Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Let's pray father, as we sang earlier on, as we were reminded, then that you're faithful your faithful father lover of our souls. It's nothing we can do that earns you, but you love us. And today this is not just about hearing some words that might help us to get through this week. But this is revelation that allows our hearts to synchronize with yours. And I pray for all of those who are grieving the loss of earthy fathers. Thank you that you are described in your word as the God of all comfort. And I pray this day, there will be a special portion and measure of your comfort around those hearts that feel the grief, particularly poignantly today, and Lord, all of those that really struggle and wrestle with a concept of a father because they've never experienced a healthy, loving father in their life. And I pray today that what the enemy is intended for harm in their life, that you will turn around and flip on its head and you will bring a revelation into their hearts of what a good father really is like. And I pray today will be a change, a transformation of really, truly understanding that you are our good father and for all of those Lord that grieve their inability to have children of their own Lord. I pray that you will comfort those today, particularly, and they will know the closeness of your spirit.
Speaker 0 00:01:41 And I pray father, for those that bear something of the same name as you, the fathers in the room, the fathers join us online. Lord, we pray that we will glean your wisdom and your heart, that we will not just share your name of father, but that we will share your heart and your wisdom and your ways. So open up your word to us now, as we come to our prayer in Jesus name. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:02:17 Amen.
Speaker 0 00:02:19 Amen. Well, it really is lovely to see you this morning. When I send out communication to the church, I will often start it in a certain way. It will often start with dear mark, if it's me receiving it or whatever your name is, um, we're not sat there typing hundreds of emails out and put individual names on there. You know, that's not the case. It's wonderful bit of technology that is able to insert your name, but there's another part that follows that it says dear mark, and all the rediscover family and the word family is not just a cozy expression. That's trying to make the communication feel less formal. It's not me trying to just create something of an illusion, but the use of the word family is a powerful, deeply theological, deeply revelatory way that the Lord understands his people. When Jesus announced that he was coming to build his church, he wasn't announcing himself as the CEO of an organization or an institution or even a charity. Jesus was announcing that he was the repairer of a broken, fragmented family, that he was restoring and reuniting and bringing and blending together. The family of God, we are F
Speaker 0 00:04:40 I thought the church party had come a few days early. Then do book into that. It's gonna be a great night on Friday. Of course, it's a deeply powerful theological truth. Let me take you back to the beginning of the old Testament, or just after the beginning of the old Testament, we're introduced to a central character called Abraham.
Speaker 0 00:05:10 Abraham was getting on in years and he received a promise from God. His name Abraham meant the father is exalted and God gave him a promise. And the promise was this, that Abraham whose name would be changed to Abraham, which means the father of nations that Abraham even in his old age, would become the father of so many multitudes. That it would be as numerous as the sand on the beach of XMO or as numerous as the stars in the sky. That was his promise that he, he didn't promise Abraham that he would become the leader of a ministry or the king of a nation. He promised him that he would become a father. Yes. Now the genealogies that are given in the Bible that take us beyond Abraham, right through to the story of Jesus, to the birth and the arrival of the son of God.
Speaker 0 00:06:22 It shows us that God has been preparing a family that there's a lineage. There's a history. There's a story. There's a connection that we have together. God didn't come to start an organization. He came to restore a family. And as we look at this subject of movements, we are not a movement of organizations and skills and giftings. We are a movement of the family of God that are fruitfully occupying the spaces of this world. Abraham, even though there would be in his lineage, even though in his descendants, there would be wickedness. There would be those who double cross those who are murderous. Those who are rebellious, that in multiple generations to come, that there would be what the Bible calls a seed, a righteous seed that the descendant from Abraham would come and change the world. Now the physical genealogy of Abraham are the Israelites, the Jews. Thank God for that great nation. Thank God for those great people that God has favored and blessed, but there was one descendant in this genealogy from Abraham that would make it possible for others of us that are not Jewish by birth, that there would be possible that you and I could be adopted in to the family.
Speaker 0 00:08:16 His name was Jesus. Let's look at a few verses that. Talk about this in Galatians chapter three versus 28 and 29. It says this, there is no longer Jew or Gentile slave or free male and female for you are all one in Christ. Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. You have been brought into a family, Romans four, the writer says these words, and there's a few verses we're gonna look at from verse 18 to 25. It says even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping, believing that he would become the father of many nations for God had said to him, that's how many descendants you will have. And Abraham's faith did not weaken. Even. We can, even though at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead.
Speaker 0 00:09:44 And so was Sarah's womb, but Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. Wow. In fact, his faith grew stronger. And in this, he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. Are you fully convinced that God can do whatever he promises and because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was recorded for the benefit of us. Also assuring us that God will also count us as righteous. If we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus, our Lord from the dead, he was handed over to die because of our sins. And he was raised to life to make us right with God and to bring us into his family. That last bit was an addition by me to bring us into his family. Now I started off by saying the rediscover family, but of course the family of God is one family across the nations of the earth. And they have various denominational titles. They have various nuances of theology. They have various styles of how they operate church governance, but we are one family in God. Those who look to Jesus Christ as their Lord in savior are one in Christ. We are fat.
Speaker 0 00:11:47 The Bible oozes. I mean, absolutely squeezes it out with the imagery of us being a family, a growing loving family. That's on an adventure together. We are a family not called to settle, but a family called to be on the move. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:12:13 Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:12:14 Imagine the impact. If somebody came to your family home and began to change your family, to be an organization and not a family, imagine the impact that it would have when someone arrives with a flip chart and they begin to do some time and motion studies on your family. And they've got graphs and PowerPoint presentations, which they beam in on your living room wall. And they begin to talk about the productivity of the family. And they begin to talk about those who have not really been pulling their weight in the family and how expendable they should be within this organization. They begin to draw up graphs about your efficiency or your effectiveness. They look at issues like value for money within the organization. Wow. Imagine how that would change a family. If that was what was happening or imagine. And some of you won't need to imagine too much. If you maybe have teenagers at home. Imagine if your home became like a hotel,
Speaker 4 00:13:28 <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:13:29 Imagine getting a phone call in the morning that says, good morning, this is your requested early morning. Wake up, call <laugh>. Thank you very much. It's very kind of you. Thank you. And then you go to the bathroom and they're on the towel rail. Someone has put a sign up that says out of consideration for the environment, <laugh> please consider reusing this towel again. And then you, you, you, you get dressed after your shower. You make your wear, you sit at the dining room table and someone comes up with a little iPad and they say, what's your room number, sir? How are you gonna pay this morning?
Speaker 0 00:14:14 What do you like for breakfast this morning? Imagine if there was that organizational service type of approach, it would change the dynamics in our home quite significantly. Now, while those of you, that may be the people that make the food and do the washing up and wash the towels might be quite interested in some of those things that I've just said. The reality is that God calls us to be a family and not an organization. The currency of any organization is either money or earning your way. But the currency of family is love. Organizations exist to make products and services, but families exist to make and raise and nurture people.
Speaker 0 00:15:18 I love these few words that we find in the message translation of Psalm 68, verse five and six says this father, this is talking about God, he's the father of orphans. He's the champion of widows is God in his holy house. God makes homes for the homeless. He leads prisoners to freedom, but there is a stark warning here, but he leaves the rebels to rot in hell. And I wanna just for the next few moments, I wanna remind us and help us to understand three key elements of God's family. The first element is this God's family is built on the foundations of radical. Perfect love. Yeah. I mean, it's extreme. Yeah, it's crazy. It doesn't go onto a spreadsheet and become the sum of the parts. It is over the top, radically generous towards us. That's the nature and the love of God. And he calls his family not just to sing songs to him, not just to understand teaching about him, but he causes family to have that very currency. That very nature, that very culture, that very DNA embedded within us, that we are a people of radical, crazy over the top love.
Speaker 0 00:17:10 That's what he calls his church to be his family. We're not an organization. We are family love trumps function. Every time it trumps action and activities. Love is the greatest, the most powerful force in the world. It's not S it's not lovey dovey. Love is powerful. Love can break the back of wars. Love can transform and set the prisoners free. Love can turn over injustice in communities. Love can transform hearts. Love can cause the disparate to return. Love can bring the prodigal back into the BOM of the father. Love changes things. There's nothing more powerful than the love of God. Amen. And that love isn't his family.
Speaker 0 00:18:10 And by all means, cuz there are things that go wrong in family. One of the challenges that we have as churches is that as we grow and we become, um, sort of, there's more people come to faith and more people join the family. It's so easy to feel and become and to structure ourselves like an organization. And that's a real challenge because on one level we want to take that mandate to go and make disciples of all nations. And we want to take that mandate of go and be fruitful and multiply. But on the other hand, it's easier to get to know a small number of people than it is to get to know hundreds. Eh, and there are churches that really with genuine hearts sort of decide that they're not going to grow anymore. Well, they don't actually make that decision. What they decide to do is that they don't really embrace people who come and visit or they don't invite other people to join them because they feel it might stop that sense of family that there is.
Speaker 0 00:19:24 I get that. And I think there have been parts of our journey as a church family, where we have failed and got that wrong at times. And I think there will be times in the future, we'll fail and get that wrong. And some of the actions will do we'll feel more like a it's okay. As family it's okay. No one noticed it's so good that there there's a chance and a possibility that we will make structures and put things in place that are trying to deal with and help and manage growth. But if we lose the heart of being family, we've lost the heart of God.
Speaker 0 00:20:10 And there's always that balance of trying to make sure that we capture and keep and retain the heart of a family while at the same time, not becoming a clique that says no one else can join because I believe that while God calls us to be family, he calls us to transform cities and regions and nations. Yeah. And also there's something about knowing that you're part of a big family, that an all on mission together that it's quite encouraging. Yeah. Cuz you might be the only Christian in your workplace. And if all your Christian experiences go into the home with two or three friends and you, your only Christian in your workplace is just two or three friends you relate to on an intimate basis in your life, in your Christian journey, then you could feel like the world's against you. But I don't know about you, but I come here on a Sunday and I enjoy being a part of a group of hundreds of people that together we're saying God is worthy of our praise. God is greater than anything. This world throws at me and we can declare with real one voice that God is good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:21:32 Amen.
Speaker 0 00:21:32 That's why I think you enjoy that. I think that's way you come along. I think that's part of the joy of the family of God gathering together. But you can't get to know everybody in the room. Isn't it embarrassing when you've asked someone their name multiple times, how many of you found that embarrassing? Do you know? There are times when I felt really awkward about talking to some people here and I'm thinking I really, I dunno if I can ask their name again. Like they've told me three times now it's really awkward. Do I brag it? I, I let you in on a secret. I probably shouldn't tell you this. No, but there are some times I'll introduce you to someone else. And I say, let me introduce you to someone
Speaker 2 00:22:26 <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:22:28 And I'm waiting for them to say, hi, my name is Linda and my name is Sophie and I ah, that's their names, but it's when I try that strategy and you come together and you look to me to say, come on, then introduce us. <laugh> please don't do that. It's awkward.
Speaker 0 00:22:50 There have been a few occasions when I've said to someone I'm really sorry. I so would love to know your name cuz we're in family together. But I, I terrible. It's it's my age. <laugh> a too much son. I, I think our memories become a little bit like Facebook in as much as you get to like a certain number and there's no room for anymore, it's say 5,000 on Facebook in reality. It's a lot less than that. That can fit into our memory. Banks almost feels like you gotta remove some friends before you got some space to take some new names, but there's been occasions where I've said, I'm really sorry. I've desperately tried to remember your name, but I can't, what is it? And they don't sort of say it's okay, don't worry. They they'll give me their name without any narrative. And then they say, and what's your name?
Speaker 2 00:23:47 <laugh> yeah, love that's right.
Speaker 0 00:23:56 There are, there are all sorts of strategy. I tried over the years at a period of time where in the many people before the service or after the service, I'd say, Hey, my NA my memory's really bad. Would you mind if I take a photograph of us and then write your name on the photograph? And then on a Sunday service, I'm flicking through my pictures, trying to remember names. Anybody else do that?
Speaker 2 00:24:20 No,
Speaker 0 00:24:27 I
Speaker 2 00:24:28 You're on your own. Now <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:24:31 In more ways than one, but I, um, there were some occasions I just felt a bit awkward about going to a stranger and saying, Hey, so I sort of stopped doing that. Although I think there was some advantages to it, but family is more than getting to know names. It's getting to know hearts and you can't do that with hundreds. And that's why we really believe it's important if you're part of this big thing. Yeah. That you're also part of small groups as well. Yeah, because you can't get to know the heart of hundreds. And yet you're meant to,
Speaker 0 00:25:21 I believe it's a, it's something that God has called us to be in accountable relationships together. And please as much as, as much as I would love to be superhuman and I would love to have the gift of Omni presence and I would love my diary to have more time than everyone else is. And I'd love to be the wonderful pastor to everybody. I I'm, I'm just like you, I've got the same time, the same restrictions and the old structure of saying there must be a patriarch at the head of his family who does everything. It can't work. It's gotta be about us as brothers and sisters working this out, loving each other, caring for each other, getting to know each other's hearts. It's the only way I believe it can work. And we could, we could say, okay, well we are gonna decide that the church is no bigger than 60 people, but I, I, I worry about what that happens for the move of the spirit. Yeah. Because there are people he's wanting to reach and there are people he's wanting to develop and bring into the family as well. Do we put a full side up and say, can't be part of the family.
Speaker 0 00:26:30 Love is the foundation of our relationship.
Speaker 0 00:26:35 I love some of the wisdom in the scriptures around love. Proverbs 10 verse 12 says hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses. If someone's hurt you in church, let let the love of God that has overlooked every sin and grievous offense in your life. Let his love fill you and let it flow out of you. It must grieve him so much. He's looking and thinking, how much have I forgiven you? And I know some of you've been really hurt by people in the past. Hey, families do crazy things. Sometimes don't they, we say silly things. We do silly things. We behave in silly ways. The church is not perfect. The family of God is not perfect. That's right. But the good father is yes,
Speaker 5 00:27:37 Hallelujah.
Speaker 0 00:27:38 And he wants us not just to know about him and not just to know him. He wants us to become like him. Hallelujah. So that his love flows through us. One Peter four eight says most important of all. Continue to show deep love for each other for love covers a multitude of sins. You know, as you said, the word there, deep love. Yeah. Deep, like as if there's a well, like as if there's a, a vast storage container of his love, you can probably get away with most relationships by surface love. By having some rain come down on a Sunday, this holy spirit just fills you and you leave. And you just got a little bit of a ready break glow around you for a couple of hours. And you're a bit nicer with people. You know, the cat enjoys you returning back from church, cuz you're a bit nicer than you are the rest of the week.
Speaker 0 00:28:40 See what happens when we rely on the shallow waters on the rains of blessing to be our deposits. They don't go very far. It's a bit like if your phone is down to 2% charge at that point, you might think I'm gonna switch this off and keep that 2% for an, for a potential emergency. You rationale what you've got, but why live with 2% when you can live with a hundred percent charge on your phone, why live with the surface water of love? When you can go into the depths of love and it's that deep love that covers a multitude of sin. Keep your love tanks filled to overflow in secondly, very quickly. God's family prioritizes time together in acts two versus 46. It says this. They worshiped together at the temple every month.
Speaker 0 00:29:42 Oh, hang about, sorry. That was the new translation. I was reading the modern translation. It, it, the, the authentic says this. They worshiped together at the temple each day, they met in homes for the Lord supper and they shared their meals with great joy in generosity. We often hear people say, it must have been amazing to live at the time of the early church. It was pretty busy. They prioritized family. The family of God. It was their absolute central focus. Don't be a distant family member prioritize meeting together. I know that we've had a really challenging season and I know that people have all sorts of anxieties around the ongoing sort of pandemic implications. I know COVID is not over, but can I say this with love and care? Hopefully with sensitivity, if you are still enjoy in meeting the presence of God at home online, thank God for the technology allows you to do that. Thank God for the safety it brings. Yeah, but I want you to hear us say we miss you. Yes.
Speaker 6 00:31:14 Yes.
Speaker 0 00:31:15 We miss you. Cause this isn't just a transactional thing. Come on. This is not just about you getting something that blesses you and sustains you. This is about you and I, we are fam
Speaker 0 00:31:31 And God has need of you in that family. Don't be the distant cousin. That's immigrated to Australia and no one ever hears from again, be the family of God, be present with each other, get to know each other. And if you're here every week and you only ever speak to the same people every week, then can I provoke you to get to know some more of your family? It might be a simple way of maybe even choosing a different seat that you sit at next week. So that jumble it all around a little bit. So you sat around people who are different, cuz we are all creatures of habit. Aren't we, you know, we go for the same parking space. If we can, if it's available, we do routines time and time again. There's a familiarity around that. And probably can I ask for a bowl show of hands?
Speaker 0 00:32:34 How many of you sit in pretty much the same proximity? Maybe not the same seat, the same proximity week after week. And it's not a rhetorical question. Just look, just look at this. Look how much creatures, the habit we are around the room. Now there's nothing wrong with that. That's not a sin to be repented of, but I want to encourage us that there are people in other parts of the room that you may have never met, even in the services, the first service, second service, maybe juggle it around every now and again, get to meet some others. How do you do that? When at the end of this service we'll have drinks available. What do you do? Do you just chat with the same people you chat with weekend week out? Can I give you a really simple way to step out of your comfort zone? What would it look like if you went up to someone that says hi, I don't think we met before. My name is mark. What's your name? Ah, my name's mark as well. That's amazing. Is it really? No, just that's what mark said to say.
Speaker 2 00:33:49 <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:33:51 What's your real name? Ah, my real name. Okay. I just begin to talk. What do you say after that? There's that? Hi, my name is my name is
Speaker 2 00:34:03 <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:34:15 That's a warning that everybody can hear what gets said behind the AV desk. It's never secret. There's a real simplicity around inquisitiveness. And as you start those conversations and hi, my name is my name is no more. Okay. So how long you've been coming to rediscover? Oh, this is my first week. Oh, that's amazing. It's my second week. I thought I was the newest person here, but it seems like I'm not. So what brought you to, what brought you to rediscover? What brought you to the area? What do you do? What does an average week look like for you? Just learn some questions that tap into an inquisitiveness that you're trying to get to know someone now that is not deep friendship. That surface conversation, but it's gateway.
Speaker 2 00:35:20 Yes, that's right.
Speaker 0 00:35:22 And what would it look like if over the next three months, every Sunday you had those gateway conversations with some new people.
Speaker 2 00:35:31 Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:35:32 That's good. Because if we are an organization, it's the welcome team that does the welcome. If we're a family, it's the brothers and sisters who look out after each other. We're a family prioritize meeting together. And also this doesn't just talk about the meeting in the temple courts. It talks about them. Then homes talks about in the homes, taking the Lord's supper in the home. Really what we're reading there is that wherever they met Jesus was in the center. If they're in a, a social event or activity or they're going to a restaurant for a meal, the conversation is always mindful of Jesus being present. Maybe you need to get a chair at the end of your table at home. And no one sits there because that's Jesus' chair. There used to be that sign on the wall in homes, as I was growing up, the Lord is the silent listener of every conversation.
Speaker 0 00:36:29 The unseen guest can't remember the rest, but that rhymed anyway. So that's okay. <laugh> but Jesus is present. And when a family places him as their priority, we begin to see him reveal himself in all sorts of ways. There's radical, generous hospitality in the early church. And finally, just to conclude this this morning, God's family is on a continual adventure. Maybe the bank could come and join me on the stage. Could you? God's family is on a continual adventure and it's an adventure of two things. It's an adventure of wellbeing and it's an adventure. That's about overflow wellbeing. Our lives are about steward in what God has entrusted to it. So we've seen this morning families delegating children that have been entrusted to them. God has given you a body that he's entrusted for your looking after he has given you gifts to entrust, to you, to be looked after he has given you opportunities. Everything that you have in your life has been graced by the Lord as an opportunity for stewardship, for us to look after and for us to explore the wellbeing of those things also to look out for each other, for the wellbeing of those things in one of those life as well. But then there's this overflow, this leave leaving a legacy. Every conversation is there something of the flow of the spirit in every conversation that you can leave a trace off.
Speaker 0 00:38:00 And if you are just living off the reins, it probably won't happen. But if you're drawing from the deep Wells, your life will overflow. Some of you might have heard me use this example before, but a number of years ago, Nita and I had a, an opportunity, an invitation to go to a really, I mean really, really posh wedding. The church that we were involved in leading in Birmingham, that the captain of Aston Villa started coming to the church. He was the Danish captain. His previous team was AC Milan. Like he was pretty much well known all over the world as a footballer. I remember him driving up to our little council house in his Porsche and praying that the wheels would still be on it when he left the home. But he was marrying, he was Danish, but he was marrying an Italian girl and the wedding was taking place in Italy. And so he invited us over and not just to attend, but to sing in his wedding. He was an enormous privilege. And we sang in this little church, sang a lot of songs that are contemporary. We had a list of premiership and professional footballers, ask us afterwards if we would do their wedding as well. We had a, we could have made a bit of a sideline of that.
Speaker 7 00:39:24 <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:39:26 Premiership. Weddings are us. We said, no. As we left the church, the paparazzi were there. Cuz there were players from all of these major European teams present in the wedding. And as we left the church and fought our way through the photographers. So they all thought needed was the star of the show. When she was dressed up, as we made our way through the photographers, we got to a ferry that had been hired. In fact, it was two ferries hired to take all the guests across from the mainland to a little island in the middle of lake Garda. And they had hired an island for their reception and they transformed this island into a scene from one of Shakespeare's books. I think it was Midsummer's night dream and it was beautifully done. And there in the reception, there was something that I'd only ever seen on TV that they had a pyramid of champagne glasses and it wasn't just a storage facility. It wasn't something that you go and pick off a glass and then go and fill it up. You and I know what I'm about to say that as these empty glasses, his pyramid of glasses were there on display. Somebody came with a bottle of champagne and they poured where into the top glass.
Speaker 0 00:41:01 And as that top glass filler didn't stop, they kept pouring. And as the water, uh, the champagne, Jesus turned war into one. I'm turning wine into water here in my illustration. As the champagne flowed over the side, it began to fill the next layer and they just kept pouring the top glass and he kept overflowing into the second layer. And the second layer filled can float into the third layer. I don't know if you've noticed. One of the beautiful things about this rediscover family is that we're all ages. All generations in the previous service, there was a guy in his nineties here full of the joy of the Lord overflowing with the life of God, buzzing with stories, prince Charles organized his retirement due full of amazing stories. But the thing that stands out is that he's flowing with the, the deep Wells of God's love. And there's lots of you like that. And we're called to be people who overflow. And as I saw this pyramid of glasses, I thought that's what God wants his family to be from generation to generation to generation generation. If you feel it's all about the youth, it's all about the kids.
Speaker 0 00:42:33 Isn't that? What families do don't they give themselves sacrificially to the next generation. Yeah, but it doesn't mean to say that you're not needed or not wanted. In fact, we need you all to be filled and overflowing. So Jesus points us to the good father. He brings us together in his family and he invites us to understand how we can be his family. And I'm gonna ask you to do something now. And that is to ask yourself two questions. The first question is in the mix of the worship, in the mix of the prayers, the dedications, the celebrations and the word, is there one thing that stood out to you today, I'm gonna give you 30 seconds just to think that through. Is there something about you or about God that stands out for you? Just think about that for a moment. If you've got a phone or a notepad, you might wanna make a note of it. Don't let that one thing drift away and blow into the ether. Take it, grab it, hold it tightly. And then the second question, is there something that you need to do in response to that? Is there a conversation you need to have? Is there a change you need to bring into your rhythms, your life? Is there an attitude that needs to be repented of?
Speaker 0 00:44:24 Is there something that needs by the spirit of God to be followed in obedience, make that decision? Now Lord Jesus, we ask that you will enable us to be people that don't just hear your word, but obey and respond. And I pray that in the hours and the days ahead that there will be steps of obedience that we will take to follow after you. Thank you. That you've called us not to be part of an organization. That's moving around the world, but to be part of a family on adventure together, may we invest in one another? I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
