Renewing The Vision [PART 1] | Mark Pugh | Sunday 12th July

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I want to talk to you today about renewing the vision, but I don't want to start with a big vision statement. I want to start with something more honest. See, over these past few weeks, the elders and I have been reflecting on a question. And the question is, have we lost our focus as a church? And the answer to that question, we believe, is yes. We haven't lost our faith, you'll be glad to know we haven't lost our love for Jesus or our love for [00:00:44] Speaker B: this church, [00:00:47] Speaker A: but we've lost our focus. That sharp, clear sense of what God has graciously invited us into as a church family. Somewhere in the last couple of years, it's gone soft around the edges [00:01:06] Speaker B: and [00:01:06] Speaker A: I want to own my own part in this before I say anything else. See, many of you will know that two and a half years ago I was invited to become the national leader of eliminate. It's a big responsibility that has demanded much of my time and energy and in reality has probably provided me with the steepest learning curve of my life. Taking on a role. It's a big charity. All our ELIM churches are all part of one charity. So I effectively, on one hand, I'm a CEO of that big charity. But at the same time, providing spiritual leadership to the movement and normally taking on that national role requires the holder of that role to leave the church that they minister in to take it on on a full time basis. But both I and the elders and Nina and her family, we sensed a couple of years or two and a half years ago when the Lord was inviting us into this role, that we should try and straddle both responsibilities, the leading of a church and the leading of a denomination. But when I add this significant change to some of the other changes we've had over recent years, the moving to the former range and Matalan store, you remember that, the pop up church, what a big change that was in so many levels and ways. And then of course, I move back here 18 months later. Then we've had significant team changes over that period of time. And in the midst of all of that change and all of those differing circumstances, I recognize that I haven't been leading as I should in the 12 years that I led here. Prior to the start of my national role, I sought to lead by both presence and example. I was around a lot. I was at most things. And I sought to model. I sought to be the first to be at the front for prayer. I sought to be the example to everyone else that I would live out. But of course with my other responsibilities, I can't be quite so present. I can't be anywhere near as present as I used to be. And I think that's taken away some of my confidence to lead. My heart has always been to release others into that call. I've been an advocate of you all finding your ministries for years. See, even though I'm ordained, I've been ordained for 30 years or so now, and now I have the privilege of ordaining other ministers and. But I don't think they are any more special or significant in the purposes of God than you are. I believe we're all called. I believe there's the hand of God upon every life. And I don't believe I'm any more spiritual than you are. I don't believe I'm any more strategic than you are. I don't believe I have any more authority in prayer than you do. I believe you are a son of God, like I'm a son of God or a daughter of God. I believe that we are loved by him the same. I believe that he wants to do things in your life. And so I'm not around as much, maybe lack a little bit of confidence about how I lead when I'm not around as much. And I believe in releasing people. So I've released things. And throughout these significant changes in these past few years, I've desired to see others step into the gaps that my absence created. And I have to say, everyone's done so well during this time. You're an amazing church and you've made some incredible things possible over this period of time. But I recognize that I have delegated one thing that wasn't mine to delegate. I shouldn't have delegated it. I shouldn't have let it go. And that's namely clear visionary leadership. There's an old saying that says if there's a mist in the pulpit, there's a fog in the pew. And there's been both a mist and a fog. The lack of clarity around who is leading the visionary direction of the church is my fault, and I apologize to you all today. See, there are promises that God has given us as a church. There's a vision that he's clearly called us to steward. And somewhere over these past few years, we've taken our eyes off it and it's created some confusion. Some of you have felt that confusion, but you haven't known how to name it. Well, today I want to name it, and then I want us to do something about it together. In our reflections, the elders And I have also each recognized their own diversions of clarity from stewarding the vision that God's given us over these past few weeks. The Holy Spirit has been so gracious in allowing us a sense of his conviction and knowing his leading towards correction. Because when the Spirit brings conviction, he's not trying to create a guilt trip for his people. He's trying to bring freedom and release. He's trying to deposit something that it will lead us towards. Because confession in Scripture is never the destination. It's always the doorway to something greater. And we're not stopping here at a place of confession and a place of apology. We're going to walk through it. And the elders and I have renewed our commitment to serve with clarity the vision that God has given this church. I have renewed my personal commitment to bring clear leadership. There will be no mist in the pulpit and no fog in the pews. But you see, one of the things I read throughout Scripture is that there is a call to remember. There is a pattern throughout Scripture where the people of God lose sight of the purposes of God. They lose their bearings, they lose their sense of direction. And the remedy is rarely a new strategy. The remedy is remembering. Deuteronomy 32 says, Consider the days of old, the years of past generations. Ask your Father and he will show you your elders, and they will tell you there are things to be passed on. There are things to be, to be remembered. The psalmist does a similar thing. In a moment of real spiritual dryness, Psalm 77 says, I said, this is my anguish that the right hand of the Most High has changed. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your wonders of old. Notice what he does. He doesn't pretend he is struggling. He names the anguish. And then he chooses to remember, not as nostalgia, but as an act of faith that pulls the past into the present. And there's a prayer in Habakkuk that is exactly ours to pray today. See, the prophet has heard what God did in generations past. And he doesn't ask for something new. He asks for something old. Again, Abaci 3 says, O Lord, I have heard the report of you and your work. O Lord, do I fear in the midst of the years, revive it in the midst of the years, make it known in wrath, Remember mercy, those words in the midst of the years, renew it in our time, make it known is my prayer today. It's not a prayer for a new vision. It's a prayer for a recovery of the one God has already given us. So let's Remember together, what is the vision? What did God actually call this church to steward? Because that's what vision should be. It shouldn't be about ambition. It should be about stewardship. It should be about remembering an assignment that the Lord has given and appropriately looking after it. So let's restate the vision. The call on this church has never been a small call, and it precedes my time. Over the years, God has cultivated bold, large convictions that go beyond our own personal blessing and beyond one locality. It hasn't changed. We are a church located in Exeter. But we're not just a church for Exeter. We are a church that God has invited us to steward some things for a region and beyond. And so a number of years ago, the leadership, we captured this sense of the call of God on our life with these words to reveal the glory of God to the southwest and beyond. Now, I want to slow down on that phrase because some of you who have been here a while may have heard it so many times that maybe it stopped meaning very much to you. So let's unpack it properly. It says, we are called to be filled. We cannot reveal something, though, is not within us. You can tell if our vision was to tell people about God, that would be different. But if you're going to reveal him, you've got to be filled with Him. Whatever you're filled with is what you reveal is what comes out of you. We're called to be filled. Glory. I always remember when we were capturing these words, revealing the glory of God. It felt like an old word. It felt like a word that maybe we should try and modernize in some way. But we couldn't find a way of capturing the meaning of glory in a better word. You see, glory reveals something of the magnitude and the splendor. Something that is not definable easily. The glory of God, the brilliance of God, the wonder of God, the power of God, the might of God, the provision of God, the faithfulness of God, the life of God, the hope of God, the peace of God is all contained within his glory. And we're called to reveal his glory to the southwest and beyond. Glory isn't something we manufacture through better programs or sharper communication. It's something that we are filled with. And we're only filled to the level that we make ourselves available. There's a. An understanding in the scripture that they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. Those who position themselves to be filled with him will renew their strength. We would just probably find it so much easier if it didn't involve the weight. Those in the Lord will renew their strength. But it says, those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. It's not passive. It's deliberate intentionality. It's the kind of waiting that says, I will not let you go until you bless me. It's the kind of waiting that says, I've longed for you. I'm sitting in your presence and I will not let you go. If your presence doesn't leave this place, then neither am I. I want to be with you long enough so that your nature and your ways and your character and your glory rub off on me. We're called to be filled, but also it says we're called to overflow. Filling isn't the end goal. Overflow is every one of us in the ordinary places and spaces of our lives. Your workplace, your street, your home, your family, your business ventures, your hobbies, every single one of them. You're called to overflow with God. Not what you've performed, but what you've received. That's the difference between striving and glory. Striving is trying to look full. Glory is what spills out when you actually are full. So we're called to be filled, we're called to overflow. But we're also called regionally, not just locally. This has been the part of the DNA of Rediscover and what was previously called River Church for many years and I want to reinstate it and restate it clearly today. We were never meant to be a blessing only to the people who walk in through these doors on a Sunday. We are called to be a blessing to the wider church community across the region. We're called to inspire and bless and innovate and speak well of. We're called to speak life into the Christian church across the region. And we're called to take the message of the gospel and hope into communities that don't currently have that present. It's not an add on to our calling. This is our calling. This is who we are and this is what we're called to do. That's the vision. It's not new, just remembered, renewed, recovered. And when I think about how the vision has gone soft edged and how we've lost that cutting edge, that clarity, how there's been a mist and a fog, I begin to ask how has this erosion happened? And if I'm honest, I think it's mostly in one place. [00:16:31] Speaker B: Prayer. [00:16:34] Speaker A: Now, we still have prayer meetings and some of you are incredibly faithful in praying. We haven't stopped gathering to pray. But it feels like the intensity has gone. Somewhere along the way, we have settled for maintaining a habit of prayer instead of building our whole lives around a desire to be filled with the glory of God. And when the intensity of prayer goes, the expectation of what God can do goes with it quietly, without anyone deciding that it should. But our faith begins to diminish. Our expectation reduces. I honestly believe the blessing of the Lord upon this church has been because we've been a people of prayer. We've had great people participate and be part of the journey over the years. But I don't believe that's why we have seen the hand of the blessing of the Lord upon us. I believe it's because we've been a prayerful people. People postured for the glory of God. And there have been some real high points in the life of the church. There's been some real faithful seasons in the life of the church. But there has been a desire and a passion to go deeper in the things of the Lord. Do you remember that time a few years ago, it was probably about three and a half, four years ago, when after one of our Sunday services, we tried to close the meeting and we just had a final song. And that final song went on to another final song, which went on to another final song. And about an hour and a half after the meeting normally finishes, it felt like people forgot that they had car park in meters to attend to. It felt like they forgot they had people coming around for lunch. It felt like they forgot that they had things to do to prepare for work the next day. It felt like the kids forgot that they should be running around even. It felt like all of those things just were suspended because we were wrapped up in the awe of the presence of God. After an hour and a half, I think probably at least 70% of the church was still here. It was an incredible moment, and it was like something got birthed that day of a new level of intensity, of. Of a desire for the things of the Lord. And I know that it birthed that day because the next day we had our Monday evening prayer gathering, which we used to meet in the prayer room downstairs. And we couldn't fit everybody in easily. People were spilling out into the foyer area and the prayer meeting. It was called the Hour of Power. The clue was in the name. It was an hour. And we even thought, we're gonna have to change the name. Because this hour of power turned into two hours, three hours of prayer. Over the next few weeks. It kept expanding in numbers. We had to move it up here. And I remember just the sense of the presence of God was so powerful. And this room, there was a lot of people in this room crying out to God and calling upon him. I remember there was just. The service just started, and there was nothing particularly special that was happening. But the presence of God was so powerful, somebody over here begins to get delivered from the demonic influence over their life, and God is doing things all over the room. And there was just such an intensity, the glory of God. You see, you can't make that happen after reading a book. You can't make that happen by doing more work. That's only what God can do. And we began to orientate ourselves prayerfully, prophetically. And it wasn't prayer that just brought our lists and our requests and said, God, here's our three things we'd like you to do today. Would you do them? There was. We were hanging out in the presence of Jesus, desiring more of him. It was like, we're not just after what you've got, we're after you. You know, any relationship gets a bit strained if. If it's only existing for what you get out of them. Now there's some very gracious people around that will continually just continue to be your friend, even though every time you see them, you're asking them for something. But it's not really a good relationship. A good relationship is based on I love you, I like you, I want to be with you. And our call as a church is to grow in our love for Jesus and to be more like him. You see, you don't lose vision in a dramatic moment. You lose it in a thousand small substitutions. You exchange waiting for busyness, dependence for competence, hunger for routine. None of them really look like unfaithfulness in the moment, but add them up over years and then the transition takes place. And then you get exactly what you are, which is a church with all its structures intact, but a fire that's burnt down to just the embers. Now, one thing I'm always amazed about [00:21:26] Speaker B: embers [00:21:30] Speaker A: is that when embers [00:21:34] Speaker B: experience [00:21:36] Speaker A: oxygen [00:21:38] Speaker B: being breathed upon them, [00:21:41] Speaker A: flames begin to [00:21:42] Speaker B: form again [00:21:45] Speaker A: in our wood burner at home. There are times when the fire goes down and there's plenty of wood in there. It's all nice and dry, the woods. We've put the fire lighters in, but the fire goes down and we open the door and we. Sometimes I get a face full of soot, as that just, you know, blows back, but. And then suddenly you see the fire come again. How many of you need a new, [00:22:23] Speaker B: fresh touch of the Holy Spirit on your life. [00:22:26] Speaker A: How many of you know that old hymn, Breathe on me, Breath of God, [00:22:31] Speaker B: fill me with life anew. There's a fresh breath of heaven that he wants to breathe upon the embers of our lives. [00:22:39] Speaker A: The embers aren't dead, they just need breath. And when I think about how we recover, I'm taken back to what we have called our DNA as a church. You know you can't change your DNA. It's part of who you are, it's part of how you're made, it's part of your frame, it's part of how God has designed you. And we believe there's a DNA here in the church. It's how we're made. It's what God has called us to be. Can't change that. And over the next few weeks we're going to build around these simple expressions of our DNA. You would have seen them before if you've been around the church for a while. They're not new. This is remembered. We live courageously, we love extravagantly and we thrive authentically. They're not new slogans, they're the values that we've stated in the past. They're on our website, they're on leaflets. They're values though that we freshly reflected on as elders. And we believe they're as important to us today as they ever have been. Today I just want to put a flag in the ground that we will spend the next few weeks looking at together as we unpack these properly. But just introduction. Live courageously is about who we are. Spirit filled, word aligned stewards rather than owners, leading with humility. Faith filled enough to take kingdom minded risks instead of settling. This is an antidote to management. This is us orientating our lives to be pioneers, to be risk takers, to be people that step out boldly. Courage says I would rather take a risk towards the promise than manage the maintenance of the status quo. That's been something God's put upon us as a church and we have taken risks. We have done some bold things over the years and we continue to do bold things. We continue to believe bold things. And I believe that's not just for the leaders, that's for all of us. In fact, how you inculcate the DNA of the church is not dependent on how well you can repeat those slogans. It on depends. It depends on how well you can live their values. How is the courage of God determined in your life? What risks are you taking for God? What faith steps Are you stepping into live courageously, love extravagantly. It's about what we will do. Loving God with everything, welcoming everybody regardless of their background, demonstrating grace to all. We want to be generous. We want to send people out as well as attract people. We want God's radical love to be touching every sphere of our lives and of the church. See, our goal is not to build an ever growing, ever enlarging church gathering experience. Now I love being a part of a larger church environment. I think there are some things you get in this environment about faith and about courage. And it's good to know you're not alone, isn't it? It's good to know that when you're in the workplace and they're the only, and you're the only Christian, it's good to know that when you gather on Sunday that there are hundreds like you across the city. I find that deeply encouraging. I find it encouraging when I hear the testimonies of other people talking about what God's been doing through their life. I find that inspiring. I find that really helpful to my life. So I'm glad that we're called to be part of a growing community. But it's not our goal to just keep adding extensions and keep putting more chairs out. It's our goal not to attract you. It's our goal to commission you. It's our goal to train you and to send you, to release you into the purposes of God. Now for some of you, that will be that you come along and you get a boldness about some business innovation and you'll step out. And with the courage that you get from the faith in this environment, you'll step into that and that's great. And you'll become the best employer. You'll give people jobs, you'll bring innovation to society. And that will be you living out the purposes of God and rediscover will play a part in helping. You know that that's part of your DNA as well. And I thank God for those moments. I thank God for those expressions of courage that people live out in that way. But also I see that within the church that there are people that we will commission and send out to relocate, to go to other communities, to give up, to sell up, to move their home, to move their kids to another school, to move to a new location. Why? Because the scenery is better? Because the job prospects are better? Or because there's a need that the Lord has of you in that community to plant something. We can't see 100 churches planted if we have to do it out of convenience, it has to be out of sacrifice. It has to be out of a sense of. We believe that God has called us to love extravagantly and to give beyond [00:28:16] Speaker B: ourselves to do that. [00:28:18] Speaker A: And we are a generous people that want to release you. We want to release you into the purposes of God. But I love that we're called to be a worshiping community as well. You know, one of the things. I remember meeting with a minister in another church in the city a few years ago. They'd recently come to the city, and when that happens, people often start, you know, moving around a little bit between churches. And there were a number of people went from Rediscover to this new church. And I met the minister and he said, we love it when people leave Rediscover and come to us. It was very honest of him to say that. So why is that? [00:28:57] Speaker B: He said, they know how to worship. [00:29:00] Speaker A: I said, well, you had the last of them. There's no more coming. But what a great accolade for any [00:29:07] Speaker B: of us in our lives that you love Jesus and you know how to worship. That's the greatest extravagance of our life. [00:29:16] Speaker A: To be able to break open our [00:29:18] Speaker B: alabaster jars, to bring our best offerings [00:29:20] Speaker A: before the Lord and to lay them at his feet, and then thrive authentically. This is about what we desire to become. A family that cheers each other on into God's purposes, commissions us into being faithful followers of Jesus. Community that worships with sincerity, not just words. A community that communicates the gospel accessibly to a changing world and keeps becoming more like Christ. This is the long obedience that keeps the fire tended once it's lit in our life. These three simple phrases, I'm simply putting a flag in the ground to unpack in the weeks ahead. Live courageously, love extravagantly, thrive authentically. They are key parts of our DNA. But if we actually build our lives around them again, not just print them on a leaflet or publish them on a website, but breathe them, live them. I believe they're substantial enough to carry the weight of everything we've just confessed [00:30:23] Speaker B: and everything we're about to recommit ourselves to. [00:30:28] Speaker A: So here's where I want to land this today. This isn't a talk just to think about on the drive home. It's a call to response. God's pattern throughout the Scripture is to call people back to remember his purposes in their life. We see Joshua set up some stones, and those stones were a reminder of the deliverance of God, that the freedom, the waters that had been parted through the river. They were a testimony. Future generations, when they saw these stones, they would not just remember, but they would remember and live their life in obedience to what they're remembering. Nehemiah, as he stood on the wall that had been built back, [00:31:20] Speaker B: as he [00:31:20] Speaker A: stood on those foundations, not of a new city, but rebuilding on the old foundations of what was the call of God on us today isn't any different from the call that he gave us at the start. It's the same call we're called to be, revealing the glory of God to the Southwest and beyond. And as Habakkuk says, in the midst of the years, revive it, oh God. Revive the vision. Revive it in us. That's my prayer for me this morning. That's my prayer for the elders. That's my prayer for us as a church. Not a new vision, but a revived vision with the breath of God breathing the fire back into place. So in a moment, I'm going to lead us into a time of response, and I want us to be specific about what I'm inviting you into. I don't want this to be a vague generality. I want it to really be concrete around three things. First, one, a fresh commitment to waiting on God personally and as a church family that we make a commitment. I remember saying this publicly in the past. The more blessing, the more prayer. Because otherwise, what often happens in churches is we pray when we're in trouble, we pray when we're in need. But I believe that the Lord has called us to not just pray when we're in need, but to get to know our Savior closely and intimately and make a fresh commitment to waiting upon him. Secondly, a fresh commitment to the vision. This church exists to reveal the glory of God to the Southwest and beyond. And that's worked out in the ordinary places of your life, not just on a Sunday. How can you be filled with him? And how can you reveal him Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday? And thirdly, a fresh commitment to prayer with intensity. Not just attendance at a prayer meeting, but building your life around a hunger for more of God. I've tried to just be really open and honest with you today. I've tried to reflect and apologize for my own weakness and failure, not to put sackcloth and ashes on my head, but to step free, to step forward and step boldly. And I want to invite you to reflect on your own heart and life. I want you to reflect on the fire, and I want you to invite the breath of heaven to come and [00:34:05] Speaker B: breathe upon you again to breathe his life upon rediscover. [00:34:13] Speaker A: The best days are yet to come. And the best days are not about our new building. The best days are not about a new program. The best days are about you living your best life in the purposes of God. That's the best. The best days are not about some new initiative that we're going to develop here. The best days are about you rising up and saying, I am called by God, and I'm going to live with courage. I'm going to love extravagantly. I'm going to thrive in every area of my life with reality and authenticity. That's when we step into the best life. It's not about a select few people doing this and the rest of us cheering them on. [00:34:56] Speaker B: It's about all of us. [00:34:57] Speaker A: We're all needed. [00:34:59] Speaker B: We're all called. [00:35:01] Speaker A: So in these next few moments, I know you were given communion cups on the way in. And we're going to share this together. And communion is a reminder that there's something far greater than what we do is who we are. You are a son and a daughter of God. You are loved by Him. He is for you, not against you. And communion reminds us that you have been bought at a price to make that possible. And in a moment, we're going to share this together as a reminder of that truth. But I wonder, in response to that truth, it's not just about us eating a wafer and drinking some juice and saying thank you. It's how do we live our life revolving around this truth? How do we live our life with. With that as our gravitational pull? How do we live our lives in a manner worthy of the calling he's given us? And I'd like you to feel free to respond in any way you want to. If you want to stand and raise your hands and surrender. If you want to sit and reflect, if you want to kneel, if you want to come to the front and lay before the Lord, or kneel before the Lord, or stand before the Lord. I invite you to respond in whatever way you feel the Lord is asking of you. All I will encourage you to do is whatever he's asking you to do, do it. And make that the principle of your life. Whatever he calls you to do, do it. Don't resist, don't fight, don't delay. Do it. Respond. So just come, just respond however the Lord is leading you, you and say, [00:37:02] Speaker B: would you breathe upon me, breath of God, Breathe on me, breath of God. Lord, you see the embers. Come breathe upon us afresh. You see more. You've exchanged a journey of faith to a journey of formula. Come, breathe upon us afresh. [00:37:54] Speaker A: And would you help us, Lord? Would you help me? [00:37:58] Speaker B: Would you help all of us that you've called to help steward the leadership of this church? Would you teach us how to do this better, Lord? For all of us? Would you help us discern afresh that call of the Lord upon our lives? Breathe on me, breath of God. Fill me with life anew. We remember the words you've spoken. Individually and corporately, we remember those words. We remember our calling and our purpose. We posture our lives towards obedience, faithful obedience.