1 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:13,760 We are, as I said, we are in a series, our vision and value 2 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,240 series, looking at our vision values through the lens of a 3 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,000 lifeboat. And this is week 3 and we have 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,920 looked at this. We are called not to be a luxury 5 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,520 cruise liner, but we are called to be a lifeboat that is sent 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:35,520 into the chaotic waters of life to bring glory to Jesus by 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:40,400 rescuing lost and broken people. And we've looked at over the 8 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,720 last three weeks, we've looked at the fact that the way we do 9 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,720 that is first of all, we look at the navigational system. 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:52,120 We focus on God's scriptures, on his on his truth revealed. 11 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,520 And we call that biblical truth. We look to the fact that we can, 12 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,000 we can only do this and we are called that. 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,840 We can only go into this world and and be used by Christ to 14 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,960 save lost and broken people. If we are filled with the Holy 15 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,000 Spirit, we're empowered by him. We call that presence of gods. 16 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:16,400 And this week we're looking at our third value, which is humbly 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,240 serving. And we're going to, we're going 18 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,240 to knuckle down and look at the crew, the people on the boat 19 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,840 itself. You see, if you were to ever or 20 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,520 if you have ever been on a cruise ship, then you would know 21 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,240 that you would have certain expectations of when you're on 22 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,040 that cruise ship. You know that that if you were 23 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,040 to pay all that money to be on that ship that you expect there 24 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,760 to be a buffet that is fully stocked all the time with food 25 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,240 that meets your dietary conditions, that you expect to 26 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,000 be entertained. You expect it to be clean and if 27 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:58,200 anything is a below par, below what you expect, you complain to 28 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,040 the, you complain to the crew. You go to the captain, you tell 29 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,920 them what's wrong. But on a lifeboat, we operate by 30 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:11,240 different rules. On a lifeboat, we are no longer 31 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,080 passengers, but we become crew members. 32 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,040 But actually, it's not someone else's job to make sure the 33 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,080 mission stays on target. It's not someone else's job to 34 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,080 make sure the boat stays afloat and we don't hit any rocks. 35 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,920 It's our job, every single one of us. 36 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,800 And we've all been given gifts and talents and abilities to 37 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:37,960 contribute to making the sailing of this boat do what it's meant 38 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,960 to do. See every single person, every 39 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:46,240 single one of you here listening online, you know, we are called 40 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:51,960 to be part of, to join a crew, to join a local church, to be 41 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,160 part of a local church and serve. 42 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,920 And we're looking today how, how by serving. 43 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:03,560 We use, we use our time, we use our money, we use our gifts, we 44 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:08,480 use what we do, but we also use what we say for the glory of 45 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:12,000 gods and advancement of his Kingdom. 46 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,680 But one of the mine feels when the traps we get into, 47 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:24,440 especially in the Western world, is we so easily slip into, I'm 48 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,240 on a cruise ship. Other people are here to do this 49 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,000 stuff. Or sometimes we even get to a 50 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,560 stage where we believe the lie that, well, I'm not on a cruise 51 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,880 ship, but I don't have anything to offer. 52 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,440 I don't have any. I haven't given anything. 53 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,920 And we think, well, if I just stay back and I let others do 54 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,960 it, the ones who are really good at serving serve, then it'll be 55 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,360 all right. Actually, the Bible teaches us 56 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,080 that that's completely wrong, that that's completely against 57 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,560 Scripture. And actually, I want to 58 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:03,160 introduce you to two of the best captains using our metaphor in 59 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,040 the Old Testament. The first one is a guy named 60 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,880 Moses. And in Moses and in Exodus 61 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:14,720 chapter 18 we see Moses gather the people of Israel that he is 62 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,880 leading at the foot of the mountain of God, at the foot of 63 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,120 Mount Sinai. And whilst he is there with all 64 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:25,160 the people his his father-in-law, Jethro comes, his 65 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,760 father-in-law Jeffrey comes and he brings with with himself. 66 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:30,720 He brings his daughter Moses wife and his grandchildren, 67 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,000 Moses children and, and, and when he arrives, Moses tells him 68 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:36,920 all the amazing things that God has done. 69 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,120 Last time Moses saw Jethro, he was just a shepherd. 70 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,120 He was just a shepherd in the fields minding the flock. 71 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,640 And then all of a sudden he meets Moses again and, and, and 72 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,480 he Moses tells him of all the amazing things that God has done 73 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,960 through him. The signs and wonders to set the 74 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,760 people, set the Israelites free from bondage into their new life 75 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,160 as a nation. He hears of all the plagues. 76 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,920 He hears how Pharaoh let them go, but then changed his mind 77 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,320 and pursued them. How God used a a pillar of fire 78 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,680 to divide and Pharaoh's army and let the people go through the 79 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,840 sea of Reeds and then collapse it down on on Pharaoh's army, 80 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:18,920 completely destroying them. And they worship God and they 81 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,720 praise him and, and rather than just going straight back home 82 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,440 because, because Jethro, he has a busy life, He's got lots of 83 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,520 things going on. He decides, actually, I'm going 84 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,320 to take a few days out and I'm going to look around and see 85 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,280 what this new nation, how my son-in-law is doing as this 86 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:40,560 captain of this new nation. And it, it says in Exodus 18, it 87 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:46,920 says that he looks around and as he's looking around early in the 88 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,040 morning, Moses gets up and starts serving the people. 89 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,480 And it says from morning till night, Moses, they're serving 90 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,840 the people and the people are queuing up. 91 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:00,320 There's hundreds of people queuing up to see Moses, to hear 92 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,880 what he has to say, to be served by him, to get advice from him, 93 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,400 to understand what God's will is for their life from Moses. 94 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,520 But it also says that there are loads of people just standing 95 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:15,680 around doing nothing. And and we might look at Moses 96 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,320 and go, what a man, what an amazing man. 97 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,120 But Jethro, he doesn't say what you who, what you're doing. 98 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,880 Moses is amazing. I couldn't do that. 99 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:28,960 I couldn't serve all these people. 100 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:34,160 No, no, he says, what you are doing is not good. 101 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:35,880 But I'm serving all these people. 102 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,040 I'm doing the best I can, Yet you're doing it on your own. 103 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,680 And therefore you're going to weary yourself out. 104 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:48,640 The work is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone. 105 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:55,000 Jethro points out to us that we are not called to have solo 106 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,360 captains, just ones and twos serving, doing all the work. 107 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,560 And what he points out is that if there's just one or two 108 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,240 people serving, one or two people doing the pastoral care, 109 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,680 one or two people giving, one or two, two people welcoming people 110 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,680 and bringing them back to their homes, one of two things will 111 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,760 happen. Firstly, those few people who 112 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:20,080 are serving will get burnt out and then no one will get served. 113 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,160 And secondly, Moses is just one person. 114 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,440 The fewer people serving, the fewer people get served. 115 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,800 And what he says is, Moses, you can't do this on your own. 116 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,680 You're creating a bottleneck. You don't have the capacity to 117 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,080 serve everyone. And see what happens is, is we 118 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:46,960 are called, we are called to go into this world and help rescue 119 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,320 lost and broken people. And if only one or two of us are 120 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,240 doing that, if only one or two of us are serving, one or two of 121 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,440 us are giving, one or two of us are helping pastorally, then 122 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,360 what happens is is we leave a lot of people out there still 123 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,560 drowning. And the ones that we do bring 124 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,360 in, some of them sadly fall back overboard because there's not 125 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,720 enough people to care for them, to serve them. 126 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,920 So Jethro says as his he says, therefore he says, I want you to 127 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,440 select people, select capable people, trustworthy people who 128 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,040 hate dishonest gain and appoint them over depending on their 129 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,200 giftings. Some will be able to manage 130 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,960 thousands, some can manage hundreds, some 10s. 131 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,159 What he's saying is you've got a group of people around you, 132 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:35,960 Moses. They've got different gifts, 133 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,000 different abilities. Use them. 134 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,560 The more you use them, the more people will be able to be served 135 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,960 and the more lost and broken people will be saved. 136 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,400 A second captain that we see in the Bible, one of the greatest 137 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:58,040 captains is King David. And I know if you love you read 138 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,440 the stories. Maybe you loved reading them 139 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,160 when you were a kid or seeing them in Sunday school. 140 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,240 And we can we can sometimes get the false impression that David 141 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,080 was a a man who could do it all on his own. 142 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,640 The shepherd boy kills the giant, ascends to being king of 143 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:21,560 all Israel all on his own. He didn't need anyone's help. 144 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:30,160 He could rule a nation all on his own Not so in two Samuel 23, 145 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,240 we are told that that David was not alone. 146 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,440 And I love it. If you've seen the Amazon Prime 147 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:42,960 series, David House of David, kind of spoiler alert, but it 148 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:44,440 you know, it does actually happen. 149 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:46,240 So it's not. If you've read your Bible, 150 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:48,840 you'll know at the end of the second series. 151 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:53,160 The second series ends with David being being having to go 152 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:58,040 on the run from King Saul and he feels like he's all on his own. 153 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,560 And then all of a sudden, this army of men turn up on his 154 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:07,160 doorstep, and they bow down before him and say, you're our 155 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,240 king. These are who the Bible calls 156 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:14,040 his mighty men. These are his mighty. 157 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,200 But see, David was never on his own. 158 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:18,920 These are the guys who taught him how to fight. 159 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,200 You think he killed 200? Was it 200 Philistines in one go 160 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:24,440 on his own? No, no, no. 161 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,760 He did it with these mighty men. He was on the run for years with 162 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,920 these mighty men. He ascended to being king of 163 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,960 Judah and then Israel with these mighty men around. 164 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:38,720 And mighty men like Joshua Bed who fought off hundreds, Eliezer 165 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,960 who stood his ground in a field of Bali when everyone else fled, 166 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,640 Shamaya, who's offended a patch of lentils that they would they 167 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,720 were standing, not just cheering David on. 168 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:56,840 They were there with their swords drawn alongside him. 169 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,240 See, David was the anointed king. 170 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,960 He was the captain. But he had mighty men around 171 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:10,680 him, you see. And we, we're not called, you 172 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,680 and I, we're not called to, to kill Philistines. 173 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,680 We're not called to slay wild beasts like in the stories of, 174 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:22,880 of David's mighty men. But we are called to together 175 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,280 slay a real enemy, not a flesh and blood. 176 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:34,240 And the way we do that is by everyday decisions that we 177 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,160 choose to make for Christ and his Kingdom. 178 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,680 See, every single day we have the choice. 179 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:47,000 Do I serve, do I fight or do I withdraw? 180 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,440 Every single day we have the choice. 181 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,360 Do we, do we man the deck or do we disengage? 182 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:01,560 Every single day we have the choice of do I take ground for 183 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:08,080 Christ or do I stay behind? And for those of us who are 184 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:13,600 saved, for those of us who have been called by Jesus, you are 185 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:17,520 called to participate in saving others. 186 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:23,000 Christ has saved you to participate in saving others. 187 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,000 We who have been saved, saved people, save people. 188 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,680 That's who what we're called to do. 189 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:37,880 And church, we need not one or two, but we need hundreds more. 190 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:42,000 They're in this room, but we'll start with this room of mighty 191 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:46,400 men and women who are not sitting in their armchair 192 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,560 watching others do the work, but are willing to take up their 193 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:57,080 sword and serve to see this boat and many other boats. 194 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:04,800 God's church bring glory to Jesus and save lost and broken 195 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,840 souls in the way that we serve. I've broken it down into into 196 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,240 four things. And the first way we serve is we 197 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,280 serve with our time. And this is profound. 198 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:23,520 We serve with our time, with our time, by showing up, by being 199 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:27,080 around, by making ourselves available. 200 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,320 You see, when we show up, whether it's to a Sunday 201 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,560 morning, whether it's to a Home group or a men's or women's 202 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:37,520 discipleship group, whether it's whether it's for a prayer walk 203 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,280 or maybe just just to go and visit someone. 204 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,440 When we show up, we allow God to do 2 things. 205 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:52,360 First, we allow Him to use us. See, if you're here today, God 206 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:54,920 can use you to bless everyone else. 207 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,880 If you're at home, well, how's He going to use you? 208 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:03,920 He wants to, but our choice is to turn up or not. 209 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:10,880 Secondly, when we turn up, we allow God to minister to us 210 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:13,600 through others. So you may have been feeling 211 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:17,560 really down this morning, but you, you, you gritted your teeth 212 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,840 and you showed up. And then the worship, maybe one 213 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,840 of those prophetic words just spoke to you. 214 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:27,880 You wouldn't have got that if you stayed in bed. 215 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:33,320 You gave God the opportunity to speak to you through others. 216 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:38,240 You see, we have an enemy, like I said, and I believe He 217 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,360 understands far greater than we do how important showing up is. 218 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:45,920 That's why it can be so difficult. 219 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,720 That's why every prayer meeting, no one wants to come. 220 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:52,720 Whether you come or not, it's different, but no one really 221 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:54,880 wants to come because there's an enemy. 222 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,840 He tells you why bother? You're tired, it doesn't matter. 223 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:00,640 No one cares if you're there or not. 224 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:07,280 Because he is terrified that when we show up, when we show up 225 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,840 on a Sunday, when we show up to Sir, when we show up on a 226 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:14,840 midweek, he is terrified of what good we might do to others 227 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:17,760 because we can't do it when we're on our own. 228 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,520 He is when he when we are feeling down, when the world has 229 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,120 got on top of us and we know how the roughness of the Seas around 230 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,160 us, he wants nothing more than to keep us on our own. 231 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:32,920 Because we can wallow in our own self pity. 232 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:38,160 But when we meet other people, he's terrified because they can 233 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,800 speak truth into us. The Spirit of God, life can be 234 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:48,880 spoken over us. We, we serve by giving our time. 235 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,160 Secondly, we serve with our money. 236 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:54,480 And I know we talk a lot about money. 237 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,360 I feel like I've talked about money quite a bit, but it's 238 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,880 because it's really important and it is. 239 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:03,680 It's great to have that news this week that we asked for, I 240 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:09,080 don't remember, but we said in January, we want one 1800 lbs. 241 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:15,720 And what was it 2000, 2200 plus getting the the Transit van, 242 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:17,680 which meant knocked a bit more off of that as well. 243 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,280 So that's brilliant. We are God is so generous and we 244 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,080 just want to thank you for those of you who generously give week 245 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,560 in week out. Thank you so much. 246 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,000 And the reason why giving is so important. 247 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:34,600 And I don't care how much you give, that's between you and 248 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,520 God. But when we give what, what it 249 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,480 that means is you've heard the saying where your money is, 250 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,920 that's where your heart is. It shows where your heart is. 251 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,880 And you may not be able to give hundreds of pounds this month, 252 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,240 but can you give something, use something, Maybe one day you'll 253 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:52,520 be able to give hundreds of pounds. 254 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,440 That's brilliant. But can you give something? 255 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,640 You see, the reason why is because we have such a big 256 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,760 vision for this town. There are many people who we 257 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,520 want to we want to tell the gospel to. 258 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,680 There are many people who we want to reach, who we want to 259 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,240 serve. And I don't want money to be the 260 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,800 reason why we can't. You see, we can pray, we can 261 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,319 turn up our prayer meetings and pray God give us money. 262 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:22,280 And do you know what he says? Most of the time I've given you 263 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,880 people with bank accounts. That's what he says. 264 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,800 I mean, I'd love him just to check to come through the door 265 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,880 for, for a load of money and say, just spend on what you 266 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,320 want. It happens sometimes. 267 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,440 But actually more often than not, God says, actually, I put 268 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,640 it on that person's heart and that person's heart to be 269 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,280 generous. And the church's needs are going 270 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,120 to be met through individual people, not millionaires, by 271 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:50,640 actually generally poor people who are just faithful to gods. 272 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,600 See, we have a big mission. We want to buy a building that's 273 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,400 not going to be cheap. And when we have it, it's going 274 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:01,520 to be more, even more expensive. We, we, but we want it because 275 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,200 we believe that we'll be able to serve more people. 276 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,680 We'll be half the over half the doors open a, a hub where people 277 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,440 can come every day of the week and encounter Jesus through 278 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,400 those of us who are volunteering there. 279 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,840 You see, we also, we don't just have a vision for right here. 280 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,320 We have a vision that we want to be able to not just resource 281 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,000 what we're doing here in Blackpool in the field, but we 282 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,800 want to be able to resource other boats across the world. 283 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,640 We belong to an Apostolic ministry called Christ Central, 284 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:34,600 part of new frontiers, and we regularly as a church give to 285 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,200 that mission to give. And that's, that's not just for 286 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,520 the paying of salaries, people like Jeremy who apostolically 287 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,480 leads it, but actually for for church plants, it plants we 288 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,320 planted. You know, I, I'm currently 289 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,640 helping with a with a church plant in in Sheffield and, and 290 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,760 it is this brilliant. There are money that we give 291 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,160 gets to help with things like that, but also though we many of 292 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,680 you have met and if you haven't, you'll meet him next month. 293 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:05,080 Michael Cottier Michael and Mabel were over last year and 294 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:10,760 Michael apostolically overseas through cross Central churches 295 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:15,720 in West Africa. He is based in Ho in Ghana and 296 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,920 last year we took an offering and and raised several £100 to 297 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,680 go towards his truck. And you think why? 298 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,080 Why would we need to buy him a car? 299 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:25,120 We don't need to buy him a truck. 300 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,080 Well driving here this morning, I had to obey a few potholes. 301 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,520 OK, But I can promise you those potholes are nothing like the 302 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,360 potholes driving as you go northern into into Ghana. 303 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:40,560 I'm sure some of you who are from African nations can no 304 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,440 understand that there are towns, there are villages that need 305 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:48,080 churches planting in, but the only way there is if you have a 306 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,120 substantial vehicle and so and that money's not done yet 307 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:53,680 because he needs money to fuel it. 308 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:58,120 He'll need money to, to, to to keep it repaired, to service it. 309 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,920 He needs money to be able to as as he goes from town to town, he 310 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,000 needs money to be able to train up and send. 311 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:08,720 Pastors on on training to how to learn Scripture. 312 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,400 He he they need they, they're looking for, they need money to 313 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,000 translate. Now they've got loads material, 314 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:19,280 teaching material in in English. And Michael he, he says, you 315 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:21,360 know, I speak English and I can't remember what other 316 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:25,200 language he speaks in his local dialect, but you know, they need 317 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:28,680 it translating into many other different languages. 318 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,680 So those leaders across the nation, so the churches across 319 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,240 those nations are all able to access it. 320 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:40,200 We've also just over the past month, we have just partnered 321 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:46,800 with and partnered with Arthur and Nina and they, they lead a 322 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:52,640 church in Cherkasi in central Ukraine. 10 years ago, they were 323 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:57,160 living right on the Russian Ukrainian border leading, 324 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,040 leading a church there. And they were, they had to flee 325 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,120 their home. I moved to Cherkasey and they 326 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,200 planted a brand new church there. 327 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,520 And if you're interested in knowing more about these guys, 328 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,200 I'd love, love to share it with you. 329 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,640 But just on short, please pray. These guys need leaders, OK? 330 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,600 They need people to run ministries in their churches 331 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:21,760 because one of the biggest problems is they raise up a 332 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:23,120 leader and they get sent to the front line. 333 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,600 So what happens over and over again and they may never see 334 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,480 them again. It's very, very real. 335 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:33,480 We, we were talking 2 weeks, 2 weeks ago and then she said 336 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,400 whilst we were talking to them, there was a vigil going on. 337 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,320 You think what central Ukraine, it's quite far away from the 338 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,480 border, but there was a vigil going on for a young boy they 339 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,320 knew who'd been killed in a drone strike that last week. 340 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,480 It's very real. But there are hungry people. 341 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,720 There are people who have next to nothing all around them and 342 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,960 they have no money. So we want to be able to 343 00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,600 resource them, serve what they are doing, and we want to be 344 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,200 able to resource many people across the globe. 345 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,640 We want this church to be so generous that we are able to 346 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,320 give. Give not just here, but give to 347 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,040 the ends of the world. See God's Kingdom impact the 348 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:16,920 ends of the earth. You see, we are called to give. 349 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,480 We are called to serve with our time, with our money, and we're 350 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:22,640 also called to serve with our gifts. 351 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:28,080 You see, David, he had many fighting men who all had 352 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:32,520 different fighting styles. And on a lifeboat, you need 353 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,200 people who were able to do different jobs. 354 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,680 Some who's able to, to read the, the radar, some who were able 355 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,880 to, to man the comms, some who's able just to bail water out the 356 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:46,440 boat. All are vital for the mission of 357 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,720 the lifeboat you see. And some of you, some of you are 358 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:55,760 incredibly organised. Some of you are great with 359 00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:00,000 finances, great with money. Some of you are are incredibly 360 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:04,640 sensitive and and and and and and have a mercy gifting. 361 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,280 You notice when people aren't quite right, when people are 362 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,120 struggling. Some of you are great with kids. 363 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:14,200 Some of you are great with tech. Some of you are wonderful 364 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,200 opening your homes and inviting people back. 365 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:25,000 We all have specific gifts that Jesus has given us for the glory 366 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:30,280 of his Kingdom that he may be glorified and to grow the 367 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,440 church. And maybe you're you're there 368 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:34,680 sitting you think, well, I don't, I'm not sure I know what 369 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,440 I have. I don't know I have anything. 370 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,080 I don't have anything. Other people have stuff, but I 371 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:44,040 don't. Well, Paul says in Ephesians 4 372 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,680 when he that's Christ Jesus ascended on high, he took many 373 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,640 captives and he gave to his people. 374 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,200 He gave sorry and he gave gifts to his people. 375 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,880 I ask you, are you his people? If you're his people, he's 376 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,280 giving you gifts, not just one or two. 377 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:04,880 He's giving you a lot. He has given you gifts for his 378 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,880 glory and for the growing of his Kingdom. 379 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:14,160 In in Matthew 25, we read Jesus tells a parable of a of a, of a 380 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,120 man of a ruler of a rich guy who goes on a long trip. 381 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,760 And it says that on that trip before he goes, he calls 382 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,160 together his servants. Who does he call together? 383 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:31,560 Are you a servant of God? Well, he calls you and he gives 384 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,800 them. It says it gives them talents, 385 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,840 which is a unit of money. Somebody gives 5. 386 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,640 Somebody gives 2. Somebody gives 1 and you may be 387 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:41,640 thinking well that feels really unfair. 388 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:48,040 Why only one Why some five Well, let's put it in perspective 389 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:49,200 here. A talent. 390 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,400 Obviously it's where we get the word talent from this this very 391 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:56,440 verse a talent. It is a it was a weight of 392 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:01,640 money, a weight of gold actually equate equating to 34 grammes of 393 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,720 gold. So in today's money, one talent, 394 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:11,480 if you were so unfortunate to only get one talent, you would 395 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:21,160 be receiving £3.78 million. Poor you, poor you. 396 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:22,760 I mean, I don't know what you could do with that. 397 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,080 I mean it with with inflation and oil prices. 398 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,480 You know the crazy though we the point is that we have all been 399 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:34,840 given more than enough for the blessing of the Kingdom to 400 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,520 glorify Jesus. We have all been given more than 401 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:42,440 enough. And see the question isn't how 402 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,280 much have I been given? Where am I gifted? 403 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,520 The question is, will you use what you have for Jesus? 404 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:52,960 Will you use it for him? And if you're struggling again, 405 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,520 thinking what on earth and has God-given me? 406 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,760 Because I'm quite often when we think about gifts, you know, 407 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,560 gifts of spirit gifts that God has given, we kind of think of 408 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,360 the big ones, you know, tongues, prophecy, words of knowledge and 409 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:07,480 think, well, I've just, I try and I pray, but I've never got 410 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,240 that. Just just look, this is not an 411 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,640 exhaustive list, but look at this list. 412 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,840 This is some of the things that Paul lists that God gives as 413 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,880 gifts. I mean, he says, he says, Sir, 414 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,240 he says there's a special gift of serving, you know, oh, IE 415 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:26,600 have you got hands? You can you lift something? 416 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,160 You can use your hands to move boxes. 417 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,160 You can use hands to cook someone a meal. 418 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:37,000 You can use hands to build a block of Duplo with a, with a, 419 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,480 with a toddler. You can use your hands to bless 420 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,480 and serve others. It says that their works of help 421 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,080 is a spiritual gift. Now, I said before that the 422 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:50,760 first kind of sign of serving is showing up. 423 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,280 Now I am very aware that for some of you, showing up is 424 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,920 really hard. It's really hard. 425 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:00,160 So maybe you've got a gift of help. 426 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,360 And what I mean, I'm not that you've got a special calling to 427 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:07,240 help people, but you have a car. You have a car and you're able 428 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,120 to put fuel in it. And therefore you can go and 429 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,160 visit people who can't show up. You can go and give them lips 430 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,000 who can't get here on their own means. 431 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,920 And we can serve by so many ways. 432 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,480 Maybe you have you have knowledge, maybe you have 433 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,360 knowledge, maybe you're able to fix things. 434 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,360 Maybe you've got knowledge of how to how to how to serve. 435 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,160 You know, you know the, the social system, you know, the, 436 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,920 the health system and you know what forms or what to write in 437 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,840 different forms so that someone who needs help gets help that is 438 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:44,320 serving amazingly with your gifts. 439 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,440 He says mercy giving, administration, faith, all gifts 440 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:54,760 that Christ has given us so that the Kingdom will grow, so that 441 00:27:54,760 --> 00:28:01,320 Jesus will be glorified. And the reality is when we say 442 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:05,760 no, and you are more than welcome to say no, it's it's the 443 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,920 beautiful thing about our faith. It's on grace. 444 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,080 It's not works. God gives us stuff and he asks 445 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:14,600 us to use it for his glory. But you don't have to. 446 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,640 But if you say no, if you don't use your gifts, you don't use 447 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,320 what Christ has given you for his glory and the building of 448 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,160 his church. Or firstly, the rest of us miss 449 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,240 out. You see, Paul, one of Paul's 450 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,160 pictures of the church is a body. 451 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,200 You know, some of us are fingers, some of us are toes, 452 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,200 some of us are eyes and noses, you know, all that kind of 453 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,440 stuff. And but what he's saying there 454 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,400 is if we choose, and we have every right to choose not to use 455 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:51,400 our gifts, we turn the body into a man with a limp because he's 456 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,880 got a leg that's not working. You know, if, if the majority of 457 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,400 us aren't serving, then we're like a stroke victim with the 458 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,400 whole right side of our body not responding. 459 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,920 I mean, the rest of us are going to do our best, but we're not 460 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,920 going to be able to reach as many people as if the whole body 461 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:16,560 was working together. Secondly, not only do we miss 462 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:21,560 out, but you miss out. If you refuse to give your 463 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,600 gifts, use your gifts and talents for Jesus and his 464 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,680 church, you miss out. You miss out because because God 465 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:33,320 is going. God is going to fill this earth 466 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:38,880 with many souls. Revelation has that image of, 467 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:43,720 of, of John hearing a mighty roar, a mighty crowd. 468 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,600 He turns around, He sees men and women from every tribe and 469 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,280 nation. God is going to do that. 470 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,160 Is he going to do it through you? 471 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:58,760 He wants to, He desires to. But if like showing up, we 472 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,120 choose not to show up. We choose not to use our gifts. 473 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:05,560 He's going to do it, but we're going to miss out on the 474 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:10,280 adventure of being used by him to grow his Kingdom and give him 475 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:15,000 glory. You see, we serve by what we do, 476 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,520 but we also serve by what we say. 477 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,920 We serve with our mouths or as the Bible say, we serve with our 478 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,440 tongues. And and on that list of gifts, 479 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,360 just some of those gifts were were very strong gifts that we 480 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,480 use our tongue for encouragement, correction, 481 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,400 speaking words of love over one another. 482 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:41,160 But James, the half brother of Jesus, he, he is very and very 483 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,440 clear that he says whilst our tongues were used for God's 484 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,960 glory, their natural inclination is to do evil. 485 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,840 He says the tongue is like a little rudder on the back of the 486 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,280 boat. We're on our lifeboats, we're 487 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,600 heading into lost, we're lost, we're heading into the seas, 488 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,320 we're looking for lost and broken people. 489 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,480 Then all of a sudden we just start turning around in circles. 490 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:08,480 It's because the rudder is doing wrong things, because the rudder 491 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,320 isn't working. You see, we, we have a natural 492 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:18,680 inclination to, to pull others down, to gossip, to to divide, 493 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:24,360 divide people, to complain. And the reality is that, yeah, 494 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:29,360 on a lifeboat in a church, things get cramped sometimes. 495 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:34,880 Sometimes someone steps on your toe, you go to grab your bag, 496 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,720 and someone else has taken it. They didn't mean to. 497 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,040 They just thought it was theirs. You know, they we we, we met. 498 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,760 We, we annoy people. We were sad against that same 499 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,160 person who just, you know, the way that they sing or the way 500 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:49,600 that they, they clap their hands. 501 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:53,720 It just really grates us. And that that happens. 502 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,560 Don't look to the person next to you, please. 503 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,920 That happens, doesn't it? We rub each other up the wrong 504 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,840 way, but with the power of the Spirit. 505 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,080 Actually, James says. Actually, who contained the 506 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,280 tongue? But by the power of the Holy 507 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:15,360 Spirit, our tongues go from objects of evil to objects of 508 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,440 wonder that they are used to encourage, to build up, to 509 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,320 strengthen. And the challenge is that we 510 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:28,760 speak out truth, we speak out life, we look for opportunities 511 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,120 rather than to pull down to, to build up. 512 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,960 See, every single one of us has been given gifts. 513 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:42,600 And as a church, we have a big vision, a vision far too big for 514 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:47,880 to be carried by just one or two people, that we need everyone 515 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:56,280 manning the deck using what God has given you for his glory and 516 00:32:56,280 --> 00:33:02,720 the rescuing of lost souls. So my question to you is, are 517 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,040 you a passenger or are you a crew member? 518 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:10,360 Are you a passenger or are you a crew member? 519 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,800 And now you may not be from this church, maybe just visiting. 520 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:19,120 My challenge to you is exactly the same in where you find 521 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,360 yourself. Are you a passenger or are you a 522 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:26,960 crew member? See, one of the reasons I think, 523 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,280 why we often don't jump in with two feet and say, I'm a crew 524 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:33,320 member. I'll do whatever it takes to 525 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:37,920 grow God's Kingdom, to bring Jesus glory, is because we don't 526 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,920 fully grasp the wonder of the church. 527 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,800 So Jesus asks us to serve. He's asked us to serve him by 528 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:53,080 serving his church. You see the church, the local 529 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,080 church, not just the the whole church universities, but the 530 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,800 local church, Jesus says is the most beautiful thing in the 531 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:05,280 world to him. He describes each local church 532 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:10,639 in Revelation as a lampstand, A lampstand made of pure gold, 533 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,840 priceless. That is displaying the light of 534 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:20,840 Christ, the world, you, the church is priceless. 535 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:25,080 It's priceless. It's precious to Christ because 536 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,440 where is He? You read the first few lines of 537 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,760 Genesis, He's right there amongst it. 538 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,600 He's right there amongst his church. 539 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:36,440 He loves her. She is wonderful to him. 540 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:42,679 You see Jesus, he showed up for her. 541 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:44,800 That's how amazing he thinks she is. 542 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,920 He showed up for her when no one else would. 543 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:54,320 He showed up for you when you were at your worst. 544 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:59,680 And Scripture tells us that right now He is seated in the 545 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,640 heavenly places speaking to the Father. 546 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,680 He says that He is always with us. 547 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:11,080 Always with us. A Christian is never truly on 548 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:16,760 their own. So therefore will you show up 549 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,040 for one another? Will you be there for one 550 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:22,560 another? Will you be there for this 551 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:27,080 church? Jesus gave everything for his 552 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,360 bride. He didn't hold anything back. 553 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:40,160 But on the cross, every last bit of him was drained for the glory 554 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,200 of seeing, for the joy of having his church. 555 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,640 So therefore, will you give, will you give your money? 556 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:53,800 Will you give your talents? They had the the church for this 557 00:35:53,800 --> 00:36:00,160 church for Jesus. He spoke life to everyone he 558 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,440 met. He is speaking life now as he 559 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,560 prays for. Do you know Jesus is praying for 560 00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,320 you right now? Oh, I want to pray for some of 561 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,840 you afterwards. I hope you pray for each other, 562 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:16,840 but Jesus is praying for us before we even started. 563 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:23,840 Will you therefore choose to speak a life, not death over 564 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:29,040 each other? I see it in Matthew 25. 565 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:37,440 These servants, us who the master gives the talons to. 566 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:46,400 We have two outcomes. 1 Servant wastes the gift, he buries it. 567 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:49,240 He doesn't use it, he squanders it. 568 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:56,600 The other two, they use it. They invest it in the Kingdom. 569 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,320 They use what they have for God's glory. 570 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:07,600 They use what they have to serve others, and they yield a massive 571 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:13,960 reward. You see, it says, it says to 572 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,480 those who invested what Christ had given them. 573 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:22,080 It says, the master draws into himself and says, well done, 574 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:27,720 well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful 575 00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:30,800 with a few things. I will put you in charge of 576 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:35,080 many. Come and share in the master's 577 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,800 happiness. That's what it's all about. 578 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,640 It's all about and we feel it now. 579 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:46,840 I'm short of money, I'm short on time, I'm short on gifting. 580 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:50,720 I don't want to speak nice about them. 581 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:59,080 We feel it now, but in eternity, every single time that we have 582 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:04,200 chosen to use our money, use our gifts, use our time, use our 583 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,000 tongues for Christ's glory and the growth of His Kingdom. 584 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:14,200 He, the Master looks at you and he says well done, well done. 585 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,080 I've got some more stuff for you to do. 586 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,360 I've got some stuff. You have been faithful. 587 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,880 Come and enjoy my happiness. I mean, who doesn't want to hear 588 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:31,760 that? So are you a passenger or are 589 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:40,400 you a crew member? Is the church an optional extra 590 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:47,800 for you? I mean, you're here this week is 591 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:51,280 next week. Just as important is every week 592 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:55,520 showing up? The enemy tells us it doesn't 593 00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:56,600 matter whether you're there or not. 594 00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:59,920 They don't want you there. You're not needed. 595 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:06,320 Christ says I want you, I want you, I want to bless you, I want 596 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,960 to use you. Are you a passenger or a crew 597 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:16,720 member? Do you see the church as I might 598 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:20,960 show up or I might not. I might give, I might not, I 599 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:23,800 might serve, I might not, I might speak life, I might not. 600 00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:30,960 Well however you were coming in today. 601 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:37,200 My challenge is to everyone hearing my voice right now is 602 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:41,160 where you go all in. Will you go all in? 603 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:45,560 Will you stop being a passenger? Stop just putting your foot 604 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:52,600 every now and then on the crew side, jump fully across and join 605 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:56,760 us. Join us be a committed crew 606 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,760 member. Join us in rescuing lost in 607 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,960 broken people in saying. I don't know what I've got, but 608 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:05,280 anything I do have, you can have it. 609 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,080 What what you want to eat doing. I'm just here to serve. 610 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:11,400 I want to use what I've got my time, money, my, my, my doing 611 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:16,280 and my my voice for you. Join us for the most amazing 612 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:21,320 mission that Christ has for any of us to serve his church. 613 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:25,840 Like I said, I want to pray now, but if you're sat, then you're 614 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,240 generally like I do. I want to get in, but I feel 615 00:40:29,240 --> 00:40:31,640 like I'm a passenger. I feel like I'm a bit, sometimes 616 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,520 bit of both, but I want to be fully on board, but I don't 617 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,400 really know what that means. Come and speak to me. 618 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,800 And I'd love to point you in the right direction. 619 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:48,040 So let's pray. Lord Jesus, I, I thank you for 620 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:53,920 your church. God, I thank you that you love 621 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,440 your church more than anything that we could possibly 622 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,200 comprehend. Jesus, you don't see us as 623 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:04,120 plastic, but gold. You don't see us as something to 624 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:07,960 throw away, but somebody that is precious beyond words. 625 00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:12,520 God, and you're not far off, but you are right here in our midst. 626 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:14,600 You are. You have called us to be a 627 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,120 golden lampstand, A lampstand that is shining a light to this 628 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:20,840 world. Lord Jesus, I pray right now 629 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,320 that you would challenge every single one of us. 630 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:30,640 Challenge us, God, show us, show us what gifts and show us what 631 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:34,040 talents that you have given us that we are currently 632 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,920 withholding from the body. Look on. 633 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:41,360 I pray that we would be a church not made-up of not not made-up 634 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:46,840 of a Moses who's trying to do it all or even, or even with, with 635 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:52,120 a few helpers, but actually a church where every single one of 636 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:59,040 us comes in, jumps on boards and says, here I am. 637 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,640 Send me. Oh, jeez, we thank you for your 638 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:04,640 goodness. Thank you for your grace. 639 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:15,490 Amen. I just wanted to share something 640 00:42:15,770 --> 00:42:17,690 fantastic word, Ben. Thank you. 641 00:42:19,490 --> 00:42:22,450 Have you ever felt two things at the same time that you think you 642 00:42:22,450 --> 00:42:26,080 can't feel at the same time? Because last week I did. 643 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:29,680 I felt incredible joy and sadness. 644 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:34,400 Now, Ben wouldn't tell you this, but last week there wasn't 645 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,200 somebody. This makes me emotional. 646 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:38,080 There wasn't someone to serve our children. 647 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,720 And Ben served our children. He missed the word because he 648 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:46,040 was looking after our kids. And that fills me with joy 649 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:49,280 because that's what all of the leaders in this church are like. 650 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:55,440 They're not about pedestal to look good, but they're about 651 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,800 serving. So I'm joyful that we have that, 652 00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:05,120 but I'm sad that Ben needed to do that because there were a lot 653 00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:08,040 of bodies and hands and feet and voices here. 654 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:14,120 And any one of you can offer to go on a rota to play with the 655 00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:16,680 kids. It's not just about serving the 656 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:18,760 kids, It's about releasing their parents. 657 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,800 It's about less pressure on some of the people on the kids team 658 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,560 who don't only do kids. They do teas and coffees and 659 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:28,400 they do worship. We've got wonderful people 660 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,440 serving. But hear the word that Ben 661 00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:32,760 brought. And if you've got. 662 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,480 If you've. Got if you've got hands and feet 663 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:40,560 and a voice you can offer. So yeah, just please do that. 664 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:42,520 And I just want to say thank you, Ben. 665 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:48,160 I want to say thank you to Skip and to Julian and to Shagen, 666 00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:52,200 because we have leaders who aren't just about the shiny 667 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,920 jobs. We have leaders who give, and 668 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:56,840 we've so much to be grateful for. 669 00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:03,000 So yeah, I pray that that God knobbles you and that we have 670 00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:05,320 more people coming forward to serve.