Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Well, hello and welcome to Rediscover Church. My name is Amy. I'm married to Mike. Hello to everyone who's watching online. We're so glad that you can join us, that you are here in the room as well today, which is amazing. You know, we've been here six months, just over six months. Amazing. Time goes really fast, doesn't it?
[00:00:25] And I had really felt that I wanted to share, but honestly, I was so afraid. I was like, no, no, no, I can't, I can't, I can't. And then one of my lovely friends, Sam from New Zealand, she sent me a message a couple of weeks ago and she said, amy, I had a dream about you. She's like, don't worry, it was a good dream. And she's like, the enemy wanted to hush your voice. He wanted to silence your voice. But you rose up in confidence and in victory. I'm so grateful for my friend Sam. But you may also have been here a couple of weeks ago. One of our lovely ladies, Mary, had a very similar dream. And I was watching online because I haven't been, as you say here, I've been very poorly. I haven't been very well lately. And so I'm like, two dreams in one week. Okay, I better listen, I better say yes. You know, in the first few months of us being here, I'm sure I said to Mike I wanted to go home. Like, I'm sure I said that a lot to him. I wanted to go home. But don't worry, I don't want to go home now. But which is good.
[00:01:32] I think I underestimated how hard it would be to move to the other side of the world. Like, I'm so proud of our family. Honestly, everyone but me has settled better.
[00:01:44] I'm so glad for that. I think our kids are amazing.
[00:01:49] But I want to thank you all. I want to thank you all for being so very kind. Like, you're such an amazing church. I want to thank you for being so very kind to us.
[00:01:59] I have cards and messages that many of you have written and I've kept them and they've really meant a lot to me. So thank you.
[00:02:09] And I'm just going to get this out of the way. As if it's not scary enough to stand up and speak in front of a whole lot of people.
[00:02:15] Honestly, moving over here, I have never felt so self conscious of the way I speak, of the way I sound.
[00:02:25] And I know many of you are from other nations and English is your second language. And I'm so In awe of you. Like, you are amazing. But there are many days I'm like. It feels like English is my second language too.
[00:02:40] And our kids have helped me with this because they're definitely are some differences. Things we say in New Zealand and things you say over here. So I've got a few pictures, if you'd like to put the first one up on screen over here. You call these why Wellies? Well, in New Zealand we call them gumboots.
[00:03:03] Gumboots is a very famous song in New Zealand that says, where would I be if not for my gumboots? And I honestly really wish I'd packed my gumboots with me. Like, that would have been really handy. And I will need to go and get some willies, I promise. I do. Okay, the next picture.
[00:03:23] Mike says, this is our favorite beach in New Zealand, called Matapori. It's beautiful. The beaches in New Zealand are beautiful. I know I haven't explored all your beaches here, but if we went to the beach, we. We would wear our Jandals and our togs, we would take our Barbie and we would have a sausage sizzle on the beach.
[00:03:44] And some of you will be like, what have you just said? I know you would wear your flip flops and you would take your swimming costumes, and I presume that you have portable barbecues over here. But if you haven't had a sausage sizzle, that is a sausage cooked on a barbecue. White bread, tomato sauce. You're really missing out. Truly, you are.
[00:04:07] I love summer. And I'm sure the sun is shining just for me. Like, just for me.
[00:04:13] Let's just say the sun doesn't shine quite as much over here.
[00:04:19] And lastly, I've got one more picture, I think.
[00:04:23] I think there's one more picture. Oh, over here you call these Chris. Okay. In New Zealand, we call those chips. The problem is we call everything chips. So crisps are chips, hot chips are chips. Pfizer chips.
[00:04:40] I know. We're weird, aren't we? We're weird. But I'm learning to call these crisps amazing. And I often get asked, like, why did you come here? Why did you leave New Zealand and move to England?
[00:04:56] Like, so. So many people go the other way around.
[00:05:00] I've had that said to me a lot. And I haven't always known what to say.
[00:05:06] To be honest. I'm just like. Sometimes I just say nothing. I just said, my husband, it's all his fault. But you're going to hear this morning that it's not.
[00:05:18] We really felt on our hearts that God had asked us to come here. And I guess it feels like, you know, an eagle pushes its chick out of its comfortable nest and has to learn to fly. That's what I feel like God has done with us. And sometimes it feels like I am plummeting to the ground, and other times I feel like his presence is upon us, that he has called us for such a time as this. And that is the title of my message this morning.
[00:05:48] I want to remind us all that we would rise up not on our own strength, because we can't do it without God, but in God's strength. And we would know that he has called us for such a time as this. And so this message was actually the last message I spoke in New Zealand. And Phil, from our Newton Abbott Church plant, he teases me how I say his lovely wife's name. Esther. Esther, I don't know. It just must be the way we pronounce our vowels. But Mike's like, just say Esther, like the supermarket Esther. You'll be fine. So we will read our key scripture this morning. It'll be on the screen. You can follow along. Esther. I can't say it now. Esther, chapter four, verses 13 to 16. I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible. Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther. Don't think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king's palace. If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people for another place, but you and your family's father will be destroyed. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. Easter sent this reply to Mordecai. Go and assemble all the Jews in Susa who can be found and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my female servants will do the same. And after that, I will go to the king, even if it's against the law. If I perish, I perish. Would you pray for me? Would you pray? You can pray for me. Let's pray. Lord, oh, I thank you for these moments that we get to spend together. And I do pray that you would help me. I thank you for that amazing scripture that I lift my eyes to the heavens because my help comes from you, Lord. So we thank you. We just pray that. I pray that you would speak through me in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Well, you may know the story of Esther. Well, if you don't, don't worry. It's about A Jewish girl who becomes the queen of Persia. And she keeps her identity a secret, and God uses her to save his people, to save the Jewish people from Haman's plot to destroy them. Issa was also written to celebrate the. Sorry, the celebration of Purim, and where all the generations that would follow would remember and celebrate that God would save his people. So for some context, Persia was the ruling empire of the day. Many Jews had returned to Jerusalem, they'd gone home, but there had been many that stayed in Persia. And we don't know why that was. The text doesn't tell us. But one thing we do know is that God's people were taken into captivity in the first place because they embraced the gods of other nations. And Easter is a really unique book. Did you know that it is one of the only two books in the Bible that never mention the name of God directly? The other is Song of Songs, where God is the lover of our soul and who wants to captivate our hearts. But in the book of Esther, God's name is hidden. And although we will see that Mordecai implies his divine sovereignty, it's never actually mentioned. You know, Esther's Hebrew name was actually Hadassah. It was Hadassah. And that has a meaning of being a myrtle tree. A myrtle tree which I'll pick up on later. But Hadassah was also known by her Greek name. The name of this book, Esther. And what I found fascinating is that Esther in the Hebrew means I will hide. So interesting. Her name means I will hide. Because Esther had her true identity as a Jew. And in the book of Deuteronomy, God forewarned his people what would happen should they forsake him. In Deuteronomy 31:18, he says, I will hide my face from them. And the scene also hints of the coming Messiah, Jesus, who would serve in the same capacity as Isaiah prophesied. Matthew 12 reminds us, said he warned them not to reveal who he was. And this fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him. Look at my servant whom I've chosen. He is my beloved who pleases me. I put my spirit on him and he will proclaim justice to the nations. So I've got three thoughts this morning. In the time we've got left, I really pray they encourage you as they have met, as. As they do me. Number one is that we are chosen.
[00:10:33] The first thought I have this morning is that we are chosen. You know, Easter was chosen by the king, it Sundays in Easter 2, it says the king loved Easter more than all the other Women. She won more favor and approval from him than any of the other virgins. And he placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. You know, in the same way that Esther was chosen by the king, do you know that we are also chosen by King Jesus? We belong to Him. We are chosen. We are anointed. We heard such a beautiful message last week from Mark. You know, where God's anointing flow, his power must follow. I love that. And if you have surrendered your life to Jesus, this is a promise that you can walk in every day. First Peter 2. 9 says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Amen.
[00:11:41] We have been grafted into God's family through Jesus. You know, the question of who am I? I think for me has been a lifelong journey and one I think I've not truly understood until a few years ago. In 2023, I basically quit my job.
[00:12:00] Sorry, honey. Because I was working for him. And I basically just went, I just need to lay down what I did. Because being a pastor had become my identity. It was how I measured my value in this life. And so I did that. And one of my friends back in New Zealand, she said, oh, our family are going to do the Freedom in Christ course. Do you want to join us? And I was like, we would love to do that. And I know that you too have been through the Freedom in Christ course, such a great course. And I remember listening to one of the speakers, she shared a little bit of his story. And she said, I feel like I have been wandering round like a chicken, but instead God has called me to soar like an eagle. And I'm like, yes, I can so relate to that. I can so relate to that. I felt like I'd been wandering around like a chicken. But God had called me to sort like an eagle just saw on the wings, the wings of faith that he'd called me to.
[00:13:06] I'm so glad for that year, because God showed me who I am by revealing who he is.
[00:13:14] It's in Christ. Ephesians 1:4 says, before he made the world, God loved us. And he chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault. God decided in advance to adopt us into his family, to bring us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this is what he wanted to do. How good is this? He gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious Grace that he has poured out on us because we belong. Because we belong to our dear son. Amazing. We belong to Jesus. Number one. We are chosen. Number one. We are chosen. But my second thought this morning is, is that we are called to join God's work. We are called to join God's work. Like how amazing?
[00:14:00] Like that God would invite us to be part of his team. I just think that's amazing and I love that thought. And it's not for God's sake. It's actually for our sake. It's actually for our sake that he would call us to join his work. You know, Esther, she could have refused to go to the king and to be a part of saving God's people. But God would have found another way. Actually, he says that. He says that in Esther 4.
[00:14:32] But you know what? Esther would have missed an opportunity. Esther would have missed an opportunity. I don't want to miss the opportunities that God has in front of us.
[00:14:42] If I'd said no, I would have missed the opportunity of meeting all you lovely people like amazing. Esther 4:14 says, if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place. You and your father's family will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.
[00:15:09] Such an interesting choice of words that Mordecai uses. He says, who knows, perhaps. Who knows, perhaps. Do you know, in the Bible there are 112 occurrences of perhaps, and some of them had amazing outcomes and some of them did not. And I shared this message in New Zealand and I'm like, are we really believing that this is going to have an amazing outcome? That this is one of those occurrences that's going to turn out really well? But I love that, you know, who knows, perhaps?
[00:15:43] And you know, certainty is very seldom in the faith zone, is it? It's very seldom in the faith zone. In fact, Mike often reminds me, if we had 100% certainty, we wouldn't need any faith at all, would we?
[00:16:00] You know, the perhaps moments in life are a step of faith into the possibilities of God.
[00:16:06] The perhaps moments in life are a step of faith into the possibilities of God.
[00:16:14] We had a perhaps moment.
[00:16:16] It was Thursday the 1st of February, 2024. I'm a girl. I remember specifics. Is anyone married to me or married to someone that doesn't know specifics, that never remembers?
[00:16:31] I'm a specifics girl.
[00:16:34] We just trained into Exeter, 1st of February, 2024, and our dear friends Mark and Nita picked us up from the train station and picked us up in their car. And we're sitting in the back seat of their car and Mark said, oh, well, it's been an interesting week. It's been an interesting week. I've just been nominated to be the general Superintendent of Eliminate. And in the backseat of the car, I mouth to Mike, what's that?
[00:17:05] What does that mean? And he's mouthing back to me, boss, Boss.
[00:17:11] And so our children affectionately call Mark Mr. Boss and Nita Mrs. Boss, which I think suits them, really. Really.
[00:17:25] We've known Mark, anita for about 16 years. And Mike has always said, oh, one day Mark will lead the Elam UK movement. And I go, of course he will. Like, amazing. What's that got to do with me?
[00:17:39] Of course. Of course he will lead. And apparently I gave Mike a look in the back seat of the car that I've only given him this look about three times before. And it's not that look, if you were thinking, was a different look.
[00:17:56] And we had a perhaps moment. Perhaps we were being called to serve Mark and Nita as they came, as they took on this big new role.
[00:18:07] You know, this was a trip we were never meant to go on, by the way. Mike was meant to come by himself. But we had a freakish storm in New Zealand and it blew the roof, part of our roof off. And the insurance money. Anyone want to praise God for the storms we go through in life? Because they can be a blessing because the insurance money paid not only for the roof to get fixed, but for my ticket. Yeah, that's how I ended up here.
[00:18:37] And it was really the trip of a lifetime for us. We were going to come here about nine years ago, but I was pregnant with our youngest child and I went through a very dark valley of depression, which I promise I will share that message with you one day.
[00:18:56] So we had a perhaps moment. We had a Holy Spirit nudge. Have you had those before? We had a Holy Spirit nudge. And then we remembered a word of prophecy that someone had shared over our life about 18 months earlier. And we never really understood the last part. And I'm like, holy Spirit, nudge, a word of prophecy. I am not moving halfway across the world on those two things. And so I'm like, God, I need your word. I need the word. I need to hear it. So important that we don't speak for God, we go to his word. And I tell you what Mike and I did and we prayed, prayed a lot.
[00:19:40] And I got some words. And I'm so glad that I took the time to go to the Word because the times I wanted to go home, what did I do? I went back. I went back to the words that God had spoken to me.
[00:20:04] You know, the. There were many overwhelming moments in this journey for us. Many moments. I didn't sleep well before we came, and I would wake early in the morning and I would think, well, what are we doing?
[00:20:17] Like, what are we doing? I'll be crazy. This is what people do in their 20s in New Zealand. Like, my two brothers had, always over this side of the world. But we're not in our 20s. We have three children.
[00:20:31] I'm like, what are we doing?
[00:20:33] But then I remembered the amount of people that were in our church in New Zealand who had immigrated from foreign nations. Probably a good third. A good third. And I thought of them, and I know that there are many here because I've met you and you are amazing. And you've left your country, some of it by choice, some of them forced upon you, but you have moved and you have stepped out, following the voice and the call of God on your life. And I love that. Rediscover. Church is so diverse in culture and nationality. Like, I love it because it reminds me of home.
[00:21:18] It's so, so beautiful. And we're so, so glad that you are here.
[00:21:23] Revelation 3, 7, 8 means a lot to me.
[00:21:27] And it's where God talks about, I've set an open door before you, and I'm the God who can open doors that others will close and who can close doors where others will open. But my encouragement to you all is to say yes, is to say yes to the perhaps moments in life.
[00:21:49] To say yes. You know, the perhaps moments are a step of faith, aren't they? Into the possibilities of God.
[00:21:57] And, you know, maybe God has called you here to this place.
[00:22:03] I knew that was going to happen. Excuse me.
[00:22:13] You know, when you've been sick and you start talking, sometimes you can start coughing. I could feel it.
[00:22:19] You know, maybe God has called you here and you have come and you have said yes. I keep meeting amazing university students. Lydia. Did I get your name right?
[00:22:30] Yeah, you.
[00:22:32] Nadia. I knew. But you know what? Nadia has come from Switzerland and she is studying and she lives here. And, like, I'm so glad we got to pray for our students this morning. And I know there are many great universities, but I hear the university is amazing here.
[00:22:49] Yeah.
[00:22:52] And I just want to encourage you that you are not here by accident.
[00:22:57] God has you here for a purpose. He has you here for a reason. He has called you to join his work. What an amazing opportunity.
[00:23:07] So we will pray for you this week and we're so glad that you were here. We're so glad for those of you who are at school, you're amazing. I'm sorry you have to listen to me this morning.
[00:23:18] You know, our three children were in such a beautiful Christian school in New Zealand. I don't think about it too much because it makes me a bit sad. But honestly, God has called Mike and God has called me that he has called our children for such a time as this, and we are so proud of them because we are seeing that, you know, perhaps God has called you here and I just want to say, be obedient, say yes. I have a lovely friend in New Zealand. She just started a podcast and she said on her podcast, you know, so often we want to hear God tell us something new. And she's like, just do the very last thing God told you to do.
[00:24:03] God's not going to tell you something new until you do the very last thing he's told you.
[00:24:11] Oh, dear.
[00:24:16] So we are chosen, we are called Amen. To join God's work. And the third thing, if the keyboard would like to join me.
[00:24:31] So it's not just me coughing up here.
[00:24:35] Dan, are you playing key? Yes. You are. Thank you. I'm so glad I have. I'm so. I'm truly trying really, really, really hard to remember people's names, but I remember your name. Dan.
[00:24:47] It is Dan, eh? Yeah. I'm going, I'm going. I hope it is.
[00:24:54] So my third thought this morning is that we must consecrate our hearts. We must consecrate our hearts. You know, I've been in church most of my life, and I don't know, I never really understood what the word consecrate or consecration means, but I think I'm learning and I'm getting a little bit of an understanding. I know Mark and the national leadership team are taking us on a journey to consecrate ourselves before God.
[00:25:24] And to me, it means to declare something as sacred, to be set apart for God for his purposes, for his plans. It's a prayer that I like to pray. It's like, lord, would you make me holy as you were holy? Would you mark me with your power, with your presence?
[00:25:50] You know, Esther wasn't meant to go to the king unless she was invited. The Bible tells us it was against the law.
[00:25:59] But she showed such courage.
[00:26:02] She sent this message out to her people in east of 4 to Mordecai go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, and I will fast the same way.
[00:26:25] And she says these famous words, even if I perish, I perish. You know, what does that mean? What does that mean for you and I? I was really thinking about that. It's like, you know, God, do you have first priority in my life?
[00:26:38] Lord, you have my first and my best.
[00:26:44] You might have to finish this message, Mark.
[00:26:47] Oh, boy.
[00:26:50] I know. As a mum, I'm so aware of what that means. You know, are my children. Are we teaching them God's word at home? Do they have it in their heart, Lord? Lord, am I praying over their lives? Lord, would you protect them from the lure of this world? Protect their eyes and protect their minds. In Jesus name. I'm praying that a lot, you know, to consecrate a heart.
[00:27:20] I know that's words that have already been spoken this morning, but for me, Galatians 2:20 comes to mind. It's probably a scripture that has underpinned my life, and it says, I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but it's Christ who lives in me. And this life I live in the body. I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and who gave himself for me.
[00:27:52] You know, I said earlier that Hadassah's name is derived from the. The word myrtle tree, and it had a really pleasant fragrance. Then the Bible talks about the righteous being like myrtles.
[00:28:11] You know, Purim means lots, and it is the date that Haman chose to destroy the Jewish people.
[00:28:21] And I'm so grateful for Esther. Like, what an amazing, courageous woman.
[00:28:27] And I want to say that we might not need estes and palaces anymore, but we absolutely need the prayers of the saints worldwide. We need people, men and women, who will rise up and who will know that they are called, that they are chosen, that they are anointed and pointed by God.
[00:28:54] Thank you, Roger.
[00:29:07] We need people. We need men and women who will rise up and know that they are called, they are anointed, that they are anointed for such a time as this. Amen.
[00:29:24] You know, there was a group back home, and they would study. It was a life group, and they would study Hebrew. And I told them what I was speaking on. I said, could you ladies do some research, because you're going to know a whole lot more than me.
[00:29:37] And they came back and they said, esther's name means Hadassah. It's Hadassah in the Hebrew, it means myrtle tree. It's beautiful fragrance. But they came back with this one line, and I loved it. And they said Hadassah's name means whose end is entwined in the beginning.
[00:29:58] Whose end is entwined in the beginning. And I love that because to me, it speaks of Jesus. Jesus who was with God at the beginning, who is God and who will one day come back as our soon and coming king.
