Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] It's so good to, to be up here and getting to share God's word with you all. I'm really expectant and really excited for what God wants to do in these next few moments. I believe he wants to encourage us. Anyone needed some encouragement this morning, I come bearing some good news for you, which I'm really excited to share, but also believe he wants to do some stuff in our hearts and wants to just reshape and remould some of our things this morning.
[00:00:28] For those that you that know me, hello. It's nice to be back here. I've not spoke for a while, but I used to be on the team for 10, 11 years here as one of the leads and ministers. And I have the great privilege of still being part of this church, but also being a national leader, an organization called British Youth for Christ. And let me tell you, what we are seeing across this nation in young people's lives is unprecedented in this time.
[00:00:53] It is genuinely incredible.
[00:00:56] And I'm going to share some of those statistics and thoughts with you in just a moment. You're going to see up here on the screen what I'm going to share. It's the title of my talk is Don't Miss this Moment Church.
[00:01:11] Don't Miss this Moment.
[00:01:14] We are in a significant moment. I really believe that in the life of the church, in my life and in your life. And I want to encourage you, yet challenge you to not miss.
[00:01:24] To not miss this moment.
[00:01:26] Can I tell you a couple of stories?
[00:01:28] Oh, come on. Your Pentecostals in the room. Can I tell you a couple of stories? You're going to have to help me a little bit as well. Okay. I've not done this here for a while.
[00:01:35] We have been seeing God do some amazing things in young people's lives across this nation. I want to tell you two real quick ones as we start. I got the joy of speaking at a conference in the Southwest a few months ago. And as I was sharing, I was speaking every morning across four or five days to around 700 young people. And on the second day, I gave a response for anyone that wants to give their life to Jesus to come forward to do so. And there was one girl who was 15 years old. She came forward and in tears and emotion, she came forward. She said, I'm from an unchurched background. I have never been to an event like this, but I really want to give my life to Jesus. He feels like there's something's happened this morning in my life and I just can't not respond. So we prayed for this girl and she went off to the side and at the side we had a team there who were given these packs that's kind of journeying young people through first steps of faith. And she was prayed for, she received one of these packs and she left the room and we had an evening service. And then the following morning I was speaking again. And at the end of my talk, I felt prompted to give another response forward for young people to come and give their lives to Jesus. And people came forward and this young girl came forward again and I thought, well, it sounds great. You're giving your life to Jesus twice, but you only need to do it once.
[00:02:43] So we prayed for her and she went off to the side and she went to get another one of those packs that you get a first date packs. And my team told me afterwards, as she wandered to the side, they recognized her from the morning before and they had the conversation with her. They said, hey, we're so glad that you've come forward a second time. But we noticed you came forward yesterday morning, you've already got one of these packs, so perhaps we should keep this and you should use the one that you got yesterday. And here's what she turned to our team and she said, and she said, oh, no, no, no, you've got it completely mistaken. This pack isn't for me.
[00:03:12] A little bit confused. We started to prompt and ask some questions and she said, I gave my life to Jesus Yesterday morning. I left this room and it felt like my whole life had been turned upside down. I went home into my cabin and I started to pray. And as I started to pray, I, for the first time in my life, felt like God was speaking to me. And it was all a little bit weird. And the things that he was telling me to say is that I need to take this good news to other young people.
[00:03:39] So I did something significant. It's going to get better.
[00:03:43] I've got a boyfriend who doesn't know Jesus.
[00:03:46] So I rang him, I told him my story.
[00:03:50] I said, you need to give your life to Jesus.
[00:03:53] He said, I definitely don't.
[00:03:56] She said, can you do me one thing tomorrow morning, would you come on a phone call with me? I'll put it on your loudspeaker and I'll put you on mute at the same time and would you listen to the talk that I've been listening to? And he said, I can do that. She came into the service, she worshiped her heart out.
[00:04:11] She rang her boyfriend mute loudspeaker. At the end of the talk, she went to the back, she unmuted it and she said, how did you find that? And his words were, how do I give my life to Jesus?
[00:04:27] She went forward, she prayed the prayer in Gap for him and she took a welcome pack, she took a pack of faith back to him the following days. Second story, Some of you may have seen this online recently. An amazing story from a girl called Mia here in Exeter. Here in Exeter, there was a girl called Mia and she's around 15 years old. She's part of one of the local schools here. And unfortunately a few months ago one of her closest friends had died due to knife crime. And she's from an unchurched background. She doesn't know anything to do with church or faith or Jesus. None of her family do. She went for a walk one evening and as she was walking down the key, literally around here, she started to pray for the first time. And as she started to pray, she was saying, God, why would you allow this to happen in my life? Why would my best friend be lost in this moment? She had all kinds of questions to do with suffering and death. And I know many people in here will have those same questions. And as she started to pray and ask God, she for the first time in her life, her words. You can find the video online. She says, for the first time, I started to sense that there may be a God out there who wants to comfort me and be with me. In the middle of a dark season. As she starts to walk up the river to her side for the first time, she sees the people who were with us last week exit a Christian bookshop, Bridge Books. She turns to it and she says, that's so weird. I've just been praying to a God for the first time there's a Christian bookshop. I'm going to go in. She goes in and she starts speaking to one of the woman's there who's working. She says, hey, this is really random, but I've just been praying for the first time. I'm wondering whether you've got anything you can help me. The woman looked back at and she said, you probably need a Bible.
[00:05:56] She grabs a Bible, she gives her it and she says, there's no charge, take it away. She goes home, she reads the Bible, she starts doing research, she gives her life to Jesus. The following week by herself, she goes into Riverside Church, a church that we love here, one of the amazing churches here in this city. She walks in and she says, I've just got a Bible. I'VE been praying for the first time and I genuinely can't believe what God's doing in my life. I know he's real. What do I need to do? They started to disciple her in a few weeks time. She has led her mom to Jesus and both of them are getting baptized.
[00:06:26] That's taking place here in Exeter.
[00:06:30] Friends, I have to tell you something that you need to hear and I say this with great sincerity.
[00:06:36] Something is shifting in this nation.
[00:06:38] Something's moving. There is something rumbling beneath the surfaces of chaos and disarray that's happening all around the globe and below it there's this spiritual rumbling that's taking place. And the best news for me, and it's exciting me, I genuinely believe it's starting with young people.
[00:06:54] There's something happening in young people. Many of you will have woken up this morning and see the Sunday Express first time, first page news. And it literally says these words, front page national news. Global crisis sends Gen Z to church.
[00:07:08] Front page news today.
[00:07:11] Global crisis sends Gen Z to church.
[00:07:15] All across the nation we are seeing stories, hearing stories of young people turning up in the most peculiar way, most peculiar fashion with this openness to a God that they don't know, asking questions to do with, how do I find out about. We know churches, we literally know churches and youth centers all across this nation where young people are turning up on Sundays in a youth club saying, I've been reading my Bible at home that I found on a bookshelf and I want to know more about Jesus.
[00:07:39] It's happening all over the place, friends, and it's happening in this nation.
[00:07:45] In this nation, God is doing something. Even if he has to bypass the church, he is doing something. And I believe he invites all of us to join him in that moment. Friends, don't miss this moment.
[00:08:01] Don't miss this moment of what's taking place.
[00:08:04] Step into the realities of what God wants for your life in this moment and don't allow limitations to hold you back from that.
[00:08:12] You may have seen a slide that's going to come up here. The guardians of the Daily Mail. I saw Mark put a post on recently on social media. Seems like every week we are seeing national press coverage of just things that's taking place. You'll have heard of hundreds of baptisms in Bournemouth only a few weeks ago. This took place this year.
[00:08:30] Gen Z, half as likely to be atheists as their parents, as Bible sales have risen by 87% amongst young people.
[00:08:38] Now that's incredibly exciting, but I know that's true. And the reason why I know that's true is because British Youth for Christ, Youth Bible is one of the Bibles that has skyrocketed. We have had schools over the last few months ringing us secular schools, saying, can we purchase 300 of your youth Bibles? Because young people are asking about Jesus more than ever before and we don't know what to do.
[00:09:00] It's taking place right on our doorstep, right beneath the surface. It's easy to miss. Yet so often Jesus is doing something and he wants to grab our attention with it. You'll see here Growing Spirituality is a research piece that we've recently done. Over the last 10 years, a British Youth of Christ have been doing research amongst young people. In 2016, we produced our first one, 2020, our second one, and then 2025 this year we produced our third one and we've just launched it. A month ago, we launched it to the press, to the world, and what we found from young people was exceptional. We interviewed over 1000 young people through a secular data recording. So there's no influence from Christian influence here. We followed the consensus of how many young people should be interviewed. We asked them similar questions to what we asked them in 2016, 2020, all the way to now, 2025. Can I share some of the results with you of what we've seen, not only what we are seeing here in 2025, but what we are seeing as a marker over the last 10 to 15 years, building up where God is doing something significant in young people's lives.
[00:10:08] First one you will see here, church attendance in young people in the last five years has doubled, going from 4% to 8%.
[00:10:18] A double amount of young people are attending our local churches every single week in the last five years.
[00:10:24] Secondly, you'll see on this next one here, 94% of young people who want to know more about God, they actually view the local church positively.
[00:10:32] They actually view the church positively. Now, you might be surprised by that, because in the last few years we have seen all kinds of things where God has been rooting out evil and he has been in some ways exposing much hurt that we have seen and taken place. Yet, friends, can I tell you, as we have a picture of the global church, most young people have a picture of the local church. They look at the church on their doorstep down the road and they see the local church doing food banks, they see the local church doing daycare classes. They see the local church going into their schools, being chaplains, speaking to them about Jesus. 94% of young people who want to know more about God, which is over half of young people, by the way, in this nation.
[00:11:10] They view this local church through a positive lens.
[00:11:15] That's good news.
[00:11:16] You'll see on this next one.
[00:11:19] We ask the question in 2016, which of the following do you believe in as young people? And you'll see here the answer to I believe in a God is 32%. The answer to no, I definitely don't believe in any God or I high power is 47%. Look what it is in 2025. Yes, 48%. An increase from 32% all the way to 48% in the last 10 years. You'll see the no, 47% has gone down to 28%.
[00:11:47] Friends, can I tell you, atheism has been tried and wanted and it has been failing people consistently because people realize there is more to life and it is found in a God who came through the person of Jesus Christ and who loves every single person. Young people are clocking on. They're starting to recognize it. You'll see here that the increase, as I put it on this next slide shows us that 48% of young people say they now believe in a God.
[00:12:14] 48% of young people, that's a 16% increase in nine years.
[00:12:20] They might not be a Christian, they might be part of a religious organization.
[00:12:25] But nearly half of our young people are saying there's definitely a God up there. And they're waiting for someone to show them who that God is.
[00:12:33] That's where all of you can come into service.
[00:12:37] Grandchildren, children, children's friends, school parties.
[00:12:42] Half of the people attending actually want to know more about a God that you know you'll see on this next slide.
[00:12:52] I think Nita will like this one. Knowing Nita very well, we started to ask the question about daily rhythms of people who believe in a God, perhaps not even a Christian God. Some of them were in this. In 2016. We asked, how often do you pray?
[00:13:06] We ask at least once a week, once a week or once a day. And you'll see once a week. At least once a week. Less than once a week. 16% once a week. 34%. Once a day. 47%. If you fast track all the way here to 2025.
[00:13:18] We've gone from 61% of all young people who want to know more about God are praying daily.
[00:13:26] Daily.
[00:13:28] That is a significant, a significant indication that what we are seeing in this generation isn't just a call to an entertainment based faith, but to a deep rooted hunger of wanting more in spirituality.
[00:13:45] Friends, I know because I've been part of this church for many years.
[00:13:49] Many people in this room have been praying for years, if not decades, for us to see a young people, a young generation who want to know the spiritual depths of a God who loves and creates them. Friends, can I encourage you? Your prayers are being answered right in front of us. Your prayers are being answered.
[00:14:10] We are seeing a generation, for the first time in many years being awakened to a God. As we were setting up this service this morning, there was a parent in this room who came and she spoke to Nita and she said, my boy, who I've been praying for for many years, has encountered Jesus in his bedroom and he's coming to church again.
[00:14:28] It's happening all over the place.
[00:14:30] All over the place, it's happening.
[00:14:32] Our research indicates that those who call themselves followers of Jesus are actively praying. It has risen by 12%.
[00:14:40] Also, the rise in young people who now claim to be Christians, not just believing in a God has risen by 12% in the last five years.
[00:14:50] It is.
[00:14:51] A rebirth is taking place and something is shifting. I want to leave this now and get into some scripture for you. And for the next 10 minutes, I'm just going to bring some thoughts off the back of this. I'm going to preach to you a passage of scripture that I love.
[00:15:07] One of my favorite passages of scripture, I think, because I see myself in it slightly. It's about a man called Blind Bartimaeus. Anyone know what I'm referencing to when I say blind Bartimaeus?
[00:15:18] Mark 10:46,52. It's going to come up on the screen. If you've got a Bible, I'd love you to follow me along with this. And I'm just going to bring three quick thoughts as we conclude and bring our time to a close shortly. Mark 1046, 52.
[00:15:32] It says these words.
[00:15:34] They came to Jericho as Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city. And a blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the roadside, begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus stopped and called him.
[00:16:00] So they called to the blind man, cheer up. On your feet. He's calling you.
[00:16:05] Throwing off his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and he came to Jesus amidst the large crowd. And Jesus looked at him and said, what do you want me to do for you? Jesus Asked and the blind man said, rabbi, I want to see. I'm blind. Go. Jesus said, your faith has healed you immediately. He received sight and he followed Jesus along the road.
[00:16:24] Jesus, share some thoughts from your word. I know there's minimal power in my thoughts, opinions and folly, wisdom, but there is all power in your word. Your word shifts and changes atmospheres. It moves our hearts. It allows us to see differently. So I pray your word will be heard. I pray your spirit will come speak. And I pray you would just soften our hearts to respond in any way you want us to respond as we hear what you are doing in this nation. We pray this in your powerful name. Amen.
[00:16:50] Jesus is walking through and he's starting to call people home.
[00:16:55] And effectively there's this blind man, blind Bartimaeus, who's been sat on this roadside. If you look into it, he's completely socially excluded. He's a beggar. He's not very, not looked upon well in society at that time. Jesus has been ministering in Jericho. He's coming out of the city where all the exiled people would sit blind. Bartimaeus is sat there and he starts to hear because he can't see the rumblings of what is taking place. Perhaps just like we have been hearing some of the rumblings of what is taking place in this land. And as he hears the commotion and the movement and the shifting that is taking place, he starts to notice that this isn't just a football from people going shopping.
[00:17:32] This is something more significant. He starts to hear the rumors that Jesus is walking by. Jesus is passing by. Jesus is coming through blind. Bartimaeus has a choice in this moment. He rather sits in his limitations of being blind, socially excluded and not looked upon very well by any other people. Or he decides not to miss the moment and he does something about what's taking place right in front of him.
[00:17:56] He doesn't miss the moment.
[00:17:58] He doesn't miss the moment of Jesus walking by.
[00:18:01] He doesn't miss the moment of Jesus walking by him.
[00:18:04] Just like we shouldn't miss the moment of Jesus walking by in this land blind. Bartimaeus does something. He starts to shout.
[00:18:11] People start to tell him to shut up almost immediately because of who he is. You, a beggar who is poor and blind, have no reason to come into the audience or presence of a holy king who is doing all kinds of holy, holy objections in his place.
[00:18:26] They start to tell him to shut up. He shouts out all the more.
[00:18:29] Jesus notices, he responds, he heals. And then he follows him. Friends, I Want to bring three real quick thoughts from this passage of Scripture to you. And the first one is the title that I have been trying to allow you to see, which is don't miss. Don't miss this moment. Can I suggest to you that I believe with all of my heart, as he has been doing, but perhaps more prominently right now, Jesus is walking through this land in ways we have been asking for for many, many years. He's walking by just as he was in the books of the Bible that we read. And he's healing people. He's opening blind eyes. He's allowing people to see that there's more to life than just their own desires and their own wants. He's walking by and he's calling people. But just like buying Ba', amas, even when he isn't actually calling people, we are seeing people calling out for him with no interaction of anyone else in involved. Jesus is walking by. And when Jesus walks by, things start to shift, things start to move, things start to change, people are transformed, hearts are molded and shaped. And we start to see a better picture of who Jesus is in the nation and what he is doing. Friends, don't miss this moment. Don't miss the moment of Jesus walking by in your life. Don't miss the moment of Jesus walking by in this nation. We all are busy. We all have things going on. I completely understand it. We have limitations in our life, difficulties and tensions that we are navigating. Every single story in here is different. Yet in the midst of all of that chaos that we can have in our lives, there's a moment where Jesus is walking by and he offers an invitation to all of us that he has offered throughout all of the scriptures, especially in the Gospels, to all that followed Him. And it's a really simple one. Are you going to follow me or not?
[00:20:14] Are you actually going to follow me or not?
[00:20:18] What's going to win the chaos in your life, the limitations in your life, the distractions in your life, the things that are going on in your life?
[00:20:26] Or are you going to be true to the decision that many of us have made way back when, when we said Jesus first?
[00:20:35] The world behind.
[00:20:40] Friends, don't miss this moment.
[00:20:44] We are seeing the collapse of atheism, the collapse of secularism, the collapse of humanism.
[00:20:53] We are seeing the collapse of politicians, the collapse of popularity and fame, the collapse of stars and superstars. Yet in the midst of a global collapse, there is one who is standing strong and is inviting us into the greatest adventure we can possibly ever have. As A church or as individuals, and his name is Jesus.
[00:21:19] Don't miss this moment.
[00:21:23] We cannot miss this moment. Friends, I've been convicted and challenged recently by the book of 1 Peter.
[00:21:31] And as I have been navigating this moment myself, and I am getting so much wrong as I try to follow him, as I know all of us do.
[00:21:40] In the midst of reading this Beautiful book from 1 Peter, there is this phrase that is said again and again and again, be alert, be alert, be alert.
[00:21:52] The enemy is roaring like a lion, but the king is on the move.
[00:21:59] My fear, as I go around churches preaching about a rumbling in young people that I've never seen before, is that the church may be sleeping.
[00:22:15] We cannot be sleeping.
[00:22:19] We cannot miss this moment because something's shifting and it's so easy to sleepwalk into his return because he's coming back.
[00:22:31] He's coming back.
[00:22:34] He's coming back and he's doing something wonderful.
[00:22:39] And that wonderful, beautiful nature of what he's doing.
[00:22:44] I'm not going to say unfortunately. I'm going to say fortunately has responsibility that we have to carry in this time.
[00:22:52] And we'll answer how we dealt with that responsibility.
[00:22:56] Friends, don't miss this moment.
[00:22:58] Don't miss this moment.
[00:23:01] Secondly, we see an opportunity being presented. It says when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout.
[00:23:11] You know, Bartimaeus had all kinds of limitations on his life.
[00:23:16] Those limitations could have restricted him from stepping into the Jesus that was walking by. I know there's been so many times in my life where I think there's been opportunities of God that's laid before me. And it's been my limitations, my restrictions, my baggage, my barriers that have stopped me from stepping into the Jesus walking by. I think it's sometimes a commonality of many of our lives. But there are also seasons where Jesus comes by and he actually allows our limitations and our difficulties not to be something that stops us, but to be the doorway in which we can step into the opportunity that is right in front of us.
[00:23:49] Perhaps some of the limitations in which we carry the busyness of our lives, the financial security that we want, the tensions that we are carrying, the difficulties in friendships and relationships, all those things can stop and hinder us. And they all need good time and care as a follower of Jesus to have wisdom and to deal with them. Well, of course they do. But perhaps some of our limitations, instead of being a barrier, can actually be a doorway.
[00:24:13] A doorway to step through into the things of Jesus and to see him doing something in the Great difficulty that he can't do elsewhere.
[00:24:22] I know in my life, I believe in my life.
[00:24:26] I've become more like Jesus in the darkest seasons in my life than in any other season of my life.
[00:24:33] Doesn't mean it was easy, doesn't mean it was straightforward.
[00:24:37] Had some tough moments.
[00:24:40] But I can tell you, as a testimony to God in every limiting season I've ever placed myself in, in any moment of great darkness, cloudiness, doubt and unforgiveness that I've had in my heart as a testimony to Christ this morning, I can tell you God has never left me.
[00:24:59] He has always been with me. When I've been crying in my kitchen on the floor, he's been sat beside me saying, it's going to change, son.
[00:25:07] When I've been struggling with finances, he's been with me. And he's saying, don't put your faith into material things. Put your faith in that which is above.
[00:25:16] Friends, our limitation can stop us from missing the moment, but they also can be a doorway to stepping into the moment of Jesus walking through your life. If you're going through a dark season this morning, if you're struggling in your life, I believe of all of my heart, all conviction in my bones that God has a plan and objective to do with you in that season. He is for you and he is not against you.
[00:25:38] Don't miss the moment, but also don't miss the opportunity.
[00:25:43] Barbara may miss the opportunity. And he started to do something that I believe all of us, and again I'm learning here, should be doing more right now.
[00:25:53] Said he began to shout out, you know, prayer is powerful.
[00:26:02] You know, prayer shifts nations, press shifts generations.
[00:26:08] Prayer moves things in your life that can't be moved without him.
[00:26:12] As he starts to shout out the word shout is this Greek word called krazo. And it's this deep emotional, deep emotional cry that is awakened in the spirit and it starts to beckon out where there is no other option other than transformation, change, and miracle that has taken place. Friends, I believe we are seeing what we are seeing right now. Because although the church may have failed in many areas, there has been faithful lovers of Jesus who have been committed to intercessory prayer for many, many decades and many, many years. And it is those prayers, I believe, that are being answered right now, answered in ways that we can't even think or imagine across this nation. And if we would be a church that is committed to prayer in our private life, public life, and corporately as we gather together on Mondays and Sundays, I believe we can see drastic change in this land. I think we can say a movement, an awakening in people's lives. This isn't just happening with young people. It's happening with Gen Z and it's happening with adults as well. All across the nation, things are starting to shift. And the root of it, right at the heart, is faithful followers of Jesus who are willing to commit to prayer.
[00:27:19] He shouts deep in his belly, out it comes a desperation for a shift.
[00:27:28] The answer is a God who hears, a God who listens, and a God who responds.
[00:27:36] We're seeing that response.
[00:27:38] Don't miss the moment, don't miss the opportunity. And finally, as I come to land, friends, don't miss your mission.
[00:27:48] Your mission, the mission of your life, what God has placed on your life for you to do and you to accomplish in the kingdom of God. Don't miss your mission.
[00:28:01] Don't miss the call he's placed on your life.
[00:28:04] Don't miss the mission, the adventures he's placed on your life.
[00:28:08] So often in our life we feel like we have to have a certain something in order to step into a certain something.
[00:28:14] So often in our lives we see someone else who might be further on in the journey or we see someone else doing great things for God and we say, oh, if I had that, I would be able to do it as well. Or if I had this, I'd be able to do this. And if I had that, I'd be able to do that. Friends, can I tell you whatever the mission is God's placed on your life, he will equip you and give you everything you need in order to accomplish it. This isn't a mission just of the church. We're all part of that as we come together. But there are missions on your life.
[00:28:41] There are things God wants to do in your life, move in your life, speak through your life, do things that changes things in your life. When was the last time you asked God, God, what's my mission? What have you got for me in this season, in this moment? What do you want me to do? As this is spiritual rumbling taking place, how are you calling me? How are you equipping me? What new gifts have you given me for this season, in this moment? Friends, I believe with all of my heart he will give you what you need to accomplish the mission of your life.
[00:29:07] He'll give you everything you need. Even more, if our hearts and our minds are convinced in the ways of the eternity of heaven, of how he sees this world, if we would allow our minds to get to that place. All kinds of things can happen in your life. No matter limitations, no matter the struggles, no matter the tensions, the remissions in your season. What's your mission, friends? Don't miss your mission. Don't miss this mission. Don't miss this moment. Don't miss the moment of your life. Right now, Jesus is going somewhere. He's moving, he's walking. He isn't static in this moment. Are you following Him?
[00:29:41] Are you following him in his mission? Are you going with him as he's doing amazing things? Are you seeing amazing things?
[00:29:49] Don't miss your mission.
[00:29:51] There's a mission for this moment, a change for this moment, a shifting in this moment. And our hearts need to be humble and nimble to deal with unforgiveness and bitterness. We may have to rid ourselves of sin that entangles us and ensnares us and entraps us. And to say, I don't want any of these things. I just want the things of God. I want his ways and all of his ways. I don't want to miss the moment, the opportunity or the mission. Hudson Taylor, he says these words, the Great Commission is not an option to be considered, but a command to be obeyed.
[00:30:22] A command to be obeyed. He calls every single one of us into the Great Commission, telling us to go and do what, to preach the Gospel, to raise disciples, to set the captives free, to see the eyes of the blind open, to release people who are imprisoned.
[00:30:38] That's not for the certain few. It's not for the great Hudson Taylor's friends. That's for every single person who has sat in this room that says, I'm a follower of Jesus. That's your life, your call, your mission, your opportunity, your moment right now. Are you going to miss the moment or are you going to step into Jesus walking by in your life this morning and saying, I'm willing to lay everything down once again in my life and say, yes, 100% all in to the things of Jesus.
[00:31:04] That's what he lays before us once again. The call he lays before us every single morning when we wake up. The call he lays before is every single time we enter into this building. Are you 100% in? Because there is no 50 50.
[00:31:18] There is no 50 50.
[00:31:20] The great command is not an option to be considered.
[00:31:24] It's a command to be obeyed.
[00:31:27] The local church should never be measured successfully by its seating capacity and how many people we have in this room.
[00:31:33] I truly believe that the greatest measurement of a local church is its sending capacity.
[00:31:39] How many people Are willing to say, I hear the call of the Lord. Who shall I send?
[00:31:45] And my response is this.
[00:31:48] Here I am.
[00:31:52] Send me.
[00:31:56] Send me to the nations or to my neighbor.
[00:32:04] Here I am.
[00:32:07] Send me.
[00:32:09] Band, if you would come up, I'm gonna conclude in this moment, I believe there's a call as a response to this place and space. And the call is twofold.
[00:32:30] It's a call that I imagine many of you've probably done business like this many times in your life. You've been following Jesus for a while.
[00:32:38] I think when we're following Jesus for a while, we think we can just tick a box and we've kind of nailed it and done it, and then we move on. But there are also moments in our life in fresh seasons and new moments in new shiftings when God is doing something.
[00:32:52] We have to recommit ourselves to this place.
[00:32:56] There's a bending once again in our heart to say, God, just in case I have veered off, just in case I have started to be distracted or limited in ways that I have not even understood yet, Just in case I want to recenter myself once again, recommit my heart once again for the season that is before me.
[00:33:20] And there's two responses we have.
[00:33:22] The first one is, lord, before revival starts out there, let it start in here.
[00:33:31] Search me, O God, renewing me, an upright spirit. Challenge me of my ways.
[00:33:39] And with that, there is this call that so often we don't do in churches anymore. But I know we do it personally. I really hope we do it personally.
[00:33:47] And it's this call that is central to the gospel that starts with this word, repent.
[00:33:58] Sin that has been entangling us and ensnaring us.
[00:34:03] Ways in which we think that are evil and not good, hearts that are broken, that are struggling, tensions in our lives that we have been getting all kinds of jealousy and bitterness and anger towards.
[00:34:18] And it happens on a weekly basis for probably all of us.
[00:34:22] And there is this fresh call from Jesus this morning that says, you have an opportunity, whether you want to take it or not. That's on you.
[00:34:31] Repentance.
[00:34:34] The Bible says his kindness leads us to his repentance. It's not a rod smacking you around. It's a beautiful invitation. So I'm being so kind and good to you now. I'm just giving you an opportunity to get things right, to not miss the moment to be healed like blind Bartimaeus was healed, and then to choose to follow him on the roadside.
[00:34:53] So the first call is really simple.
[00:34:56] It's an opportunity for revival to start in you this morning.
[00:35:02] And secondly, there is that opportunity, post that. To say, lord, here I am. Send me, send me. Send me to my workplace, send me to my family, send me to my wife and my husband, send me to my parents, send me to my children, send me to my friends. And as I am sent from this place into all of those normal everyday activities, I choose to have clean hands of, of pure hearts. Because I've dealt with it this morning and I don't want to miss a thing that you have in store for my life. I want to be a sent one. I want to be an ambassador of God, a disciple of Jesus, a follower of Jesus, all in for the things of God and for the things of the kingdom. In my everyday life, in my everyday moment, yes, that might be in a local nature. For some of you, it might be a international nature. A call into the nations to go and preach the gospel to the unreached people groups. I don't know what God's been stirring in your hearts, but I pray this morning he stirs something in your heart where you're longing deep inside is to say, send me wherever you want me to be.
[00:36:03] Here I am.
[00:36:04] I'll be the one to go.
[00:36:07] We're going to respond to both of those. Might not be anyone. There might be a couple, There might be loads of us. I really don't know.
[00:36:14] My objection isn't for Mass. My objection is for deep, deep.
[00:36:25] If you want to respond to either of those things, you can stand wherever you want to be.
[00:36:30] You can do that now.
[00:36:32] And we're just going to pray.
[00:36:34] I'm going to ask Mark in a moment to come and pray for everyone that's standing.
[00:36:39] And then we're just going to worship for a little bit and we're just going to see what God wants to do for the next few final moments together in this chance.
[00:36:48] Mark, if you want to come join me, this is your chance to do business with God. I'm not going to tell you how to do it. You know God well enough. Many of you who stand in, you do whatever you want to do. If you want to kneel, if you want to come forward and be at the front, if you want to sit down, if you want to put your hands up to heaven, posture yourself in front of you. It's what I like to do is I like to clear my mind and get myself just between me and God. And then I want to encourage you just to start speaking to him about anything that you stir to speak to him about this moment. Try not to be distracted by your emotions. And we're just going to pray for you. We're going to pray for you as you do that. So you can go ahead and do that now. Don't just pray out loud. You can pray in your mind if you want. That's fine. Whatever you're comfortable with. Holy Spirit, I just invite you into this place right now. You've already been here. You've been ministering and moving, working, doing things that we love for you to do. And we're so thankful. God, we come with humble hearts this morning. We come with humble hearts, hearts that don't deserve you to move. But out of great grace and mercy, you come and you move. You move amongst us. You just do amazing things amongst us. And I just want to invite you, King Jesus, as you're walking through this nation, would you take a slight detour and just walk through this room?
[00:37:51] Would you come and walk through this place, Come and meet every individual wherever they are. Would you come and minister and come and shape and come and mold and come and convict and lead us into the everlasting leaders, into your kingdom leaders, into your glorious presence in which hearts are transformed. I pray for hearts that feel burdened and feel heavy like stone. I pray you would move them to hearts of flesh that are alive and beating, that can sense your voice, sense your comfort, sense your movement.
[00:38:19] For everyone that needs conviction of sin. I pray you to just allow us to see that sin right now that we need to say sorry of and we need to ask for it to be removed in our lives. I pray you give us grace to do so.
[00:38:30] So come now, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, would you birth a revival in our hearts this morning?
[00:39:14] Where our walk with you has meandered, where our focus has been lost, where our affections have been shared.
[00:39:31] Holy Spirit, come and revive our hearts. We pray.
[00:39:40] Set a fire. God in us set a fire.
