, like every expression of the body of
Christ around the globe, is God's church.
I find this perspective really helpful.
Senior pastors, whether that is Chuck and Taran, Mark and Steph,
or Chris and Fliss before them, are simply assistant pastors
under shepherds to the Great Shepherd, the Lord whose church
this is, and with him at the head and those he is called to
lead. Chuck and Tara in this case,
responding as they have in obedience.
We have every confidence that this church will continue to
thrive into this new season, just as we have every confidence
that Mark and Steph and their family as they step out in
obedience will thrive in Australia and that the Lord has
gone before them into their new season.
I loved Mark's exhortation to you last Sunday that he's
touched on again today. Don't shrink back.
Press in and press on. God has not finished with you
and the best is yet to come. We're going to be joined by
Richard and Claire, Max and Lissie and Debbie, and I'm
guessing must be Mark and Steph if we're laying hands on them.
Thank you. We're actually oh, no, they're
not going to, but never mind. That's fine.
I was wondering whether the children wanted to come up.
But it's perfectly all right to be who you are.
Oh, Daniels coming. Hey, Daniel and oh, they are
well done. Well done.
You know, it's it's it's hard. It's hard being pastors, kids.
Our own boys remind us they're in their 30s and they remind us
all the time how hard it's been to be passed as kids.
There is a unique challenge, but there's also blessing, and
that's why we want to play blessing on all of you.
As you move to Australia, I want to invite you to extend your
hands to reach out because it is significant.
The Bible tells us to lay hands on one another.
We can't all touch them, but we are going to be laying hands on
them and we're going to be welcoming the presence of the
Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit.
We recognise that this is a moment when God the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit watches on. This is a significant moment in
the life of this family as a church and this family, this
family who have been together called not just to be here, to
be involved in leading the church.
We pray. Incredible blessing on Mark and
Steph. We thank you and we thank you
for all of you, this family, for the sacrifices that you've made,
for how you have looked to Jesus through the buffetings, even the
blessings. But now we also recognise that
you are being obedient in saying yes to go to Australia.
And Lord, we pray for this family as they set off in that
obedience, as they run the next leg of the race that you have
set before them, that you have prepared a place for them that
you know the the family, the community of faith that you'll
surround them with. You have prepared that.
Lord, may you settle their hearts as they venture forward.
Protect them on the journey across the vast ocean.
May they land in peace and joy. May they go out in peace.
May they go forward in joy, in love, in hope.
Lord, we pray for work, new business ventures, whatever
comes of that, whatever you have for all of them, Lord, school,
but they may settle in the schools.
All of you, Daniel, Lucy, Ellie, that you may settle in your
schools. Well, that you may have
wonderful friends. Lord, we pray right now for best
friendships, for friendships in clubs and and friendships in
church. May what you have done here, the
blessing that this church has been part of, may you be blessed
or may you reap a harvest that you don't even know you're going
to reap. But what you have sown here, may
you reap a harvest that turns around and blesses you as well
in Jesus name. In Jesus name.
And just a picture in a similar sense of that, just this image
of Mark, Steph and the kids jumping onto a boat and sailing
off to sea. And there's sadness in that.
There's sadness for us as we see them disappear off into the
distance and, and for them as they watch us disappear off into
the distance. But Father, I do thank you that
you have prepared this journey for them, that this is a journey
of luxury. This is a journey of the finest
caliber. And Lord, we ask that you would
give them rest, that you would give them peace, that this will
be a time of restoration, a time of reflection, and a time of joy
as a family. And Father, I thank you that no
ships sail without a destination in mind.
And Lord, I thank you that you've gone ahead of them, that
you've prepared the port to receive them there.
There are people, there are things that are waiting in
expectation for the halvagines to arrive, arrive.
And the Father, you have gone before them in all the areas
that they were just prayed. And Lord, those promises are
firmly in your hands. So the Lord, we ask that these
guys would just sense and receive and experience that
peace and all its fullness, that this next journey, Lord God,
will be a time where you bring them closer.
The time whether you bring them just as one, as one family, as
one mind, as one spirit, as you move in them and amongst them
and through them. In the name of Jesus, we ask,
bless them. We're the richest of Verso
blessings we send them. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Amen. I, as I prayed for you this
week, and I have shared it a little bit with your mum and
dad, kids, but I had a really strong image of waves and this
season where you're the wave has been crashing on the shore here
at Verso and you've poured yourself out on this, on this
beach. We're going with the beach
theme, Mark. But I, the, the image was that
the, this season has been about now drawing back into the ocean
as a wave draws back out. And, and in that drawing, it can
feel scary and you can feel like, where am I going?
Where am I being pulled? And kids, I know that this time
is it's tough. It feels many things and and
hard in many ways. But in the drawing back what the
world is doing, he's forming a new wave.
And there's that moment when you're in the ocean where you're
drawn back out and suddenly you catch the new wave and it's
suddenly you're like laughing and you're celebrating and
enjoying what is to come. And I see that as an image of
the future. Like in this, in these days and
weeks, it's going to feel a bit like you're being drawn out and
where are we going? Where are we going?
And then the Lord's going to turn the wave and you're going
to ride it. And there's going to be new joy
and fresh goodness of the Lord to experience together as a
family. But I also sense, Mark and
Steph, that that wave isn't just for your family.
But actually, I think there's something of this moment where
you've sensed the quiet revival that we've talked about here in
England. And I, I, I feel like there's
almost like, oh, where do we want to go?
Do we want to be here to experience it?
And I feel like I just want to prophecy over you that you will
take the goals of you have experienced in this moment and
you are going to take it to land it on the shores of Australia.
And so Father, I want to prophecy over them in this
moment that you will do abundantly more than they could
ever imagine that we send them out into the nations to with the
Great Commission is their Commission directly from you to
make disciples in Australia and to lead people to you in new
ways. So God, I just pray that this
isn't the end. This is just a bigger wave that
is forming through them in the workplace in church and whatever
that looks like. But it would be full and good
and joy filled and immeasurably more than we could ask or
imagine just. Going to oh, hi guys.
You know, I've been reflecting on sometimes we talk about how
we can't choose our family, but you guys have been family that
we chose. And I just want to thank you,
Max and I both want to thank you for welcoming us into your
family and kids. How you've loved on my kids, and
you didn't have to do that, but you've shown such grace and such
generosity, which you've learned from your parents.
And there is just such gold in you that is still to come out.
And I just feel the sacrifices that you have made, like what
everybody's already said that you were going to see.
You're going to see gold from it.
All right. I'm looking at you, Ellie.
I feel really drawn to you. The Lord is not done with you
yet. There's more to come for you.
And I know you've had your struggles and your battles, but
the Lord says, I see you rise up, my beloved child, and you
are a woman of no compromise. And that is going to be a weapon
for the Kingdom. But I pray, I know all three of
you, I just declare and prophecy over you that you are Kingdom
children that are going to make a difference in this world.
And then Mark and Steph, my brother and sister, I was just
as I was praying for you, I just felt you've lived a life of
humility. And I got James 4 verse 6, which
says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
And Proverbs 22, humility is the fear of the Lord.
And I just, I want to speak that over you.
I feel like that is a verse the Lord is calling you into greater
humility because he wants to bless you, because he wants to
empower you and to always remember that.
And then I had it while Matt and I were praying, I had a picture
of an arrow. And it was like, you know, in an
arrows, it's on its direction and it's being kind of slowed
down by the drag. And I felt like you are both
that arrow and interestingly, scientifically, a heavier arrow
has more momentum. And there's something about when
you 2 unite and minister together, just seeing you on the
platform before you are a force to be reckoned with.
And the impact that you have is incredible.
And Mark, you are such a man of precision and you are such a man
of no compromise. And the Lord delights in that.
And Steph, the warrior that you are, where you have stood on the
sidelines and you have championed your husband and
guys, the things that you have been through that you haven't
made public, but the sacrifices that you have made, the Lord
sees that. And Steph, I was also reminded
of when you first went into the pastorate team and I was looking
at that Proverbs first about the virtuous wife and how often we
kind of. Look at the at.
Virtue you kind of like nice girl that you know is really
polite and sweet and TS and crosses their TS and dots their
I's. But actually the Hebrew word for
it is hail, which means strong, mighty warrior.
And you are a seer and you are both truth speakers.
And I want to bless that in this world where there's so many
compromises. You are truth speakers.
And then just one more thing. Sorry, I know I'm going on a
bit, but I love you so much. I had the word safe space as
well. And that can kind of sound
quite, you know, generic. But I was as I was reflecting on
on it more, I was thinking, not all safe spaces are what we
think. You know, in the world.
When the war was happening, people hid in the London
Underground. When David was hiding from the
king, he hid in a cave. It was a safe place, but it was
uncomfortable. And I just feel like you guys
create a safe place to have uncomfortable conversations with
people, but they feel safe because they know that they are
loved. And you call out what is right
and you call out what is wrong. So although the circumstances
feel uncomfortable, you guys are a safe haven and a safe place
for people. So I really want to affirm you
in that. Thank you Jesus.
Yeah, market staff, Lucy, Ellie, Daniel, thank you so much for
the last seven years. And as I was praying earlier
this this week, I just asked the Lord to just to give me like a
picture about your ministry the last seven years.
And I just got this beautiful picture for you. 2 standing
here, having a really full sack and just handing out tools to
people. And it's almost like you have
enabled so many people to start ministries from youth to mission
to the different sides. And the Lord is so proud of
that. That has come through that.
And I just want to say thank you that you have enabled people,
you have released people, you have really given them backing
and hope. And after all these last days
and weeks, you know, like again and again, I'm just hearing
people saying, you know, Mark was in my corner and he just
just encouraged me. He just cheered me on and
stuffed the same with you. So I just want to say thank you
for both of you for releasing so many people.
Thank you that the Lord is working through you and
everything that was birthed out of this.
And I just want to like Echo, my wife, Lizzie, you know, God sees
the sacrifice that you have done and that you've gone through the
last seven years and so much beauty has has just come out of
this. So Lucy Alley, Daniel, thank
you. Thank you also for just being
the children and going through them with them and not as you
just go and as we just send them off.
Father, will you bless them? Will you cover them?
Will you just cover them from head to toe and your blessing?
Will you give rest and peace and joy and just excitement for the
next season? Thank you for everything that
they have done. Thank you Jesus.
We just as a gathered people want to express gratitude to
Mark and Steph, Lucy, Ellie, Daniel, gratitude for all that's
got on in these many years, the 13 years, but also particularly
in the last 7. And as you get on an airplane
and fly. Our prayer is that you would
look back with rejoicing and fulfillment and a sense of well
done for the way you've poured your lives out in this
community. And we bless you.
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep
your hearts, Lucy, Ellie, Daniel, Mark and Steph in the
knowledge and love of God and his dear Son, our Savior Jesus
Christ, and the blessing of God the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit be upon you as a family this day and for always.
Amen.