Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You.
[00:00:04] Good morning, everyone. Nice to see you all.
[00:00:07] My name is Ellie, and I'm on the young adults team here.
[00:00:12] James and I have been here since January. We're part of the church plant when it moved over from Exeter. And we've been at Exeter for about ten years or so. So rediscover feels very, very much like home. So it's really, really lovely to be able to. And quite a privilege to be able just to speak to you guys today.
[00:00:30] We've been going through this devoted series. And as I was kind of preparing this message, I wanted to talk about childlike faith. And I'm still going to do that. But the more and more I started looking at this through this lens of childlike faith, this devotedness, the more this phrase of sustaining lifelong devotion kind of kept coming up. And so, Gordon, if I could have just the first one, that would be perfect very, very quickly. Just some definitions of devotion are going to come up behind me. And as I was looking at them. So you've got to give all or most of one's time or resources to a personal activity. And to give into the display, study, and discussion of and proving to be loving or loyal. So I kind of did my own mash of them all to create a little definition. And it says, if I wanted to show that I love God, so how can I give my all to Christ so that he might be displayed, studied, and talked about? And when writing this question, it got me thinking about this idea of success. And how when someone devotes their lives to a cause or a project, our culture tells them that their worth is measured by how well they succeed in that. And the success is gained from the world around us in that.
[00:01:42] How you attain that goal.
[00:01:46] Success is about what we can gain from the world around us. Rather than what we can offer the world. And the best thing that we can offer the world is Jesus. Big hint there.
[00:01:56] Some of these verses that have been on my heart recently is Matthew 1626 and Mark 836. At the end, there's going to be a big slide of all the scripture that I've kind of mentioned. Just because it was going to take a long time to put them all up. So they are there if you want to go back for reference later. But it says, for what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul? I don't want to lose my soul chasing after things that don't lead me straight to Jesus. That aren't going to make an impact on this world for him. And so this idea of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God comes up. And there's this story in Matthew where the disciples, they've given up everything to follow Jesus. They've left their families, their work, their careers, and they start bickering amongst themselves. They're like, hey, I've given up a lot. I've sacrificed a lot to follow Jesus. And they go to Jesus and go, hey, I've given up a lot here. What's going to make me great in the kingdom of heaven? And Gordon, if we just pop to the passage on, perfect. So this is what it says. It says, at that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven? He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. This scripture isn't physically telling us to go back into childhood, but it is talking about being reborn by the Spirit. And Jesus has the same conversation with Nicodemus in John three, where Nicodemus is like, I can't go back into my mum's womb. I can't be born a second time. And he's like, it's about being born again, being born fresh of his spirit.
[00:03:39] And in the same way, being told that we must change to become like little children is not suggesting this physical change, but rather it's talking about making deliberate changes and choices in our hearts and our minds in order that we might be able to fully discern the plans and purposes of his kingdom on earth. My favorite verse was John teN. It says, the thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But I have come that you may have life, and life to the full. And the only way that we're going to be able to discover this life to the full is to accept, pursue, devote, and engross ourselves in getting to know Jesus. And by doing so, we become more like him.
[00:04:15] When I was reading this passage of Scripture, the phrase, unless you change felt like a real cut. And I've been acutely aware that I've spent months caught up in going through religious motions of church, in just kind of going through my faith. And I believe that in doing so, I lost a little bit of myself in that. And the question I asked myself was, how could I let it get this way? How did it get to that point that I let it lose part of myself and now watched it bleed out into my worship, into marriage, into my workplace. And so the reality is that the things that I'm going to speak about today I'm doing with you. This is hard stuff. It is a challenge. But I believe that there is real fruit at the end of it that God wants to bring into us together. So let's quick, we pray. Father God, thank you so much that you're good, that you're kind, that you're merciful in these things. Lord, we want to come to you as your children and I pray. Would you speak to us today? Would you challenge us? Would you grow us, would you stretch us? And if there's things you need to call out in our spirit, Lord, call them out. Disrupt the comfortability that we are in. And we just pray. Would your goodness and mercy follow us today? In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Cool. So, faith like a child. Gordon, lovely first side. For me, this is going to be the little tag bit. And Hebrews one, verse eleven defines faith as this. It says it is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. And I've got a little buz lightyear on the screen there, so I want to tell you a little story.
[00:05:42] When I was younger, I've got two brothers. I still have two brothers. Not when I was younger.
[00:05:48] I've got two brothers. And my older brother, when he was younger, he was obsessed with Buz Lightyear. Like, that was all he wanted for his birthday, for Christmas. It was all he could think about. And he had this very little buzz Lightyear pencil topper. And he was sat in church one Sunday, and this guy from the front comes up to it is like doing this offering message from the front and says, if you put what you put into the basket, you will get back tenfold. And my brother gets thinking, he's like, okay, I've got this little buz Lightyear. And what I really want is the really big one. I want the big model with all the buzzy lights and all the rest of it. And so he puts this little pencil topper into the offering basket.
[00:06:29] His birthday comes around a month later, and my grandparents didn't know anything about this.
[00:06:35] And for his birthday, he unwraps not just the big Buz Lightyear, but he unwraps a dressing up outfit, duvet set, the whole shebang, and one little boy's face there. Buz Lightyear might not seem like a big deal, but to him it was a big deal. And it's this expectation that when we have childlike faith, God really honours and answers it. And I think the question that we ask is, do we trust God enough with every single need of our lives in the west, we are incredibly privileged and we kind of see it in the way that we worship, in the way that we are sometimes in that sometimes it feels like I don't need, like, you know, I've got a brain, I hope I'm doing okay for myself. And sometimes I'm like, do I really, really need God? And I feel like there's this humbling that we need to undergo where we take on this childlike faith and begin to trust that God can meet every single need of our lives.
[00:07:33] This lack of need sometimes in our lives begins to pollute the faith that we have, removing us from being close with Christ and into a place of stagnant contentedness. And we lose parts of our soul to the priorities and agendas of the world around us rather than the business of the kingdom that we have been set apart to participate in.
[00:07:56] I'm just going to Skip a little bit if you want this in kind of a context on how we get to this place of trusting God. I'm currently training to be a children's social worker, so please forgive a little bit of child development theory here. It's that when we are born, we're completely helpless. There's nothing that we can do for ourselves. And so as infants, we depend solely on our caregiver. And as infants, when we see our parent fulfilling those day in, day out needs for us, we build up what's called a secure attachment, and it means that we are bonded to that parent or carer. We have this trust that even though as a child you don't have the language to say, hey, I know you're going to come through for me. They've still got this secure attachment.
[00:08:35] And when we see the repeated faithfulness of God in our lives, we develop this secure attachment to him so that when we go through the highs and lows of life, we see God provide, protect and restore. And Hebrews six, verse eleven, says, we have this hope as an anchor for our soul. It is secure, it is firm. And I feel like sometimes when the world gets chaotic, when we go through the highs and lows of life, that security can feel a little shaky, it can feel a little bit nerve wracking. But can I just tell you right here and now that there are stories in the room of God's faithfulness, who's seen God be faithful in their lives?
[00:09:07] Exactly. There's so many stories. Also share your stories of faith. If your faith is feeling tired right now, share your stories of faith. Remind your soul. Remind the people around you of how good he has been in your life to you. God always comes through.
[00:09:23] And so as we're kind of talking about this child development theory and this growing up kind of stage, as we grow up, we become more and more aware of the world around us. We take more risks. And one of the things that we develop is this thing called embarrassment or otherwise called the fear of man.
[00:09:43] We become acutely aware of the way that our actions and appearance might look to other people. And therefore, we adjust what we do to fit in and to avoid standing out. And in the process, we end up adjusting how we see ourselves as well and who we believe that we are. Because when we stop looking at us and our lives through the kingdom lens, we not only lose sight of who we are, but also who God is, because we're made in the image of God. So if we're forgetting about how we've made, we're also forgetting about who God says we are at the same time and who he is. And so if we just jump to my first thing, this fear of man, first point is going to be about outward appearance. And that's a photo of little Ellie with a very bad fringe. So I'm very, very glad that God does not look at the outward appearance when we do these things. So our identity is not about who we are, but who God is. When we begin to look to other things, such as our job, relationship status, style, physicalities, finances. And take our eyes off God, we take our eyes off who we are as well. Our hearts desire to be known and loved. And the world tells us we have to go big to be loved. We have to succeed in order to be loved. We have to have big achievements, big friendship groups in order to feel love, in order to feel value. And God says, no, you just have to be you. You just have to come to me. You just have to embrace who I have made you to be, who I've called you out to be as my child.
[00:11:00] And there's this moment where David is about to be anointed by Samuel. And he goes, and Samuel walks in, and there's all these brothers in front of him. And he looks at the oldest, who's probably the tallest, the strongest, and he goes, yeah, that looks like the next king. He's going to make a difference. And I love God's just very, very gentle. Just nudge to him in one Samuel 16, verse seven, in that it says, do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things that people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
[00:11:40] What's our heart looking like at the moment?
[00:11:44] I wonder if we've been caught up in some of the things of this world, some of the worries, but actually, God really cares about what's in our heart. If your heart is tired, if it's feeling weary, come to God. He's got so much good stuff for you.
[00:11:57] And if we just pop to the next slide for a sec, if we're struggling about who we are, this is who he says that we are. He calls us children. I love one. John Three, verse one. This great love the Father has lavished on us, that we might be called children of God because that is what we are. We're his children. He loves us so much. And whether you've had positive experiences of fathers in the world or negative experience, there is a love here that goes beyond anything you could ever dream of. You will never have experienced love like this until you come before the feet of Jesus.
[00:12:34] And if we just pop to the next one, if that's okay.
[00:12:38] This be still and no is a phrase that comes up quite a lot in scripture, and it usually preludes a moment of God's might and power being known. And so there you've got be still. Know that I'm God. The Lord will fight for you need only to be still. And then he parts the waves so the Israelites can get through. He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, quiet. Be still. And the storm was silenced. In a moment.
[00:13:06] There's a moment where Elijah's about to be taken up to heaven in front of Elisha and other prophets are going, don't you know the Lord's going to take your master away? And he's like, yeah, I know. Just be still.
[00:13:19] And in that moment, Elijah is taken up into heaven with him.
[00:13:23] When we learn about who he is throughout being in this stillness of listening to what he says about us and about the wonder and might of who Jesus is, the more childlike, the more like his children we become. There's that innocence, there's that purity that comes from that.
[00:13:47] And so this fear of man can sometimes pollute our identity. And I just want to say that your identity is solely in Christ. It doesn't matter about the rest of the world. In a world which tells you, just be you and that there are all these other labels that you can put on yourself. The only label that you need is that you are loved by someone that is so great and so mighty and so holy. The only label that you need is that you are a child of God.
[00:14:13] And the other thing that fear of man can pollute. Gordon, if that's okay?
[00:14:18] Yeah, sorry. Next one.
[00:14:22] Beautiful. Is it complete our worship.
[00:14:25] And so the scripture says to be still and know that you are God. And I believe there are beautiful times in his presence where there is space to be still and just know that he is worthy and mighty. But we've got to move after that. We can't stay in this place of stillness because otherwise we're just showing what's in our heart and we're not showing the rest of the world. We're keeping it to ourselves. We're keeping it a secret. We've got good news, guys. We don't want to be quiet about it. So we have to be able to show that with our whole being. Psalm 103, verse one. Praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name. And if my heart knows that God is alive, good and coming back, I want my day to day life to be an offering of worship to God. And in the same way I want my song worship to be an offering. And I'm not just saying this because we're Pentecostals here, I'm not just saying that, but it's because it is desperately biblical. And everyone says all this dancing, all the music, it's modern worship. It's not modern worship, it's ancient worship. All throughout scripture it talks about the trumpets being raised, people kneeling, dancing, raising of hands.
[00:15:33] And there's this beautiful story in two, Samuel, six. Again, David's just so cool. I've got a lot of time for him. What a cool guy.
[00:15:40] Where the Ark of the Covenant had been captured by the Philistines and they're bringing it back into Jerusalem, they've recaptured it. And as he's coming back in, there's symbols and castanets and loud noise, know he's really partying. His whole being is in that moment worshiping and thanking God for his goodness.
[00:16:01] But there's one person that isn't Joining in with the party, and that's his wife, Mikhail. And it says that when she saw the king leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
[00:16:14] The story goes on. And Michael Mikhail expresses her disgust at David when he returns home. She's embarrassed by the dancing, embarrassed by the outrageous display of joy. And maybe she's worried about what her friends might think. Maybe she's worried about what the other nations might think of a king that's prancing around like a pony.
[00:16:36] She's worried that who she has married is making a fool of himself in front of everybody. But David's response to her in verse 21 and 22 says, I will celebrate before the Lord and I will become even more undignified than this.
[00:16:51] I want to be like David. I'm desperate to be like David in this. But sometimes I'll keep my faith quiet because it might make my work colleagues uncomfortable. Sometimes I might keep my praise quiet because I'm probably the one singing out of tune, and I'd rather people didn't hear that.
[00:17:08] I might be the one where I'm worried that I'll be the OD one out if I've got my hands in the air, because there's no one else around doing that. But if our worship is a really true reflection of what is inside, like we were singing earlier with the praise song, if God is alive, how can we keep this inside?
[00:17:27] And before, when we're looking at David being anointed says people look at the outward appearance of man. That doesn't have to be a bad thing here. If people are coming in and they don't know Jesus and they're seeing a church that feels dead, that feels stagnant, that doesn't feel like it's joyful about the good news that we have, who's going to want to join in? Who's going to want to come and know this? Jesus. When we're keeping this a secret around us, we need to shove aside our insecurities and doubts and turn our attention and focus to Jesus.
[00:17:59] And I've got just a little challenge that I want to bring in that in one Kings 854. Solomon, David's son It says when he'd finished all his prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he'd been kneeling with his hands spread out towards heaven. I bet Solomon saw his father worshipping. I bet Solomon saw the way that his dad worshiped so passionately, so in love and so in awe of who God was, that he then imitated that until that faith became his own. And then, can I just encourage you? There are children and young people watching you and your faith right now. Whether you have children yourself, whether you're just kind of brothers and sisters in the Church, people are watching your faith, and they will imitate it. So what is your worship saying about you, there's loads of positive research, particularly around men and faith development. So James Emory White says this. We have become convinced through years of experience that if you get the man, you get everything else within their war orbit, especially their wife and children. And if you look at that from a social work perspective as well, where you've got all this research which says that when fathers engage positively in interventions, there will be more positive outcomes for that family. The ultimate positive outcome that we want is for people to know Jesus. If we are engaged, if we are investing ourselves in the generations that are coming up. Your stories of faith have merit, learning experiences and wisdom that we can only imagine.
[00:19:29] What would it look like for the church if we had the 50 year olds having conversations and sharing their stories with the 40 year olds and the 40 year old sharing them with the 30 year olds and the 30 year old sharing them. 20 year olds, the 20 year olds getting involved in the youth ministry and sharing them with teenagers. Teenagers been getting involved in kids work and sharing it with the kids. When you see this kind of filtered down through the generations, we can't do it alone. There is a missing generation right now of young people. And we need your prayers. We need your faith. You might not be here to see it, that's the reality of it. But, oh, in the kingdom, Jesus will be celebrating so much. And I'm not leaving girls out here either. Spiritual mothers, we really, really need you to. I know for a fact that I'm living off the prayers of my great granny's faith. And she would pray consistently about her children and about her children's children. And I know that I would not be where I am today if it hadn't have been for some of those prayers. Our worship should reflect what is already in our hearts. And sometimes we aren't worshipping for ourselves. Sometimes I might be worshipping on behalf of other people. If I'm feeling really, really tired and worn out. Sometimes I don't want to worship. But then that's the state of my heart, and I need to then check my heart and change the way that I'm worshipping. Sometimes there might be someone next to me that's really struggling. Sometimes there might be people in my family that don't have somebody standing in that gap between them. So when I'm worshiping, when I'm proclaiming God's goodness, sometimes I'll do it on behalf of them. And I think you do it on behalf of your loved ones as well, or about the nations people that you don't even know we should be standing in that gap and worshipping and believing that God will come through for them.
[00:21:04] Galatians one, verse ten, says, am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God, or am I trying to please people? If we are still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. If we let our lives be ruled by what people think, we will never be able to live a fully devoted life to God.
[00:21:22] My notes get a little bit hazy after this point, but if we just pop to the next slide, if that's okay, fear of man will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. It's that secure attachment again.
[00:21:35] When we let go of our insecurities, when we trust that who God is then mirrors who we are, we are then able to step into complete fullness. It says, perfect love casts out all fear. What a world we would live in if we all were living that fruit of the spirit, of love that was consistently being refreshed in our lives while I was. If we just go to the next one.
[00:21:59] While I've been prepping for this, particularly on Monday in our prayer meeting, I felt like there was this picture of this stagnant pond and this stagnant pond.
[00:22:11] You kind of walk past it. It looks okay. It's a bit murgy. There's a couple of things growing in it. And I just felt like the ponds get stagnant from being neglected, from laziness of not cleaning it. Oh, laziness. That's a horrible word, isn't it? Oh, that's a cut. But, yeah, just that there is a comfortability and contentedness in our religious routines and language at the moment. And by staying in this place of stagnancy, our smell is going to start to deter people.
[00:22:42] We're missing out on new life being grown because we're just regrowing the same murky, traditional, everyday stuff that we've been doing for years and years and years. We are too comfortable in what we're doing. It prevents new life and it prevents us witnessing the supernatural as well. We've just seen a glimpse with some of the miracles that Jesus wants to do here in Newton Abbott, but I feel like maybe some of our faves are a little bit stagnant. We can go away to big church events and get kind of refired up, and then we come back and we forget about it, because we aren't sustaining that faith. We aren't investing in our relationship, in our faith with God.
