We are one church. We love God, love people, love
His mission, and love His church.
Welcome to the One Church podcast we were saved on.
Purpose for a purpose, and one of the most exciting things I
think about. Being a follower of.
Jesus is the purpose we receive when we enter.
God's Kingdom. We aren't just forgiven and then
we wait until we. Die to go to.
Heaven, but we are. Given a purpose on Earth.
To live as citizens of the Kingdom of.
Heaven here on earth. Ephesians 2, verse 10.
Says where we are God's handiwork created in.
Christ Jesus to do. Good works.
Which God? Prepared in advance for us to
do. But what are these good works?
Well, it says the verse before. That in verse 6 and God raised.
Us up. With Christ and seated us with.
Him in the heavenly. Realms in Christ Jesus.
In order that in the coming ages he might display the surpassing
riches of his. Grace demonstrated by His
kindness to us in Christ Jesus so.
Even though we're physically here on.
Earth spiritually. We are seated in the heavenly
realms of Christ Jesus so that God might display his riches
through us. Somehow, somehow, us normal,
kind of rather fragile, ordinary people, we've been given the
privilege to display the. Power of God to demonstrate his
wonders and the. Everyday Christian life isn't
just. Touch on Sunday, I'm sure you'll
be glad to know. It's living as ambassadors of
this Kingdom of heaven that. We're now in and.
Then demonstrating the surpassing riches that we.
Have found in him now in Bible times an ambassador.
They were authorised messages or or like.
Representatives, often a high. Ranking official and they were
sent by the. King or the ruler?
Of the nation to. Convey messages to negotiate.
Treaties and in Two Corinthians 5, Christians are called
ambassadors of Christ. Our purpose is to represent.
God's Kingdom on. Earth and live as citizens of
Heaven. On Earth.
But what does the Kingdom of Heaven look like?
I hear you ask. Well, it looks like the one who
rules it, right? Looks like King Jesus and the
character of God shapes the Kingdom we're in and our.
God is God of love and power, so it says in Psalm 62 verse 11.
One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard power
belongs to you God, and with you Lord is unfailing love.
He is the God. Of love and power, He's the God
of grace and might. He's the God of mercy and
miracles. And as followers of Jesus, this
is the life that we've been called into, a life displaying
the surpassing riches of God's. Mercy and miracles.
A life experiencing God's. Deep.
Compassion and his mighty. Power and.
More and more I'm becoming. Convinced that in the.
Christian life, we can't separate the two.
Out of His mercy comes miracles, and when we at work, our faith.
It like. In our humanness, we can we can
so often fall into the trap of just focusing on one aspect.
Of God's character, but our purpose.
On Earth is to live. A life of mercy.
And miracles of miracles. And mercy.
We can't just be. Kind people without
supernatural. And on the other hand, we can't.
Believe in miracles without. Loving the person that we're
praying for and there's a growing hunger in me and.
I think in many of us, as I talk to you, that we want to be
walking in the power of God. And living as ambassadors.
Of the Kingdom of Heaven. Here on Earth.
So how do we do? That Well, let's look at the
life of. Jesus and see how he ministers
mercy and miracles. So firstly, Jesus ministers
mercy. Throughout the whole.
Of Jesus's earthly life. We see that his life.
Is marked by compassion he has for the people around him.
He doesn't let social boundaries or cultural expectations stop
him from showing mercy to those who are in need.
He blessed. The little children.
He stretched out his. Hand to the lepers.
He fed. Those who are hungry.
He comforted the grieving, he rescued the lost, forgave the
wrongdoer every. Action of Jesus's was an act of
mercy. I love this.
Definition of Mercy Mercy is a love that responds to human need
in an unexpected or unmerited. Way mercy is the.
Action to respond to somebody. Jesus felt compassion, He felt
love towards people around him, and then he showed mercy by
doing something about it and responding to the need.
He saw. And here in Matthew. 21 It's
just one of many, many. Examples of Jesus showing mercy
As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd
followed him and two men were sitting by the roadside, and
when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted.
Lord Son of David, have mercy on us.
And the crowd rebuked them and told them to be.
Quiet, but they shouted all the louder.
Lord Son of David, have mercy on us, Jesus.
Stopped and called them. What do you want me to do?
For you, he asked Lord, they answered, We want our sight.
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes immediately
they received their sight and followed him.
Maybe that's your cry today, Lord, Son of.
David, have mercy on. Me, in the heart of Jesus for
you is compassion. He has a deep, deep love for
you, and he hears your cry. I love that in one church there
are so many ministers of mercy, people who quietly see the need
around them and are moved by compassion and do something
about it. There's the Benson's and the
Dave. 'S.
Who drive a van with free furniture for people sleeping on
floors. There's the Katie and John's who
serve breakfast to people at the Cafe church in the village.
They're the the Sandra's who sought clothing donations for
those in need. There's the.
Errands who give up sleep to pastor those on the streets at
nightclubs, there's. The David and Linda's who
petition for paperwork. For asylum seekers.
And there's the. Roger and Rosie's who prepare
meals for people when they have no kitchen.
And I could keep going. I could name every one of us are
the Mercy you Show and this moves my heart because this is
church. We're a body that love and
minister mercy and it just makes me proud to be part of a church
that prioritises mercy. It reminds me of.
You know when Paul is shipwrecked and and on the
island of Malta. That that they're so kind to
them. And they say that the Islanders
are described as having unusual kindness and.
And I believe as a church, we are people of unusual.
Kindness, I just. Got me thinking, you know in
June when we have our go day, we are being.
Ministers of Mercy. We're we're seeing the need and
we're. Responding to it.
When we look. At the life of Jesus.
Just you can't help but see just mercy, like almost oozing out.
Oozing out of him as he responds to those in front of him.
So Jesus also ministers. Miracles.
Now you may have heard of the author, historian and
broadcaster Tom Holland and a few years back he was being
interviewed at a leadership conference in the Royal Abbott
Hall and Nicky Gumbel. Asked what he would like to get
off his chest. In front of 500 Church.
Leaders. And Tom Holland describes
himself as an agnostic. But without hesitation, he
replied. You need to talk more about the
weird stuff. The thing is, he enthused the
church. Has been way too.
Successful. At which point everyone in the
room looks a bit surprised. I mean.
You, the church. Kind of invented care for the
poor, but now we. Have the welfare state.
Your monasteries pioneered healthcare and education, but
now we have the NHS and state schools.
Your Bible uniquely teaches human dignity, the ultimate
value of every individual. But now we have the European
Convention of Human Rights. The state has basically stolen
all your best. Ideas The only thing you have
left because. They can't really take this from
you. Is the weird stuff.
It's the supernatural claims of. Christianity that unsettle
cynics like me. It's your weird.
Stuff that makes us sit up and wonder whether you might
actually. Be more than just a sort of
metaphysical alternative to the. Liberal Democrats.
What an answer is that? He says.
Talk about the weird stuff. Well, Jesus did a lot of weird
stuff. His life was.
Marked by the Miraculous and Pete Gregg summarises.
It really well here, he said Jesus was.
Born of a virgin. Just think about that.
His first miracle involved changing 680 litres of water
into the best wine. He once used a freshwater fish
as a cash point. He walked on a lake and threw at
least one wall, claimed to see Satan fall from heaven like
lightning, spent quality time with a couple of men who'd been
dead for almost 1000 years. He frequently.
Conducted exorcisms. Knew what people were thinking.
Altered. The weather with his words
multiplied, food performed healings, and physically he
raised the dead. That's some weird stuff, isn't
it, In his gospel. John writes about 7 miracles of
Jesus and John's gospel is often called the book of signs because
this is the word sign that John uses for miracles.
So for example, when Jesus turned water into wine, John
writes this. What?
Jesus. Did here in the Canaan of
Galilee was the first of the signs through.
Which he revealed his. Glory and His disciples believed
in Him. So when you're in a new place,
we. Try and navigate around and we
pay attention to the signs, don't we?
Or we should. Unless you're being stubborn and
you think, no, it's fine, I know where I'm going.
I know some people like that, not looking at them.
So last week we were on a holiday and you need.
Signs, don't you, to get around. I mean, the metro system over
there is amazing, but there's so many exits and entrances.
That you get lost. If you don't use the signs,
signs tell us. Where we are now or where we're
going. And This is why, John.
Describes the miracles of Jesus are signs.
They signpost us to who Jesus is and tell us where we're heading.
They give us a glimpse of the heavenly reality that we have in
store for us. They're physical ways that.
Point us to the deeper truths of Jesus.
They're basically signposts to the creator, like neon lights
pointing about him and highlighting Jesus character.
And when the Kingdom of God breaks into our reality, we see
His glory and His. Splendour and get a.
Taste of the World. That is to come where there will
be no more death or sickness or destruction.
Miracles are a signpost. To the.
Lord of all creation. And Jesus signs.
And wonders are not only to show us his power and His Majesty,
but they signpost us to his character.
We see his. Mercy through the miracles we
see His mercy for the frightened.
Disciples in the Storm. We see his mercy.
For the man who was tormented by hundreds of demons.
We see Jesus's. Mercy for the 5000 hungry
people. We see his mercy for the.
Servant of the Centurion. We see his mercy.
For the 10 isolated lepers. So let's look at.
His mercy for the sisters of Lazarus in John 11.
So what happens is Lazarus is sick and word is sent to Jesus,
but Jesus doesn't go straight away.
He waits and then he travels and this is what happens.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she
fell at his feet and said. Lord, if you had.
Been here, my brother would not have died.
And when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along
with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and
troubled. Where have you laid him?
He asked. Come and see, Lord, they
replied. Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, See how he loved him.
But some of them said. Could not he have?
Opened the eyes of the blind man.
Have kept this man from dying. Jesus once more deeply moved,
came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid
across the entrance. Take away the stone, he said.
But Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man.
By this time there is a bad odour, for he has.
Been there four days. And then Jesus said, did I not
tell you that if. You believe you will see the.
Glory of God. So they took away the stone.
Then Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you
have heard. Me.
I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit
of the people standing here, that they may believe that you
have sent me. And when he had said this, Jesus
called out. In a loud voice, Lazarus come
out. And the dead man came out, his
hands and his feet. Wrapped with strips.
Of linen and a cloth around his face.
We see that Jesus is moved by compassion.
You know the shortest verse in the Bible what we read?
Jesus wept. But it's not.
Just sadness for his friends. His.
Tears are connected to to an anger he has at the effects.
Of. Sin and death.
On the beautiful world that he created, verse 33 says he was
deeply moved in. Spirit and troubled and.
And this in Hebrew is is the. Phrase is more similar to anger.
He, he, he. Has almost like an.
Anger at what is happening, but. Surrounded by the chaos.
Around him, although the. Wailing and the crying that's
happened over. Lazarus Death.
It sort of produces an outrage. In the son of.
God at the work of the enemy that is trying to destroy and
destruct. So Jesus is.
Weeping isn't just for that moment.
It's. It's over every individual.
Every. Instance of death and decay.
And in his compassion Jesus shows mercy and brings life and
reverses the outcome that day. And Lazarus and his sisters have
a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, a signpost to what is to come
and who their friend Jesus really is.
So we've seen that Jesus ministers mercy and he ministers
miracles. Like signposts, the miracles
point us. To.
The beautiful mercy of Jesus. But the question is how does
that? Affect our purpose then here and
now in 2026. It means our purpose is also to
be ministers of mercy and miracles.
So maybe you're thinking, well, that's all well and good, Jesus
was God. We're different, but Jesus
doesn't let us off the hook that easily because he said to his
disciples that they would drive out.
Demons speak in new tongues, place their hands on people who
are ill, and do even greater things than these.
And they did. Like if you read the pages of
the New Testament, like Peter held the sick with his
handkerchief and his shadow, Philip was teleported across the
country, and Paul's ministry was led by prophecies.
And dreams. And for all his intelligence and
his preaching skills. Paul understood that the Kingdom
of God. Is not a matter.
Of talk, but of power. That's one Corinthians 4.
And I don't know about you, but for me, I look at the life of
Paul and the church in the New Testament, and I think maybe we
need to do a bit more weird. I don't even believe the Kingdom
of God is shrunk. He's the same God and it's the
same Holy Spirit. That lives within us today.
We. Speak in heavenly languages, we
claim. To hear the inaudible voice of
God and consents his presence. That can't be seen.
We're already a bit weird, aren't we?
So as I read at the. Beginning in Ephesians, the call
in our lives is to display the. Surpassing riches of his.
Grace. That we might be.
Ministers of Mercy and miracles. And I know that talking about
miracles and the supernatural can raise tough questions.
The question of unanswered. Prayer will always arise.
And I know there are. People in the room.
Who will think the stories are great?
But I've been. Chasing a miracle and it hasn't
happened. And all of us have instances
where we've prayed and we've not had the answer that we've hoped.
And so I acknowledge. That we approach this subject.
From different angles, often, sometimes with disappointment,
but. It's good to be.
Honest with our questions, we live in the.
Reality that actually. Every day is a miracle like the.
Fact that we live on this ball that's spinning and we don't fly
off, The fact that the sun rises and the sunsets, the fact that
we're saved by grace like every day is a miracle.
But we also have a belief that God is a God of us.
Suddenly and in a moment, he can just.
Step in. And we see the.
Supernatural come to pass. A few years back, Lawrence and I
had privilege of going on a mission trip to Tanzania and to
what we want out of our mission partners and James and Karis
also came with us to Tanzania. So ask them loads of questions
about the trip. But over that 10.
Days in Africa. We saw.
Many miracles blind. Eyes opened, back pain released.
Girls freed from demons. Many, many salvations.
And it was amazing. And yet I couldn't help but I
think, Lord, what about all? The people that I'm praying for
and I haven't seen an answer and I don't have all the answers.
There are suggestions I can give.
But what I do know is this. In Tanzania we went as.
Missionaries to offer mercy. And then miracles happened.
We went to share the love. Of Jesus and to.
Share the surpassing riches. Of the Kingdom of God.
And we met. People who were in impossible
situations, who were lost and hurting.
And we were moved by mercy, we that we had nothing to give
them, we had nothing to help them, and yet we had the power
of God. So we prayed for them and God
stepped in. And so it makes me think that
maybe if we want to walk in the power of God each day, we need
to see ourselves. As missionaries in our ordinary
lives. What if we went as missionaries?
In our. Workplace What if we went as
missionaries to. The supermarket and.
We were so moved by compassion at the lostness of the.
People that we meet. At their brokenness, at their
need of God's love. That we wouldn't care what
people would think, because we're so moved by mercy that we
will pray. And just maybe, maybe God might
step in and do a miracle. This is Jules who is part.
Of one church, Loughborough. She runs a cafe in Shepshed and.
She serves not only good cake. Which I can testify to.
But the aim of a miracle? Cafe is to offer customers
prayer or a prophetic message or an encounter with gods.
And I messaged her this week and I said.
Jules, could you share? With me.
Any miracles you've seen in the cafe?
And she sent me a perfume. But let me just.
Encourage you with these two. Stories so one customer writes.
I have been given. A breast cancer diagnosis
yesterday and came in. For prayer, Jules.
Prayed for me and I could feel the presence of God.
Before I came in I'd been awake most of the night thinking of
all the what ifs. But after I prayed I felt the
presence of God over me. And Jules shares that three
months later, this lady was given the all clear from cancer.
Praise God. Praise God.
And then a second one from Jules, she says 2 customers who
come into the shop regularly, one of them had fibromyalgia.
And when we prayed for her, all the pain left and the customer
explained that how she'd felt full of darkness and it turned
out that she'd often practise Reiki, but when they prayed for
her, she saw light and just experience the presence of of
the Holy Spirit. And Jules tells me now that both
of those customers that come in have said yes to Jesus.
So praise God. But I.
Reckon the disciples in the New Testament we're really ordering
people like Jules. Like you and I and they.
Serve the people. Around them they were moved by
mercy, and then God came and worked a miracle.
Shall we embrace our purpose to be ministers of mercy and
miracles? Well, maybe you're like.
Me. Who needs to know how?
Like I'm very practical, logistical, so I'll.
Hear an idea and I'll be. Like but how does that work?
How do we grow to be ministers of mercy?
How do we see God? Work supernaturally in our
lives. Well let me just suggest 3
practical ideas and that is eyes, ears and mouth.
I told you I was. Practical.
I like. Things to hold onto.
So firstly, eyes. We use our eyes to see, don't
we? So if we are to grow to.
Be ministers of mercy. We need to see the.
Need very simply around. US.
What is the need in front of you?
Who is it who you meet every day?
That needs a touch from God. Let the need around.
You move us to compassion. Jesus was often.
Going about, it's just. Is every day.
When he was interrupted, he saw the need and he responded in
that moment. So let's not be people who can.
So we can be blinkered and focused on our own lives and
issues and looking inwards, but we need our eyes to see what's
happening and who we can minister to.
And that might mean getting out of our comfort zone.
Go and. Spend time with.
People from different cultures, different backgrounds, different
class and see what. Life is like.
For them. And maybe that is your prayer
today. Lord, open my eyes.
To see people like you do. Give me your heart of
compassion, your heart of mercy. Secondly, ears, we need to
listen to the Holy Spirit, listen to what God is saying.
So often the Holy Spirit is. Speaking and nudging us.
But are we? Listening and what he's doing,
he's revealing what he's doing and and a prophetic word into
somebody's life can really break open the way for God to come and
step in or it helps us to know how we can pray for somebody.
So recently there was a lady and wake coffee.
That. I just.
Sense I just she. Came in, had a cappuccino.
And I I. Remember people's drinks for
some reason rather than their names.
And I just sense. I should say something to her,
but I didn't know what. So I said, God, what do you want
me to say to to her? And I noticed she had tattoos
all the way down her arm. And one of them stuck out to me.
It was a rain cloud, like Thunder and lightning.
And I just felt when I saw that, I felt this phrase come rain or
shine. So I just went over to her.
I said, excuse me, what's your name?
I felt like God has given me a word for you.
Do you mind if I share it? She was like, are you religious?
I was like, yeah. Kind.
Of. I guess that's why I'm sharing a
word, but we won't go there. And so I just shared and I said
literally I. Just felt this phrase come rain
or shine, and I think God wants you to know that whatever season
you're in, God loves. You that is such.
A simple word, isn't it? And if.
For us as believers. Like we think, Oh yeah, God
loves me. That's but in that moment, I
mean, she started crying and she said.
That really speaks to. Me, I'm in a really tough season
at the moment. I've lost my job, I don't know
what I'm doing and out of that we really managed to share.
She took a look Luke's gospel home and I continue to pray for
her, but. We need to.
Use our supernatural ears to hear what God is saying to
people to be able to then bring the Kingdom of heaven and
because then we can know how to pray specifically.
Does that make sense? Lastly, mouth.
So we use our mouth to taste not just good gluten free pastries,
but we taste and see who the Lord is.
Because ultimately every act of mercy, every miracle is to point
us to Jesus. They're signposts, aren't they?
And our job is. Is to simply taste and see that
the Lord is good. It's Jesus.
Who does the miracle that we can't screw up our eyes pray our
hardest? And make things happen.
We are his vessels. Jesus comes and does the work,
and our role is to step out in obedience, in faith, and pray.
We. Pursue Jesus, not the miracles.
I love this quote. If we are chasing Jesus, not the
miracle. Even if the miracle doesn't
happen, we still get Jesus. We pursue him.
We taste and see He's the one who then steps in.
Gladys Eilwood was a chambermaid in England, but she felt the
Lord sent her as a missionary to China and when she was there The
Japanese are invading China and everyone had fled beyond the
yellow river for safety and Gladys took care of 100 orphaned
Chinese children so she decided to take all these children and
try to get them as far through the yellow river and crossover
to safety so for. Weeks they walked.
Over the mountains, desperately trying to get away from the
invaders. Finally the group reached the
Yellow River, but there were no ferry boats to crossover.
Gladys did not know that the ferry boats had stopped,
actually a long time ago. Bitterly disappointed and
without any dinner, the children lay down to sleep.
By the third day, Gladys was desperate.
What were they going to do? How would they get across the
river? The children were hungry and
complaining. Gladys felt that the Lord had
let her down. In her agony, she prayed and
sobbed her heart out. Lord, she said, I've done my
best and it's no good. The children are starving.
Why haven't you helped me? Ma, don't cry, said one little
child whom Gladys had once rescued from a life of misery.
Ma, Moses crossed the Red Sea and it was bigger than this.
God isn't any different, and I'm going to ask him to work another
miracle, said the child. As Gladys listened, the child
began to ask God to get them across the river, and Gladys
went over put her arm around her.
God forgive me for not having the faith of a little child, she
said. Together they asked God for
help. After the prayer, Gladys was
interrupted. It was an officer in the uniform
of a nationalist Chinese army. I have a boat and I can take you
and the children across the river.
After they were all. Across the officer and his boat
disappeared and it was only then that Gladys realised how strange
it all was. And when the group of children
arrived in the city a few hours later, the Chinese could not
believe her story. The army came away from the
Yellow River weeks ago, they said.
And Gladys smiled and said to herself, God isn't any
different. So I started with this.
We've been saved on purpose for a purpose, to be ministers of
mercy and miracles. In a world that is in so need of
love. And compassion.
And for God's power. To break in.
And we? Worship a God who is so
merciful. That sometimes.
He just bends the rules of. Creation and steps in.
So that we would get a glimpse of the heavenly home.
That we are going towards and we would see how marvellous our
Creator is. The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.