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Much Prayer Needed

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Prayer is not preparation for the main task, it is the main task – Oswald Chambers

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. – Hebrews 12: 22-25

I have been reading one of the best books I have ever read about making disciples. Full of stories, method and encouragement, it has caused us to evaluate our own efforts in how effective we are in taking the Gospel to those who are in darkness. That, coupled with an intensive look at the book of Hebrews, which portrays the person of Christ with such clarity, has made for some good reading and thinking.

In the disciple making book, I read of a church planter who plants some 500 new churches a year. These are not bricks and mortar places, with priests and worship teams and a youth group, these are gatherings, Oikos, of new believers who come together very frequently to study and worship and be trained into how to find and make new disciples of Jesus Christ. A movement is begun. Some of the stories of what God is doing in far flung places makes your spine tingle. We feel in many ways, we have barely got started. We want to be part of that story here in our own little place in the heart of Sydney. Friends, don’t for one moment think that Jesus is on the back foot, scrambling to find a place in the world. Far from it his Kingdom is on the move and he wants us to join the work.

The church planter also has a vocational job which he works at during the day, before meeting with people every evening to further the Gospel in his country. Want to know what his secret is though? He prays each morning for around 3 hrs before work, and then another 2 hrs in the evening with his various groups. I was so staggered when I read that, it seemed beyond my comprehension. Yet, seeking first the will of the Lord in all he wants on a day by day, moment by moment basis is surely no more than what is displayed in Scripture. Christ did the same with his Father, and he wants us to live the same way with him. He wants to lead the way in everything we do, especially when we go out in his name. Whose kingdom is it, after all?

Further, the church planters who were successful had an army of others praying for them as well. In some cases, several thousand were praying daily for just a small group of church planters. The author suggested that unless you had at least a hundred people praying for you daily, your success would be limited. So, we will start looking for people to pray with us. It came to me as I was reading this, that there is an army of darkness that would do all it can to prevent others from hearing the Gospel. When you push back and start to do the work of Christ, opposition will surely come. Much prayer is needed. Persecution, opposition is on our doorstep here as well. Soon, we will need to choose which God we serve far more publicly than we do now.

On the other side though, God opens doors all the time. If we pray, then we should be expectant. This week as I was in another city, meeting with a couple who own a company on whose board I sit. I had been wondering whether I really wanted to work with this group of people because of the lifestyle they promoted, but they invited me to stay in their house. In the morning, as she was getting her daughter ready for school, out of the blue she asked me what I knew about Revelation. Someone, a friend of hers who was a believer, had given her a book on the end times and she was fascinated. We got talking, and in the half hour over a cuppa tea, I was able to walk her through the full Gospel message, which she had never heard before. When you get a chance to explain the Gospel, and why Jesus is so essential and central to God’s plans, the blindness is lifted and you can see the understanding that comes. We continue to pray, as she has openly said she wants to hear more.

As I was flying back the same day, thinking about that conversation the Lord reminded me that if we pray, we should expect the opportunity to come. Why was I surprised?

We are passionate about the task we feel the Lord has given us, and continue to seek his face for steps forward. It is not just our calling though, it is according to Scripture, a calling for all who believe in Jesus Christ. The passage in Hebrews reminds us that the God of the Hebrews is to be feared, a ‘devouring fire,’ yet because of what Christ has done, what is due to us will not come to us. Instead, we get an inheritance, an adoption beyond our wildest imagination.

Friends, the world must hear of this before it is too late. There is no time to waste. Come, let us pray for each other, and let us go and make fishers of men as He has commanded. I believe he won’t delay coming for much longer.

A Beautiful New Covenant

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But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. Heb 8: 6

Beautiful, majesty, glorious, matchless in every way (chorus)

After a long, intense week in the world, the other day I came home and quietly watched a short cut of The Passion. It brought me back to the sheer immensity of who Christ was, and what he accomplished in such a short period. When we are able to simply gaze on the person of Jesus Christ, and truly put him first, all else falls into place. The positional arguments that each of us has , “Jesus-and,” diminish into inconsequence, our methods, our doctrines all slip quietly away. All we think we might achieve appears marginal when measured against Him. Paul reminds us that even the faith we think we bring, is a gift from God.

For some, they discover the beauty that is Christ and give up their lives for him. Surely, they are the most fulfilled people on earth. Recently I heard of a young man who decided that he would sacrifice a career by taking a more menial job that would allow him to spend more time out in the marketplace, introducing others to this Jesus. So he spends two full days each week on the streets and in the university, bringing Jesus to anyone who God opens up to him. Recently, this person prayed for another non-believer, who was in chronic pain recovering from a broken back, and they were healed.

There is scepticism around signs and wonders, perhaps for good reason. The gifts have been contrived and abused, worse even used to gain wealth, causing hurt to many along the way. Yet we mustn’t be surprised that when we are prepared to sacrifice all for Christ, when he is proclaimed publicly and put in his proper position, that he acts in such a way. Signs and wonders shall surely follow, demons will flee and captives will be set free. As a result, the healed man introduced others, friends of his, to Christ and being as astounded as he by what had happened, they have committed to follow him. He is a better covenant.

This week we were out on the streets, sitting and watching and waiting to see who the Lord might lead us to. We began to talk to a young Spanish couple, John and Annie, here on a working visa. The conversation was fairly typical of many we have with young people with no particular belief. Who made all this? Who decides what is good and evil? God is both Holy as well as loving, what does that mean? As always, the most interesting part is when we come to the person of Jesus Christ.  Who he was, why he came, why he had to do what he did and what that means for us; Jesus never fails to intrigue.

There is absolutely no cleverness needed when we explain Jesus, his name alone is sufficient to begin to wring change in people’s lives. People always seem to listen more intently when we get to him. We ended up by blessing John and Annie as we prayed that they would not easily forget the conversation we had. I suspect it won’t be the last.

As I turned to leave, my wife grabbed me round to face a young Chinese student who had been listening into the conversation; he wanted to carry it on. So, for the next half an hour we had the delight of being able to tell more of the Gospel to Michael, a student from China studying at Usyd. Michael had heard the Gospel before, had never responded, but now he isn’t far away. So, in an afternoon, we managed to start the sowing process with a young couple from Spain, who walked away clearly moved yet without responding. Who knows what will happen down the track. Then we were able to carry on, still on the same seat, with another who had heard before. We added seed to the line of sowers God had already used in this young man’s life.

We have since introduced Michael to some believers at Usyd, and sense that he is not far off committing his life to Christ and we are looking forward to meeting him again soon. Hopefully, when he commits we can train him to go and make disciples as well.

Again and again we see the person of Jesus bringing great change in people’s lives. For each of us reading here, we know the impact he has had with us. His grace, his beauty, his power the sheer matchlessness of Jesus makes him a person that cannot and should not be contained. God knows that his Son alone is able to change this world, and so he asks you and me, simple believers, to move in our circles introducing others to this Christ. We don’t need to be articulate, to know a lot, to be well-known or ordained, he simply asks us to go.

Through him, because of him, people everywhere have a better covenant. The age old question that so many have, how can I get close to this God is answered only in Jesus. We must tell people everywhere that times have changed, we no longer need to rely on us to get to God, all we must do is put our faith in another. The door to God is now wide open to all who would believe, good news to all who would hear.

In the marketplace

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You must warn each other every day, while it is still today, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. – Hebrews 3: 13

Last weekend, we managed to spend an entire afternoon speaking to people on the streets, of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We feel it is always beneficial, as so few have any real clue as to what that Gospel really entails, and we have no idea how God will use the seed we plant.

We managed to speak to 3 young teenagers as we spoke first about skateboarding, and then about Jesus. We’re hoping that they will start attending a Discovery Group which we have started in our home for young people who want to know more about Jesus Christ. We are praying, and we shall see. If you’ve never tried it, then let me tell you there is nothing more fulfilling than sharing the Gospel with someone who knows nothing about it.

There are many ways to do that of course, but we prefer to go slowly, as we have always felt the Gospel takes time to share. You can share your own testimony, or a simple Bible passage, or simply talk about why Jesus had to die, and the different sides of God’s character, Holiness and Love. That in particular, seems to always intrigue people. Whatever you do though, make Jesus the front and centre of anything you present. He is always, always the attraction.

Over the years, we have watched and listened to presentations that emphasise certain elements of scripture, usually tied in closely with the person’s denomination or church background. In the end, I always sense there is demand being made on the person that overshadows the Gospel, whatever that is. Groups that promote a particular brand of Christianity, tend to exclude certain passages and highlight others that support their views. These are often the same people that insist on those interested in Christ, coming along to “their church”, as they raise their own extrabiblical belief and church practice to the level of Scripture.

In our experience though, this ends up being a failure. The people we talk to are intrigued by Jesus Christ. The intensity in their listening, willingness to be prayed for, discussed with and even followed up bears this out. We don’t need to insist on catechism, baptism, speaking in tongues, confirmation, church attendance or anything else that we might deem essential to Christianity. We forget that Christ left a group of illiterate, uneducated people to fulfil his work of spreading the Gospel. There was no money, no building, no priests, no New Testament – only the very real presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit.

So we encourage each of you to speak the person of Jesus Christ into your neighbourhood, wherever that may be. This week we spoke to a young Czech man; he was very curious and willing to listen, even though there was no immediate response. Was that a wasted half an hour? We never think so, who knows what will happen in his life. Most people sail through life never thinking about why they are here, or where they come from or are going, and we get a chance to introduce them to their creator for just a few moments. If he then came across you the reader, you would have the opportunity to build on what had already been said. We never know.

The good news is, there are other Discovery Groups forming and we are beginning to network and connect into other areas in the city. We can go out with them in their area, train them and share fellowship, the very real church where Jesus is the head. It seems in the last days, that God is starting to stir people in the West, moving them out into the marketplace to proclaim his Son.

As we continue onto our goals of ten new converts this year, we have always found one thing to be true; if we will take the first step toward doing something for God, he always sends the resources and people to help accomplish the job. We are not alone.

The Mechanics Challenge

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So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? – Hebrews 2

A good mate of mine runs a mobile mechanic business. I’ve watched him grow it over the years, such that it is now has a few dozen mobile mechanics, driving hither and thither around the country each day. Like all good businesses, there is people and process, systems and method that each day make the wheels turn. It’s got to be reasonably harmonious to work.

But, here’s the rub. His mechanics have to achieve a certain workload each week, for them to be able to stay on. The business provides them all the tools, systems and leads for them to achieve their weekly targets, but they have to do the work. If they don’t, well there’s a waiting list. You see, there are quite a few people now in the business who have families and mortgages, and everyone has to keep on track to make sure the business can feed everyone.

It’s simple really isn’t it. Around the world today, millions upon millions will wake up and get out of bed, go to work, to meet certain requirements in our lives. For some, such as sports people who play at peak levels, the requirements can be very arduous indeed. All of us have expectations, demands on our lives.

Which brings us rather nicely to a Holy God.

It is the Holiness side of God’s character that demands from us, and very few people in the world want to face that prospect, believers included. Yet it is there, and will not go away. But in the book of Hebrews, it says also that Jesus is God, both God and man, and that means he too, has certain demands on us, especially as believers. Salvation is not the end of the story, it is the beginning.

I don’t want to get into a big works debate here, but to say simply this as believers we are not saved by works, but for good works. James would take that a step further, and say if there was no evidence of good works, then perhaps we should be looking hard at our faith in Christ. So, why then do most believers think that once they are saved, nothing further is required. Maybe nothing further is from the truth.

So, another very good friend of mine sent me an email a few weeks ago, that I have been thinking about ever since, and I wanted to share it with you. There’s a mission organisation in a large developing nation that runs a programme for church planters. This mission has only locals doing the work, and it is a tough gig, comparable to any peak sports performance requirement. Each missionary is trained for a year, at a cost of several times the national average salary (which though, is peanuts to most of us) and then they are cut free.

They also, like the mechanics, have a mandate and it is this. Every year, they must commit to planting two churches, consisting of 10 new converts each, and then train those converts to repeat the business. To do that, they are likely going to have to talk to 600 non-believers about their faith. As you might expect, the cost of doing that is high indeed. There will be persecution and hardship.

If they don’t? Well, believe it or not, there is queue of others a mile long waiting to do the same. All they lack is funds.

They have the entire resources of heaven behind them, because friends, this is the work that is top of God’s mind every single day. We get to co-partner with him, if we choose to do so.

So, as a small gathering here, we are looking at setting ourselves a similar challenge. A new church of 10 new converts just from our village. We will do the work, but we expect Jesus to turn up. He has given us the method, the systems and most of all himself through the Holy Spirit to make sure we achieve that goal. Surely the odds are in our favour.

You see friends, Jesus has made certain demands on our time and life, and he has given us clear commands. There is an expectation. Years of soft-peddling the Gospel in the West has led most to believe that they can accept Jesus into their hearts and then carry on living as they always have, but nowhere in the Gospel does it say that. It just about says the contrary.

So, after Easter, let each of us ask the question, what are we going to do to obey him? In your local community, wherever you are, commit prayerfully to such a goal of going out and finding ten new converts and bringing them together, teaching them to do the same.

In doing so, it would seem you will be right at the very heart of what Jesus wants to do in this world before he comes again. How good is that?

 

PS for anyone who is interested, the mission organisation are also interested in a small team who will give, pray and even consider visiting those church planters; if they had the funding right now, they could double at least, the current number of church planters in that country. Email me if this moves you, and we can perhaps do something.

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