Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] It's a great joy to be able to share the word of God with you all this morning. If this is your first time, a massive welcome to you. My name is Shaun. I'm one of the elders here and a great joy to be able to just open up the word of God together. Hasn't Mike been doing a great job over the last few weeks as he's been opening up the word of God for us?
[00:00:21] He's been looking at the power of one and we're continuing that today. And I'm going to share a little bit about what was scheduled for this morning and how we're going to go into it in just a moment. Before we do that, I believe, I'm aware that there might be quite a few new students joining us this morning. I might be wrong, but there are some new faces that I see. So I wonder if this is your first time as a student at Rediscover church, would you be brave enough to give us a wave just so we can welcome you? Is there anyone in the room? Guys, can we welcome these wonderful people? A massive welcome to you.
[00:00:52] So glad you're here.
[00:00:57] Welcome, welcome, welcome. Lots of students. It's good, isn't it? Got students coming through to the city and I'm going to speak into that in a moment. But we believe, rediscover church, that you're here for a reason. We believe you're here for a reason and we're excited that you're part of this wonderful city.
[00:01:14] Well, over the last few weeks, Mike has been looking at the power of one. And on the first week he spoke about the power of one lunche. Strange title, but you need to watch it back. If you haven't, it's on YouTube. Last week he spoke on the power of one sacrifice and it was a brilliant message that he brought last week, looking throughout the old testament and the power of sacrifice. And today, what was scheduled and what I'm going to be looking into is the power of one church. The power of one church.
[00:01:46] The word church, in many ways in our current climate, is actually quite a loaded word.
[00:01:53] Strange to say that, but it's quite a loaded word. Some feel the church is completely irrelevant, outdated and of no use. Where, on the other hand, people find church to be a lifeline, a community or family, and a place that deepens their spiritual connection. The word church is a word that can split someone and two people apart very, very quickly. I don't know if you've had one of those moments in your life where I. Someone realizes that you're a Christian and you go to church and you can immediately sense that they're not happy or don't want to be part of your company much longer. Because of that reality. Some think churches are just about preachers, the Bible, singing hymns, taking communion, and for many, it's simply just a gathering of many people who are deemed to be religious or spiritual. Well, for me, growing up, church had a lot of religious connotations, and there was lots of key buzzwords that really stood out for me when I used to think about church or even used to attend church. I recently read a little story. It's an illustration that made me chuckle and I want to read it out to you because it just kind of gives a little bit of a picture of what church was for me growing up. It says these words. A few minutes before a church service started, the congregation was sitting in their seats and talking, and suddenly Satan himself appeared at the front of the church.
[00:03:21] That would be bad, wouldn't it?
[00:03:23] Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling over each other in a frantic effort to get away from the evil one. And soon everyone had exited the church except for one elderly woman who sat calmly in her seat at the back without moving, seeming oblivious to the fact that God's ultimate enemy was in her presence. So Satan walked up to the woman and said, don't you know who I am? The moor replied, yep, sure do. Aren't you afraid of me? Satan asked. No, certainly not, said the woman. Don't you realize that I can attack you of all kinds of evil? Said Satan. Don't doubt it for a minute, returned the elderly woman in a calm tone. Did you know that I could cause you profound, horrifying, tormenting agony? Persisted Satan. Yep, I believe that was the reply. And you're still not afraid? Said Satan. Nope. Moving a little bit closer as Satan was a little bit perturbed, he asked, well, why? Why aren't you afraid of me? And the woman, looking up calmly replied, I have been married to your brother for 48 years.
[00:04:43] The church filled with all kinds of people, all kinds of backgrounds, differences in theology, differences in style and culture, causing all kinds of assumptions. Yet in my opinion, what I want to share with you this morning, I believe the church is one of, if not the most positive forces that exist in humanity to this day. I am so thankful for the church. I am so thankful that the church, although it has blemishes and although has made mistakes, can do incredible things and does do incredible things. To this day I am thankful for the food banks, the education, the debt relief, the children's provision, the youth clubs, the chaplaincy and the mentoring, all taking place in churches here in Exeter and Devon alone, never mind across the rest of the globe. But as good as these initiatives are, and as amazing the people involved in them are, the reason why I'm so convinced that the church is the most positive force in humankind is not because of the people that reside within the buildings, but it's in the one who leads the church. And his name is Jesus Christ, the true representative of what the church is and should be.
[00:06:00] And I love the fact that Jesus started, initiated and empowered the church. And he mentions it within the scripture we're going to look at in Matthew chapter 16. The first time Jesus speaks about the church is here in this passage of scripture. I love this passage of scripture. Many years ago I did a three week series on the ecclesia, looking at this passage of scripture and in acts two, and I love this passage of scripture. Tackle it a little bit and get into it. I hope you will see why. But this is the first time Jesus speaks about the church in the Bible. There is this kind of understanding when you dig deep into theology. When a word is mentioned for the first time, often it is mentioned in its truest and most purest sense. And here in Matthew 16, we see Jesus for the first time in the New Testament, speaking about the church, the body of Christ, who we are and why we do what we do. We will read it together. Matthew 16, starting in verse 13 through to 18, it says this. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do you say the son of man is? That's him asking, who do you think I am? And they replied, well, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
[00:07:13] But what about you? He asked, who do you say I am?
[00:07:19] Simon Peter. In his bold and confident nature that we see within scripture, he answered, you are the messiah, the son of the living God. And jesus replied, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it. Can I get an amen?
[00:07:51] Come on. We're being Pentecostals this morning. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for your word. I thank you, Lord, that you want to encourage us, equip us, challenge us, and allow us to see you in all of your beauty and radiance this morning. So I pray for the communication of your scriptures through the ideas and thoughts that come forth this morning. I pray you will speak to us. I pray you will share whatever you want to say. Father, I pray for myself right now. Anything you want to say through the power of your holy spirit, I pray you lay it and impress it on my mind and heart so I can communicate it humbly. Jesus, we want to hear your voice.
[00:08:24] We want to hear your voice above any other voice, above any other thought or wisdom. We long to hear your voice, and we believe you speak. We believe you speak. So we pray. Come and speak to your church, Lord. In your wonderful name, we pray. Amen.
[00:08:43] How many people know that it is Jesus job to build his church?
[00:08:48] There are five of us in the room. That is a worrying sign, because if he is not building it, that means we are, and we make a really bad job of it.
[00:08:55] It is Jesus job to build his church. In this passage of scripture here, he declares that he will build his church. It is his church. It is his building. He is growing it. He is establishing it. He is leading it, and he is calling forth people towards it. And don't get it twisted, the church doesn't belong to people. It doesn't belong to pastors or preachers. The church belongs to King Jesus. It is his. So much so that the scriptures speak about how he will marry the church. He loves the church so much that he will not abandon, but he will stay with the church. It doesn't belong to a space. It doesn't belong to a building. It doesn't belong to a people group. It belongs to Jesus. It's his place, his people, and this and many others is his church. Jesus, when speaking about the church, asks an incredibly profound question at the beginning of this passage. And I'm going to give some context to Caesarea Philippi and where this was being spoken about, because that's crucially important to this passage of scripture. But what I wanted to start with, before I bring three truths of the power of the church in this modern day, I want to just ask the question that Jesus asked the disciples when he was speaking about the church. And the question he asked was simply, who do you say I am?
[00:10:14] Who do you say I am?
[00:10:17] I don't know your context or background. I don't know if this is your first time or if you've been coming here for years, but I could suggest and will suggest that I think the most greatest question and most important question you can ever ask in your lifetime is the question that Jesus has just asked his disciples, and therefore he is asking us as his church. Who do you say I am?
[00:10:42] Some see jesus as a mythical character that existed thousands of years ago.
[00:10:47] Some see jesus as a real life person. History would give evidence to that. But he was a liar. He wasn't who he said he was. Some see jesus as Simon Peter saw him in this passage of scripture, which is the Messiah, the savior of the world, the one who came to take away all sin and the power of death itself to reveal to us the redemption has come. Some would say that Jesus is the messiah. The question of who Jesus is is the most important question. With little exaggeration I believe you can ask in your life.
[00:11:20] It is that question that changed my life.
[00:11:24] It is that question that I know through having a relationship with some of you in here changed your life, because when you ask that question, Jesus himself came and revealed himself to you so that you could have a relationship with him, an active relationship, an engaging relationship.
[00:11:48] It's probably no surprise to many of you that I believe that Jesus is the messiah of the world.
[00:11:56] I believe he's the savior of the world, the lord of the world. He is the one who saves, heals, transforms, gathers the outcasts, heals the broken, empowers the church and the followers. And when that's who Jesus is, I believe the truth of who the church is comes and flows from that.
[00:12:15] Your answer to the question of who Jesus is will shape your perspective of who you believe the church is.
[00:12:21] I believe we're having a moment in the western church right now, a moment that feels a little bit uncomfortable at times.
[00:12:31] A moment where there are, in many cases, exposures of failure.
[00:12:36] A moment in the western church where I believe we are coming to an understanding right now that God actually doesn't care about brands and popularity.
[00:12:47] I believe in the western church, we're finally starting to realize something, and that is that we are coming to the end of ourselves with all of our ideas, and we're starting to see that all of our human solutions are being exposed for something that don't truly work. And with that, the church is starting to recognize that it is not our job to put a spin on the church to be something. It's not. But it is our job to allow God's commitment to him, building the church to be our greatest priority.
[00:13:12] I believe we're having a moment where we're starting to realize it is only Jesus that transforms and saves people's lives. Amen. We're having a moment of realization that we might not be able to do it, but we thankfully serve a God that chooses to use broken people to see his mission come to pass in this world. I believe we're having a moment right now where we're starting to realize the greatest, most singular, important matter of our life is to be close to Jesus so that Jesus can be seen through us. I believe that's happening in the church right now. And, friends, I believe that's incredibly good news.
[00:13:43] Incredibly good news, that Jesus would be seen before we would be seen, that Jesus voice would be heard before the voice of any preacher or pastor, that we would be a people that reflects the person of Jesus to a broken world so that they can find the redemption that we have. How do we get to that point? Well, I want to bring three truths to you over the next ten minutes. We'll come to land after that. Three truths about the power of one church. Is that okay? Oh, come on. You can be louder than that. Is that okay?
[00:14:15] Come on. I've got some hands in the back going and stuff. This is good.
[00:14:19] Three truths about the power of one church. The first one, a simple one, but probably the most important one. The church belongs to Jesus.
[00:14:31] The church belongs to Jesus. It's his church. And I'm so thankful that it's his church.
[00:14:40] Doesn't have to use us, doesn't have to call us, doesn't have to be in relationship with us.
[00:14:48] Yet he chooses to out of love.
[00:14:52] And I never want to get bored. Church, please hit my heart with this.
[00:14:58] I never want to get bored of the realization and reality that I have been saved from death and hell into a glorious relationship with my savior.
[00:15:12] I never want to get bored of that.
[00:15:15] And I think, and this in my notes, I think sometimes what I've sensed in my life, and it might be the same of yours, perhaps not, but I sense that sometimes the enemy's greatest tool to stop us from being the church that is alive and active and unstoppable force to the world is to dull our senses to the reality of what the gospel has done is to make us feel numb to that moment we first had when we encountered Jesus and everything came into color and life once again.
[00:15:51] And if there is one prayer I would have for us here at Rediscover church, it's that we would never become dull or senseless to the work of Jesus Christ in our life, but we would be alive and active, for we have been saved. Our chains have gone. I once was blind, but now I can see his transforming power is at work every day in our lives.
[00:16:17] It belongs to Jesus. Caesarea Philippi, this place. I'm going to put a picture up on the screen here.
[00:16:24] This is the place where Jesus was having this conversation with the disciples. Fascinating place, this. I know who's been to this place. Yeah, look at this. So many people have been to this place. You will know what I'm about to say here. This is a fascinating place. If you ever go to Israel, you want to go and see this place. I am longing to go and see this place, but it has loads of history, deep, connected history. You will see tunnels, you will see the big drop over at the end. You will see the three little doors that are plastered into the mountainside. And back in the day when Jesus was doing his ministry, when he had this conversation with his disciples, this was an electric point of gathering. It was very well known. It was thousands of people would come here every single day. And the reason why they would come to this place every single day is largely because of false gods, false idols, and doing things in hope of demonic forces to come and rule and reign in the land. Caesarea Philippi was an area associated with idols and rival deities. One of the greatest demonic platforms of the region, temples, the false gods, the visual representation of the gates of hell that Jesus even referenced himself is found here. People would come to this place going, I am going to the gates of hell. This big drop off here. People would think that demons would come from hell and the abyss and hades up to the land and go back down. It was a vault and passage for demonic forces to come through. The area was scattered with temples of the ancient syrian God Baal, the nurturist and naturist God pan. And also marble temples were built to the godhead of Caesar.
[00:18:10] Why would Jesus bring his disciples here?
[00:18:14] Just a caveat here. Isn't it interesting? In the darkest places, it's where Christ's light shines the greatest.
[00:18:22] Fascinating, fascinating.
[00:18:26] Jesus brings his disciples up in here. There have been thousands of people around him, goats probably being slaughtered, all kinds of things taking place. And he does so deliberately to bring his disciples and his followers to an incredibly notorious place of paraded evil, to prophetically declare the birth of the church, that nothing, no darkness, no demonic force, no area of evil can stop the church of Jesus Christ.
[00:18:56] Jesus wants to immerse something deep into the core of his followers, that no matter what evil surrounds us, and no matter how dark the times may be, no matter how much wrong is taking place, Jesus is building his church in the midst of great darkness, he's building an unstoppable light that pierces the darkness itself.
[00:19:25] Jesus loves his church, builds his church, and even marries his church.
[00:19:33] If you want to see how committed Jesus is to building his church, your answer can be found throughout the New Testament. Specifically when Paul uses language consistently that the church is the bride of Christ.
[00:19:47] He loves it so much that he marries the church. Friends, he is coming back for the church.
[00:19:58] He is coming back, and I can't wait for the day.
[00:20:09] The second truth of the power of one church is that the church should reflect Jesus.
[00:20:18] The church should reflect Jesus. In the midst of this great darkness, with all this pagan sacrifices going on, Jesus speaks to his small little group of friends, his disciples, and he starts to ask them, who do you say I am? Simon Peter, the bold disciple. He's the one that chops off the ear of the guard that comes to arrest Jesus at the time where he's about to go to the cross. He was known for being loud and abrasive, and Jesus loved him for it. He declares immediately, look, everyone else here might say you're a prophet or someone else. But I'm going to say who I think you are. I think you're the son of God. I think you are the messiah to the world. I think you are the one we've been longing to come. And you have finally arrived in all of your glory. And as he says it, Jesus looks back at him and he says, oh, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you that we're going to readdress your name. We're going to say that you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church. Now, there's confusion around this passage of scripture because many people think that Peter was the person in which the church was built. I would argue that that is not the case at all. And the reason why I would argue that is not the case at all is because of the root word that is used for both the word Peter and rock. And we're going to see a little graph that comes up here.
[00:21:32] Petros and Petra are two distinct words. In the Greek, Petros is a shifting, rolling, or insecure stone, while Petra is a solid and movable rock. Jesus allows us to see that although our lives and Peter's life may be shifting and insecure of times, the revelation of who Jesus Christ is immovable and never changing. Can I get an amenity here? We see on this rock, you are Petros. You're a little rock. You're a part of my plan, you're going to be part of the building of the church. You're going to play your part. And, friends, I want to say, if you have counted yourself from being part of the mobilized church, I want to encourage you. There is a purpose and a plan for your life to make a difference here in this world. There's a purpose for you to bring something of a reflection of Jesus in your context and in your scenario. Petros, little rock. That is who Peter are. I will call you Petros. A shifting, rolling or sometimes insecure rock. I don't know about you, but I can be insecure at times. Have we got anyone else that wants to be honest in the room this morning? Hey, we are those people. Broken people get it wrong at times. We do things we wish we didn't do. We say things we wish we didn't say. We think things we wish we didn't think. We are the people of the Petros. And that is who Jesus calls us. And that's okay. He is consistently making us new, consistently transforming us from glory to glory, to become more like Jesus as the beautiful church. But that is not who is building his church on. Because if he builds his church on me, it will go all wrong. He needs something stronger than that. And what is the something stronger? It's the petra, the large rock. And that is this the revelation that Jesus is lord and savior to the entire world. On that truth, on that revelation. That is the Petra solid, immovable rock in which I will build my church.
[00:23:15] The church is built on the revelation of who Jesus is. That is what we carry. That is the good news that we bring to a dying and broken world. Not that we get it right. Not that we're great preachers and we've got talents and all those things. We do have those things. But the reality that will set people free and allow people to live in the glorious nature of who they were created to be is built on the revelation that Jesus is a whole that is in your heart, that you are missing, that you so desperately need.
[00:23:43] It is the revelation of Jesus that the church is built on. That's good news, friends. That's really good news. Because we can walk with confidence into every conversation we have, in every meeting we have, in every phone call we have, to the people that we long to come to know Jesus that don't know Jesus yet. We know that it's not in my strength, but in the strength of the Holy Spirit and by the name and revelation of Jesus that people can be saved.
[00:24:10] That's a new reality that we can grab hold of the church. It belongs to Jesus, and it should reflect Jesus because it is built upon the revelation of Jesus. I'm so thankful the church isn't built on me. Hear this gently. I'm so thankful the church isn't built on you.
[00:24:30] And I'm extremely thankful that the church is built on Jesus, because he's the one that will never abandon, never forsake, never diminish, never go. Consistent in nature, consistent in character, consistent in voice, longing to be with his people, so much so that he died on the cross so that we can have a full relationship with him in all of its glory.
[00:24:51] That's the gospel.
[00:24:53] That's the church.
[00:24:55] That's the revelation of Jesus Christ. The church was always designed to be built by Jesus and not by people. And Jesus is making a clear and bold statement. We are called to be a community that helps reveal Jesus.
[00:25:11] It is in the revealing of Jesus in which we find our foundations.
[00:25:15] And it is in the revealing of Jesus we find the good news in which we can bring to a broken world. In the office this week, you're called to reveal Jesus on the bus this week, called to reveal Jesus with your family. Call to reveal Jesus at the restaurant, revealing Jesus at university, revealing Jesus in the school playground, revealing Jesus to our friends and our families, revealing Jesus. There is a hope that the church of Jesus Christ, who is called by name, will be the revealers of the one who is perfect, spotless and beautiful in all description.
[00:25:56] The problem.
[00:25:59] I don't know about you, but I often struggle to do so.
[00:26:06] And here's where the challenge partially comes. In church evangelism, omission was never meant to be an option or a consideration for the followers of Jesus Christ.
[00:26:18] It is a command, but also it is probably the truest pure form that we are in healthy relationship with him.
[00:26:32] And that's hard to say, but I think it's what the scripture shows, that if we know Jesus and Jesus knows us, we will be desperate in all of our ways to reveal Jesus to every person we come in contact with.
[00:26:52] The good news.
[00:26:54] I'm banned. Or, Andrew, if you'd like to come join me at this point as I come to wrap up, the good news is that Jesus knows that you and I are a little bit faulty.
[00:27:07] We need a bit of help.
[00:27:10] So the third truth is that he empowers his church by gifting us a beautiful gift. That is the Holy Spirit.
[00:27:22] It's the Holy Spirit.
[00:27:26] The Holy Spirit is one of the most confused people that I've ever come across.
[00:27:34] Some people think the Holy Spirit is a force.
[00:27:38] Some people think the Holy Spirit is lesser than Jesus or the Father.
[00:27:43] Some people think the Holy Spirit just does loads of weird things and then just disappears.
[00:27:49] Whereas really, that's not what the Holy Spirit was sent for.
[00:27:53] The Holy Spirit was sent for two primary reasons. One, to be a comforter, to help shape you, to help grow you, to help lift you, to help build you. It's a word called sanctification. Many of you will know it. The ongoing process of the Holy Spirit making you look more like Jesus. I don't know about you, but I need the Holy Spirit to help me do that. Right?
[00:28:16] The second reason, we love that one, right? We really like that one. I like that one. The second one, though, is a little bit more difficult. The Holy Spirit came so that you would speak to the world about Jesus.
[00:28:29] That one didn't get as much as an amen or holy spirit. Thank you.
[00:28:36] Holy Spirit came so that we would be the revealers of Jesus to a world that desperately needs Jesus, desperately needs Jesus.
[00:28:53] The Holy Spirit fills us, makes us more like Jesus, so it's easier to communicate about him and then empowers us with, hey, not just words, signs and wonders to prove there is a God that loves this world.
[00:29:11] I don't know whether you know Jesus. I don't know whether you've had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. I don't know where you're at in faith or in life. But what I do know is that Jesus, he calls you by name and he longs to have a relationship with you. I know it. I know that Jesus wants to know you intimately. I know that Jesus wants to give you the gift, the Holy Spirit, so that when you go out of this place this week and we step into our Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening, into the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, go into the workplace, we are called to be the empowered church that reveals Jesus, because the world desperately needs to know about Jesus. The church was never meant to be created so that we would just come here on Sunday and sit with the saved and forget about the lost, but instead that we would come to be with the saved, to be encouraged so that we can go reach the lost. In Luke 15. I'm going to close with this in a moment. Jesus uses these three parables. Many of you will know them. I know Luke 15, amazing passage of scripture, and these three stories that Jesus tells his disciples really is about what we're called to do, because it's a reflection of what Jesus came to do. If you want to be like Jesus. You will have to do the things that Jesus did. Amen. And Jesus comes. And in Luke 15, he speaks about three lost things, three different stories of free lost things. The first one was a lost sheep. You guys know what's going to go. If you've been in church for a long time, you know how this goes. There was 99 sheep. This is him telling his disciples the 99 sheep were safe, comfortable. Heck, they could have been gathering on a Sunday in a nice, warm church that God has provided for them.
[00:30:45] Yet Jesus leaves the 99 for the one.
[00:30:51] He goes after the one.
[00:30:54] Because we're not called to sit with the comfortable.
[00:30:57] We're called to go after the one.
[00:31:00] The second story is a woman who's lost a coin. Ten silver coins. She's got nine of them in a handbag. She's looking forward to going and spending it, but she's realizing that there's one lost. She doesn't just enjoy the nine silver coins. No, she's absolutely determined to find this one coin because she believes the one coin matters. So she turns the house upside down. She's flipping the sofas, the couch. She's going around the place trying to find this one coin. She finds it. And when she finds the one coin, she's so excited, she's found the one coin. She calls all her sisters over, spends all ten coins in a moment because she's that excited, because the one matters.
[00:31:38] The third of the lost story is the one that's the most famous one. The lost son. Two sons, one father, one son. Give me my inheritance. Early. He gets all this money. He goes into the city. He parties like a madman, out every night, all kinds of stuff going on. He squanders and uses all of his finance, all of his money that he's asked for. Early.
[00:32:01] He ends up in a pigsty, dirty, broken, with nowhere to go. He cries out to God. God, how has this happened? How have I allowed my life to get such a mess? And in disgrace. Shame. And while smelling of pigs, he wanders back home, expecting the father to come out with a rod, furious at his actions. But instead, he's met with a gracious, compassionate father who is just happy that the one lost son has come home.
[00:32:32] Three stories, three lost items, all three lost at the expense of comfort.
[00:32:38] What does it simply teach us?
[00:32:42] It teaches that we are called to go after that which is lost rather than be comfortable with those who have already been found.
[00:32:49] And I want to challenge us. This morning, church. And some of you, I know there's people in this room. That do this better than me.
[00:32:56] I know there are people in this room that live this, but can you hear the challenge this morning that no matter what your style, preference, background, personality or character is, there is a call on your life to be empowered church to reach the lost, to seek and save the lost. Because it is so important that we do so. Our time is limited.
[00:33:21] Our time is limited.
[00:33:24] But the gospel holds power to transform lives.
[00:33:30] Holds power to transform lives.
[00:33:33] You have been sent the spirit of God to be a witness and reflection of the person of Jesus in your context to a broken world.
[00:33:52] A quote on a story pray and end. Is that okay?
[00:33:55] Okay quote really helpful. Christopher Wright Jesus doesn't have a mission for the church.
[00:34:03] He has a church for the mission.
[00:34:06] Doesn't have a mission for us. He has us for the mission he uses to you. He longs for us to be the vehicle in which his mission takes place. Really helpful quote that has helped guide me throughout the years. Story to end a few I don't know how long it goes now all blows into one week or months ago. Many of our young people went to limitless festival. Wasn't amazing to see eight young people get baptized last week here in this building because of encounters with this person at Jesus. They had limitless festival. I don't want to say go two step further without saying youth team, youth volunteers that do this work to get these young people to these festivals, thank you for what you do. Thank you so much for what you do. It's so important.
[00:34:45] And the second one here, the church that is generous enough to be able to support and get in young people here, you play just as much as a part in doing so. So thank you for what you do as well. It is so, so important that we allow this to happen at limitless festival. On night three, we were speaking about hearing the voice of Jesus. We were speaking about encountering this person called Jesus and we did a response time at the end. Anyone wants to give their life to Jesus, you can come forward. We're going to pray for you. I think it's the best decision you'll ever make. We have loads of people across the five days we had 755 1st time responses to the person of Jesus a relationship with him, which is amazing.
[00:35:25] On night three, I got a text from a youth leader. Well, our team got a text from a youth leader and she is part of a church a little bit further north than here. And she sent me this text and it just blew me away. She said, I've already had loads of my young people give live lives to Jesus. We've had people come with us for the first time, responded to Jesus. We've had healings take place. Some of our young people have been healed from stuff. People have been set free for stuff. She's like, I'm so blown away. But on night three, she sent me this text and she said, this is the best one yet. This is the best one yet. The best story of what's taken place in terms of Jesus and his church doing thing in people's lives. She said, we brought two girls with us, completely non church background. They don't know Jesus. They've never been to a church service before. They've come to our youth group. They've said, hey, we want to go to this limitless festival. We know it's about Jesus, we get it. But we've seen the promo and there's loads of fun stuff going on. So we're happy to come away for five days with you. It's great. These two young people came, night one. No interaction, no. No involvement in the service. They thought it was a little bit strange. Why are they all singing and clapping so much? I don't really get it. Morning, one, evening of day two, one and two, main session, same thing. Sat at the back, disengaged. They just wanted to get through it so could go do the fun stuff. That was what was in their mind.
[00:36:44] Session four, day four, we're speaking about how to hear the voice of Jesus, and we get the young people to practice it. We say, read some scripture, speak out what you think God's saying. Go prophesy over people. We have thousands of young people prophesying over thousands of other young people. Thousands of young people witnessing in testimony, saying, it's the first time I've ever heard the voice of Jesus and the Holy Spirit speaking through me, which I think is amazing in itself. Now they're doing all this stuff. These two young girls, again, completely disengaged. Now the final night comes along. Final night's all about healing and stuff like this, and we're praying for people to get healing. One of the girls completely unchanged background, she's hearing the response to the gospel. She senses the Holy Spirit grabbing her heart, and for the first time in her life, she's going, oh, my gosh, what is this? This feels real. This doesn't feel like just some form of emotionalism. This feels like Jesus, the son of God, coming and grabbing my heart and longing for me to be in relationship with him. So she starts to respond and she goes up to a youth leader. And she goes, I think that I need to respond to Jesus. I don't know what's happened. I've not enjoyed any of these services, but I can sense that God is asking me to say yes to him. The youth leader's elated, saying, oh, my gosh, this is brilliant. You need to go down to the front when they give the call. So we get up, we give this call, come down to the front. She goes, I'm going to say yes to Jesus for the first time. It's the first time I've ever heard of him, but I'm going to say yes to him. So she says yes. She prays this prayer. Jesus, I'm all in. I want to know who you are. I want to follow you the rest of my lives. I want to know what you've got for me. And I'm going to be bold enough to walk down the front for the first time by myself. So she steps up in front of a whole youth group and she starts to walk down the front. And as she gets a little bit down the aisle before she gets to the front, for the first time in her life, she senses something in her mind, and her mind saying, stop.
[00:38:24] She's thinking, am I crazy? So she stops. And then there's a girl who is sat down, not engaged at all, amongst another youth group. She's never met the girl in her life. And as she stops, she sees this girl sat next to her, and as she turns to her, she senses what she said was a voice in her head saying, you need to speak to her. So she goes to her and she goes, I have no idea what's going on here. She bends down, she taps her on her shoulder, not knowing what to say. The girl looks at her and she says, I'm so sorry to disturb you, but I've got a feeling that God wants to heal you from something that you've been dealing with in your life. And it's this. She names the thing. This girl looks at her gobsmacked, saying, I've been struggling with that my whole life.
[00:39:08] She goes, can I stand? I've never prayed before in my life, but can I try?
[00:39:15] This girl goes, yeah, of course. So she stands up. People are already walking down the front.
[00:39:20] She puts her hand on her shoulder and she says, I just pray, jesus, you will heal this girl. Amen.
[00:39:27] This girl starts to weep.
[00:39:29] She encounters the presence of God. She gets healed, she turns to the other girl and she goes, listen, I know this sounds a little bit strange, but I'm with this youth group. I've never gone to church in my life.
[00:39:43] I'm from an unchurched background. My family aren't christians. And I've been so disengaged in all these services. But when you just prayed for me, then I felt something like I've never felt in my entire life.
[00:39:55] How do I give my life to Jesus?
[00:39:59] She walks down to the front, both of them give their life to Jesus in seconds. They go out, they come back in. The girl, the original girl, she goes to a youth leader. And here's the words that this youth leader told me. She said when she walked back, I can't believe God would use me when I've only been a follower for 17 seconds.
[00:40:29] That's not a preacher. It's not evangelism techniques. It's not acclimatized to church and gatherings. It's the Holy Spirit empowering the church to do what the church is called to do, which is to seek and save the lost. Be empowered by the Holy Spirit to reveal the church because. Because that is the power of one church. One church church. We are called to reveal the life of Jesus wherever we go and whoever we come in contact with. And may this week be the week that we do something different to reveal the person of Jesus to those that will come encounter with. I wonder, would you stand as I pray for us all to close this service?
[00:41:05] Father, I thank you so much. There are people in this room that are called to be evangelists, the call to be communicators of the gospel. And I pray for them right now. I pray that they will find an anointing on their lives to see breakthrough in everything that they do. But Father, I also pray for all of us in this church right now. I know that the stuff we've been talking about is difficult and hard at times. I know the church has blemishes. We've done things that are wrong, we have caused hurt at times. But Jesus, I believe that's not you. I believe that's the fallenness of us. So I pray together collectively as rediscover church. Will you empower us to best reflect and reveal you to the world that is hurting and lost? I pray you will send your Holy Spirit to help us declare the gospel and the good news of Jesus wherever we go. And I pray for every single person in this room, myself included in every conversation I have this week with my family or friends, those I've known for a long time, or those strangers that I bump into. Would you remind me by the power of your holy spirit to be a reflection of your goodness and grace in every season, in every circumstance. We pray this in your powerful name. Amen. Amen. I.
