Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:05 Well, good morning, Newton Abbott. How are we doing? We okay? It's a joy to be here. I'll tell you what, an accent. We don't get cookies like you guys do. Yeah, come on. You guys have got it good here. It's beautiful. Well, um, if you don't know me, uh, my name is Sean. I know many of you do. Um, I'm part of Rediscover Church, which is this house here, but also, uh, a house in Exe and a joy to be with you and just come in, uh, to hopefully encourage you. Got a, a message on my heart that I believe God will use, uh, to encourage and speak into your life. I've not got him alone, has already been, uh, mentioned. I've come with my wonderful wife who is Emily and, um, Emily's also carrying our son, uh, soon to be, um, we've got a little baby on the way as well, which is dead exciting.
Speaker 1 00:00:50 Um, before we pray and get into the word of God, I'll, I'll tell you the passage of scripture you're gonna go to in a minute. Uh, just want to celebrate a few things, if that's okay. And just, uh, encourage, hopefully a few people that's been involved this, this morning. Firstly, can we show some love to the Worship IT band who helped us lead Worship it this morning? Just an amazing, amazing team and we're so thankful. Matt, the guys there just, um, pouring out your devotion before the Lord really encourages us to do the same. So want to honor you and thank you. Um, secondly, the leadership of this house. Um, you guys are absolutely awesome. Um, we are so thankful for you all, all of the guys involved, and I know so many of you in here have been part of that and have been, um, leading as well.
Speaker 1 00:01:36 Uh, not to neglect that, but uh, being involved in church plants previously, many years ago, I know how hard it is. Uh, it's difficult. And let me tell you, leadership as a whole right now is so challenging. Whatever area of leadership you are in. So just wanna honor and thank, um, Phil, Esther, Ruben, the team, everyone else involved, just so thankful for your heart of service and leadership to God and to this house. And finally, um, I know that it's an anniversary today for our wonderful Ellie and James one year anniversary today, though show as well and massive congrats guys. <laugh>, they're friends of ours. So I had to get that one in before I started. Does anyone know what kind of Sunday it is today? Yeah. Ah, a few of you do. It is Pentecost Sunday today, the celebration of the birth of the church, the sending of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 00:02:30 Uh, this is for me one of my favorite Sundays of the year. Uh, I love this Sunday because I love the Holy Spirit. Um, I'm so glad that the Holy Spirit was sent to the church, to his people so that we can live a sustained life of following Jesus on the mission that he has called us for. I'm so thankful that Jesus knew that I, and you would need some help. Um, and I'm so thankful that he provided that help via the ways and the flow of the Holy Spirit. Uh, Jay John put it like this. If Christmas is God with us, Easter is God forest and Pentecost is God in us. Pentecost is God in us, and we humans become one of the spaces on this planet where God chooses. It's a choice of His. He chooses to dwell. Yeah, that's an incredible, incredible honor that God would choose your life as a space where he wants to dwell, that he would wanna live and be inside of his people to operate as a compelling factor to a broken world.
Speaker 1 00:03:29 There is a hope even in the midst of the brokenness. And this morning is the celebration of that. It's the celebration of the Holy Spirit descending on the church and descending on the people. And today I wanna bring a word that I hope will highlight some of the things that the Holy Spirit does within our Christian walks. I hope to encourage you towards a life that is dependent on the ways of the Spirit so we can fulfill the mandate and call that Jesus has for us who wants to fulfill the call of God in our lives, no matter what it looks like, no matter the cost, our hope as followers of Jesus, as that we will do whatever the father's will is for our lives. And in order to do that, we need the Holy Spirit. We're gonna look at a man called Moses. I'm sure most of you have heard of this man called Moses.
Speaker 1 00:04:20 And we're gonna look at the moment where he encountered and experienced the presence of God. And from that moment onwards, his life was drastically changed because I believe when he encountered God, there was three things. Uh, the Holy Spirit and the presence of God that allowed Moses to find in order for him to step into the mission and call of God, but also to lead a sustained, a sustained, vibrant, fluent life of following Jesus and following the ways of the Spirit. My prayer this morning is these three things will be a reminder to all of us in this house, that God is still building his church and the gates of how cannot prevail against it. Let's pray first and then we're gonna go, uh, in a moment to Exodus chapter three. If you've got a Bible, you can turn there. As I'm praying, father, thank you so much for all that you are doing, uh, in this nation and in this land and in this church.
Speaker 1 00:05:21 And Father, we pray right now, we don't want anything other than your voice to come and speak into our hearts and our lives. So I pray your word will be declared. I pray the gospel will be understood, and I pray your Holy Spirit will come meet us once again in this room. Father, thank you for the rich memories I have of coming into environments like this and encountering the presence of God as a young teenager. And I ask, Lord, do it again in our time. Come and fill us. Come and do whatever you want. We invite you in this place, holy Spirit Jesus. You are king and Lord of this church. And we ask for your name to be glorified above all things spirit. Reveal the Son to us this morning. We pray this in your powerful name. Amen. Amen. Can I tell you a little story that involves one of your church leaders?
Speaker 1 00:06:08 Yes. Yeah. Uh, I don't know where Phil is. I think he might have gone out. But, um, Phil is a wonderful friend of mine and, uh, there was a few months ago he invited me to join him on something that I'd not done for many, many years. And that invitation was to go on a run. Um, Phil has been throughout his life, an avid runner and he invited me to go do a 5k. Has anyone did a 5k run? A some of you in the house have a k Well, he invited me to go do this, run with him and he said, we're gonna go to Timm and there's this park run taking place. There'll be a few hundred people there. I want you to come and join me, uh, do this run. And I was thinking, Phil, I've not ran for like 15 years.
Speaker 1 00:06:45 Like, ran, ran, I, I play football, but I don't run consistently. He's like, you'll be fine. You're a fit. Young lag, it'll be absolutely fine. So I was lulled into this false sense of security by Phil and I joined him on a one wonderful, beautiful sun shining morning, drove to Timm, got out. And as I approached the seafront, um, there was about 150 people there. They were all stretching and limbing up. And, and I was there like thinking, what on earth am I doing here? <laugh> like, I dunno, dunno how this has happened. Phil comes along, sh comes out of his car, walks up to us, he's happy as Larry, Hey Sean, how you doing? I'm thinking, yeah, I'm okay. And so let's sort all these hundreds of people that are about to race on an early morning. Phil said, he'll be fine. Don't worrying.
Speaker 1 00:07:25 So I start stretching. Cause I think, well, that's what everyone else is doing. I probably should do the same thing. So I'm doing these stretches that are not done for years, on years and years. I'm limbing up, I'm a little bit nervous. Phil comes up to me, he puts his arm around me like a good pastor does. And he asks me this question. He says, Sean, do you wanna run together or do you want to go at our own paces? Now at this point, the competitive edge inside of me, which is strong, very clearly took over because I said, Phil, listen, let's just go at our own pace. I I I think we should, you know, I don't, I don't really want to be, uh, kind of held back or I don't want you to feel like you're held back, so let's go at our own pace.
Speaker 1 00:08:02 So Phil said, that's absolutely fine, no problems at all. So, um, out of nowhere this whistle beckons out and everyone starts to run. And I'm looking around halfway through a conversation with Phil and I'm thinking, well, well, this is it. So I start running and, uh, me and Phil for the first hundred meters, I'm telling the running story, Phil. Well, first hundred meters, we, we are running kind of together. And then I look at Phil and, and after the first hundred meters, I'm thinking, this is good. Like, I'm, I'm feeling, I'm feeling fine. And, and I look at Phil and I say, Phil, I'm gonna, I'm gonna skid addle. I'm gonna press on. And Phil looks at me and he goes, no problems at all. You go for it. The experience and wisdom of Phil, I wish I listened to at this point. I literally started to run as fast as I could.
Speaker 1 00:08:44 I'm not joking. Like I started to sprint. Like I got, I got, I was so good. I got pretty much right at the front of these 150 people. I can remember taking over the front few and I was looking behind thinking, this is a breeze. Like I have absolutely flying. I'm gonna win this race and potentially get the best time that has ever been recorded in Timmo. This is what I was going through my mind and I was stride. And we got to the end, and I'll bearing in mind there's four of these like laps and I've done half of a lap. Now I come round the band and I experienced something that I've been told multiple times but never really experienced until this morning. And experienced runners will know this, it's called hitting the wall. Now, when I hit the wall, it felt like someone had just stabbed my lungs.
Speaker 1 00:09:32 Like I did not know what to do. <laugh>, I was struggling to breathe. And I had this dawning reality of I'm not even a quarter through this race yet. <laugh>, lo and behold, men start running past me. I am sweating. My hair is everywhere, flopping from side to side to side, and I'm struggling to even run. And then women start running past me. And then Phil comes and, and he, he does this thing when he runs past me. He just taps me on the back and carries on running. And I can remember thinking, what have I, what have I done? The most embarrassing point was children started to run past me, <laugh>. And then it got even worse because not only did children run past me, this is a true story. A man ran past me who was pushing his child in a prm. <laugh> ran past me.
Speaker 1 00:10:28 And at that point I realized I'd made a grave error. Now thankfully, I got through the race and, and it was like a run in to a stumbling to a walking to a stumbling, to a walking to a slight run. But really if I was walking, I'd probably be going quicker than my slight run. And it went on and on and on. It felt like I was there for two years. I found out at the end, I was there for about 30 minutes. And as I reflected back after this moment, I, I've used this illustration a few times. I can remember getting in the car, ringing em and em said, how'd you do? And I said, em, I don't think I'm ever gonna do that again in my entire life, <laugh>. And I started to reflect on what my journey with with Jesus is often like.
Speaker 1 00:11:09 And so often as a pastor I get the absolute joy and it is a joy and an honor to walk alongside people. And I see these similar traits take place that I saw myself go through in this run. So often within the Christian life we, we want everything to go as swimmingly and smoothly as possible, but often when difficulties set in or tensions start to appear around us, it feels like our Christian journey of following Jesus. It's very similar to the run that I went on. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean short bursts of life. Yeah, yeah. With prolonged stumblings through troubles. Yeah. Yeah. Short bursts of energy. And yet something trips us up and it feels like it takes us years to get back on our feet to run a game. Short bursts of life and vibrancy towards the King of King.
Speaker 1 00:12:06 And we have our hands lifted up in our services and we're excited to be with the family of God. And then something starts to take place in our life. The weights of this world and the tensions of families and friendships and relationships start to feel heavy on our shoulders. And it feels like our journey is starting to stumble again and the cycle repeats and repeats and repeats. Short bursts of life. Jesus, you're my everything. I'll do whatever you want to ask. Whatever you say I'll do to prolonged, oh, I just, I just need to get through this, this moment.
Speaker 1 00:12:44 How then do we live a life as followers of Jesus that only has a fire that burns bright and dwindles in the seasons of life, but a fire that is sustaining? Come on. How do we as a church hold onto a sustaining fire of life that allows us through every season of life to fix and keep our eyes on the king of kings and the Lord of Lords and at the same time be filled with a hope and expectancy that the spirit is moving in this place. How do we navigate the rocky terrains of this world with a belief that we are part of the church that Jesus is building? Come on. And we get to be part of the mission that He's compelling us towards two or part of that reason is of course the Holy Spirit. It's the day of Pentecost. It's the coming of the Holy of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 00:13:45 I wanna suggest three things from the story of Moses that will help us see how the Holy Spirit activates within us, our life that feels consistent, a life that feels sustainable and a life that feels hope. Fuel fueled three things that I believe the Holy Spirit wants to help us rediscover and find so that we can have a sustaining fire following Jesus all the days of our lives. That there is never a moment in our lives until the day the Lord calls us home, where we aren't following Jesus with everything we've got. We have a passion in our hearts that he has equipped us, called us and is propelling us to the destiny he has on our lives. I wanna suggest three things we need to find that Holy Spirit will help us find that will allow us to have a sustaining fire. Everyone say sustaining fire, sustain sustaining fire.
Speaker 1 00:14:31 Come on. Exodus three verse one to six. That's what we're going. If you've got a Bible, you can turn there. If not, it's gonna come up on the screen. This is a, a famous story from Moses that I absolutely love. And then I'm gonna bring three things that the hel Holy Spirit helped Moses find that I believe he might wanna ask us to find also this morning. Exodus three, verse one to six. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Just check here, normal everyday life. Moses looked after the sheep all the time. He took him to the mountain all the time. His main priority for years he'd been doing this was just protect and look after and nurture the sheep.
Speaker 1 00:15:13 Nothing out of the normal. It'd be the same as you going into work or doing whatever you have planned. On a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked and behold the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Note that the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God called him out of the bush. Moses. Moses. And he said, here I am. And then he said to Moses, do not come near. Take your sandals off your feet for the place in which you are standing is holy ground. And he said, I am the God of your father.
Speaker 1 00:16:02 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God. Are you ready? Free things that I believe the Holy Spirit wants us to rediscover. Are we good? Yes, we ready? Yeah. I've got 15 minutes so I'm gonna smash through these free things and I think they will help you. There's gonna be quite a lot of content. So if you're a note taker, this should be a good one for you this morning. Cuz I think, uh, there's a lot here that'll help you. Firstly, the Holy Spirit, he wants to help us find something that isn't spoken enough within our Christian journeys. And that is this word called wonder. Come on wonder. Isn't God wonderful? Yes, he's full of wonder and full of awe and full of majesty. When we get a glimpse of who he is, our eyes and our lives are filled with wonder.
Speaker 1 00:16:48 We cannot see the very face of God and experience his power and his presence without coming away and going, oh my goodness, God is so big, so kind, so powerful, so compassionate. I believe the Holy Spirit wants us to reclaim our wonder church that we would be a people when we walk in on a Sunday morning. Go, God, you are so incredible. But when we leave this place, we carry a wonder into our workplace. There's a wonder into our families, a wonder into our situations, a hope that is filled with wonder. When people look at our lives, they go, there's something different about this person. What is it? Oh, he's experienced the king of kings. Who is this king of glory? Shall we let him in? Our lives are filled with wonder. You see, Moses says there was an angel of Lord appeared to refrain of fire in the midst of Bush.
Speaker 1 00:17:33 And what did he do? He said he looked and behold, behold who this God is? Yeah. Behold his presence. Behold his beauties, behold his word, behold his spirit, behold his voice. Behold the king of glory wants to come and meet with us face to face. Behold, you know, something changes deeply in our lives when God becomes something to behold, something changes deeply in our lives. When God isn't just something that we add on to our lives and hope that he can fit in in somewhere, but instead we become a people who goes, I behold the very beauty of God is as the highest priority in my life above everything and anything else I want to behold God, worship him, adore Him and love on him. When we start to behold God as the greatest priority, let me tell you, friends, everything changes. Yes, everything changes in our lives.
Speaker 1 00:18:30 The way we look at people, the way we look at our workplace, the way we look at our finances and our family and our friends, everything changes when it comes to a place of beholding the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. First and foremost, what if our lives were made for wonder? That comes from a beholding. What if our lives were best sustained? Hear this when it's rooted in wonder, first not in works, not in doing, not in being seen, but the sustaining fire is found by the avenue of the Holy Spirit. Our lives when our lives are first rooted in wonder. Yeah, come on. The dictionary says this about wonder, a feeling of amazement and admiration caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar.
Speaker 1 00:19:23 Question, when was the last time you found yourself in a state of wonder towards God? When was the last time you were so lost in his presence that the weights of this world suddenly became strangely dim? Yeah. When was the last time you were so enamored and admired by the presence and beauty of God that everything else felt like Second question. Have you lost your wonder? Has it been stolen? Has it been misplaced? Has it been robbed? Well, this morning I wanna encourage you that I believe the Holy Spirit is asking of us as a church nationally, locally, and globally, be a people of wonder, be a people of wonder. Life feels so much more free. And when we are in wonder, when God is viewed as who he is and his character is brought before us, we start to do life from a place of wonder.
Speaker 1 00:20:28 And often when we ne what what we need when it comes to following Jesus of a consistency, remember that story of the run I told you of bursts of energy and thenand through life. What we need often most if to live a, a life of sustaining fire towards the things of God. To follow Jesus with consistency. Let me tell you, tell you it's not more self-determination and it's not more effort and it's not more self strength, it's wonder, it's having him at the center. Being a more encapsulated by His goodness is how we live a sustained life. John 16, the Spirit will reveal and give witness to Jesus and the Father because one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit is to lead us to a place of wonder in who the trium God is. Find your wonder. Three things that wonder when we find it, when we rediscover, it leads us to, it's here on the screen behind me.
Speaker 1 00:21:30 When we find our wonder, we are led to a place of intimacy. Wonder leads to intimacy. When you find your wonder, you start to find out who God is. And it breaks down a relationship with him being more than just a transactional engagement. God, if I'm good, you will bless me. And it leads us to be, to be a place where it's meant to be, which is a relational, all loving relationship with God. Where we walk with him, we speak with him, we hear his voice. You see, wonder admiring who he is, leads to a place of intimacy, draws us closer. It beckons us in friends. If a church roots itself in wonder, there will be experiences. The presence of God every single time we gather because we have gone from a place where we are not just coming to get something, but we're coming to give something which is a worship to a God who is worthy of all of our praise.
Speaker 1 00:22:22 We need to be rooted in a wonder because a wonder leads us to intimacy. When we find our wonder, our lives become shaped by who he is, rather than what this world tells us we should be. When we are rooted in wonder, we start to get a glimpse of what he is saying to us for this time, this season and this moment, when we find our wonder, we find his character, his goodness, his compassion, his beauty, his faithfulness. Psalm 17 verse seven says, show me the wonder of your great love. Show me the beauties of your great love. You have saved me and taken me in as a refuge. When we find our wonder, we find our intimacy. Show me the wonders of your great love. Come on. Wonder leads to intimacy. It draws us close. If you're in a season where you feel distant from God, let me tell you the what you need to reclaim in your life is, is wonder.
Speaker 1 00:23:15 It's wonder. Wonder also leads us to curiosity. This is one of my favorite ones. Wonder leads us to curiosity. You know, curiosity invites us towards relationship and it helps us promote a healthy engagement. Wonder leads us to a place where our prayers start to become shaped around kingdom values rather than our own set model. We start to live in a life where we are curious of what God is doing. What do curious prayers look like? They, they come from this and this is what wonder leads us to curiosity. Curious press sounds like this. God, what are you doing right now?
Speaker 2 00:23:50 Come on,
Speaker 1 00:23:52 Where are you? What do you wanna do this morning? What are you gonna do in this place this morning? What are you doing in Newton Aba?
Speaker 2 00:24:07 Where
Speaker 1 00:24:08 Are you in the southwest? How can I follow you? How can I keep in step with what the Spirit is doing? You see, wonder, it leads us to curiosity. And curiosity is a beautiful component of a healthy relationship with God. This is why Jesus said don't block the children. Anyone who has faith like a child is mine cuz children are curious.
Speaker 2 00:24:34 Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:24:35 Are we there yet? Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:24:38 Good.
Speaker 1 00:24:39 Where are we going? What are we doing today?
Speaker 1 00:24:44 Wonder leads us to curiosity and then wonder also leads us to expectancy. And we find our wonder in God, we start to align our prayers with his will rather than ours. We become expectant at what God can do with a few people who are just solely dependent on the spirit, who will gather together weekly and go, God, we just wanna be faithful in this time to do whatever you are asking us to do. Not so that we are seen, not so that my glory is shown before the nations, but that your name is lifted high and people know that you are the answer to the longing of our souls. Yeah. Wonder leads us to expectancy church. I feel like there's something on this for you. There's prayers that you need to pray that are expectant prayers of what God's gonna do in this time in season. Some of you have been praying prayers and you've lost your expectancy of what God wants to do in your life, what he wants to do in your business, what he wants to do in your family, what he wants to do with your children and your grandchildren. Friends have expectant prayers from a place of wonder. Come on, if we get one glimpse of who God is come, the unimaginable is suddenly made possible. That's right. Because he's the creator of all things. Wonder leads us to expectancy. You might be asking, well, how do we get wonder?
Speaker 1 00:26:02 Do you want the short answer? We ask for it. That's it. It's not too difficult, is it? <laugh>? Ephesians one, verse 17. Listen to these words of Paul. I keep asking, I'm persistent with my asking. Brilliant. I keep asking that The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father may give you the Spirit Pentecost. There it is. The spirit of what the spirit of wisdom
Speaker 1 00:26:40 And revelation wonder comes through a greater revelation of who he is. That's right. If you want wonder, Jesus, reveal yourself to me to a new level this day. You are. And let me be lost in wonder. Secondly, the Holy Spirit helps us find our mission, the hope that Holy Spirit helps us find our mission. We see in Exodus three, verse three to four, Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight. Why the bush has not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside, God called him out of the bush. Moses. Moses, this is my favorite part of the sermon. Okay? I, I love, I love this, this concept. This is something that God revealed to me many years ago that I've carried throughout my life. I try my best and I get it wrong at times to be obedient to this, this revelation that I believe God gave me personally, that I hope will encourage you this morning, Moses, in this moment as I refer to the beginning of scripture, was doing his everyday normal job.
Speaker 1 00:27:46 He was walking around in the middle of Horeb looking after his sheep. One of the regular things that, um, shepherds were do in that time is they would take the sheep around the mountain along the go. And shepherdin is a very common theme with him. Scripture, God seems to have favor towards shepherds. If there's any in the room, there's a favor towards you from God. Now this is a normal situation where Moses was doing his everyday work. I I want you to think about just a everyday situation. What does your Tuesday look like? Tomorrow's bank holiday. So we won't suggest that one. But what does Tuesday look like for you? What does it look like when you get up in the morning? What's the first things you do? Who are the people you interact with? What do you do on a regular day? Where do you go?
Speaker 1 00:28:25 Most of us have a routine that looks very similar to a, uh, day-to-day life. We do similar things. We have similar kind of routines and consistencies with our life. And when we place ourself in the middle of Moses in this story, that's exactly what was taking place. There was nothing out of the normal. Now, if you were walking down the street and you saw there was a giant bush that was on fire, you'd probably stop and look at it, right? <laugh>, that doesn't seem very normal. It feels out of the normal. It feels strange when we read it in scripture. But actually, strangely enough in this story, even burning bushes were normal things. They were living in such a humidity where this is placed to this day right now, bushes often would go up in fire and they would burn brightly and then come straight down to a crisp and you would be left with what would be bushfires that have gone and come within seconds.
Speaker 1 00:29:12 Now, the difference in this story for Moses was not that there was a bush on fire. Moses would've seen bushes on fire all the time. In fact, one of his jobs as a shepherd would've been to keep the sheep away from the burning bushes that take place around him. So the burning bush isn't gonna grab his eye. What's different according to this passage of scripture is that the bush was being burned, yet it was not being consumed. In other words, there was a sustaining fire that was different to a life that we normally live. There was something unique about this bush. It was blue and orange and it was consistent. It was flaming in all directions. And Moses saw it in the corner of his eye and thought it's a normal bush fire. My my focus is on the, the sheep here, keep the sheep away.
Speaker 1 00:29:54 And then he noticed something peculiar. The bush was not burning out. It was sustainable, it was holy, it was magnetic, it was beautiful, it was something different. So what happens is Moses says, I will turn aside to see this great sight. And it's when the action of turning aside to see this great sight takes place. What happens? God calls him out of the fire and says, Moses. Moses, he didn't call him first. He called him when he would turn to see the great sight. Normal everyday life. Holy fire, holy ground. We turn aside Moses. Moses, what if in everyday situations for every single one of you outside of the church gathering in the church building, when you're in your office or your workplace, when you're taking your children to school, when you're about to go for coffee with someone, in every single normal day situations, there are holy burning bushes on fire all around us where God is doing something wonderful and all he's waiting is for a servant and follower of his to turn aside and to engage with the fire of God.
Speaker 1 00:31:25 What if the Holy Spirit was not sent for better church services? What if he was sent for a broken humanity? What if the sustaining fire of God was never meant to be kept and confined into church buildings? That's right. But was meant to be let loose in normal everyday situations. What if in your life tomorrow, today there's burning bushes of God's spirit doing a work in people's lives that he's just waiting for you to engage with. And when you turn aside and you sense God's calling Moses, Moses come close. We experience a sustaining fire that helps us reclaim mission.
Speaker 1 00:32:21 See, the third thing that is always prevalent in our following of Jesus is that God is always calling us to mission. And I believe the Holy Spirit helps us find our mission because the Holy Spirit moves from what is Christian passivity and church activity. To kingdom abundance is to a place of moving us into the neighborhoods and the towns and not being a people who are just wanting to worship God when we're around with other Christians. But instead we'll take the sustaining fire that we know can change a person's life of one touch in our everyday situations, in our every moments. If we were just here and see the burning bush moments in our everyday life and engage with them, we would reclaim our mission and our lives become truly alive to the calling of God that he has asked us to do. Friends. If we do not engage with mission, let me tell you something, Christianity, it'll be fairly boring.
Speaker 1 00:33:22 It's what we're called to do. It's what we're asked of that we will go into the ends of the world, preach the gospel, heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, cast out demons, and make disciples of all nations. It wasn't the great suggestion, it was the great commission to reclaim the mission of God. The times you're in the gym, the commutes to work, the dinners with the people you invite around, the cashier at the checkout, the conversations in the pub, the phone calls to your parents or children when you go into the office and you're sending that email burning bushes, engagements, moments. And life is defined by moments. History is determined by moments. And we are a normal people who can engage with normal moments that have holy implications.
Speaker 1 00:34:33 Fires that are burning yet are not consumed. It's time to rediscover our mission with the Holy Spirit. Finally, Matt, if you wanna come join me at this time, it'd be great. I'm gonna come to land. The Holy Spirit helps us find our wonder. The Holy Spirit helps us find our mission and to close the Holy Spirit helps us find our position. You know, position in his everything. Verse six says that Moses hit his face for he was afraid to look with God. He saw the burning bush, he looked to see this great sight. He beheld it, he worshiped it. He was invited a little bit closer. And then God said, look, this is holy moment. Take off your sandals. Take off your sandals. Don't come any closer until you take off your sandals and then step into this place. You know, there's an analogy and metaphor there for taking off the sandals.
Speaker 1 00:35:20 And it's simply this. We can't take things of our previous seasons into the new seasons that God's got for us. There's some things in our past life that we need to lay down in order to step into the plans and purposes that God's got for us. For some of us that's hurt. For some of us, that's pain. For some of us, that's tension. For some of us it's sin. It's a variety of different things. But God places a call on Moses where he said, look, those shoes are probably the shoes you killed that person in. Don't bring it closer to me. Leave it at the door. Yeah. And come and invite, step into the new plans I've got for you. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And when Moses steps closer, it says He, he bowed down. Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God.
Speaker 1 00:35:56 Friends, let me tell you, consistency and faithfulness to Jesus is less about our gifting and it's more about proximity. It's always more about how close we are to the presence and fire of God than it is about what we do. For Him, who we are with Him is far more important than what we do for Him. Yes. And we need to learn once again what it means to find our position. A position of humility, a position of surrender, a position of worship, a position of closeness from a place of wonder and a place of mission. It will be fueled from a place of position. Cuz when proximity is achieved, the posture of Moses took a different position. He didn't stand, he kneeled. And there was a reverence in his position. It allowed him to see who God f, who he was. It allowed him to accept the words that God was saying to him.
Speaker 1 00:36:44 We read the rest of the story, you know that Moses makes all kinds of excuses. I can't do this God because of this. I can't do it because of this. I can't do it because of this. And it was the position of Moses that allowed him to pick up and take heed of the call of God upon his life. Friends, the Holy Spirit helps us find our position. The Holy Spirit helps us find a place where we can be vulnerable, open and authentic in the presence of God. So we can be shaped and formed in the person he is wanting us to be. You know, in my life when I was 15 years old, I I, I've got a crazy uh, uh, story. As a teenager, when I was a teenager, I was kicked out of school. I was raised in a Christian household. It meant nothing to me.
Speaker 1 00:37:25 Christianity was just something that was a religion. It wasn't anything more than principal principles and rules to live by. That's what my faith was. And I went into school, got involved with the wrong crowd in a place that's really rough up north. I was kicked out of school. And then as I got kicked out of school, I started to realize that, that my life surely has to be more than this. I wasn't allowed to do any of the things I wanted to do. I wasn't allowed to go to prom or any of those things. And it led me to a place of really trying to figure out what God was, who is he and what is he trying to do? Now I came into a building and I'm I kid you not, it is exactly the same as this room. It is so similar. It was a hall that was rented by a church.
Speaker 1 00:38:05 It had some lights in it just like this and the chairs. And I was sat at the back of my headphones in without a care in the world of what was going on. An elderly man came up front and he preached. He preached the gospel. He started telling people there's a mission and call on people's lives. We just need to step into it. We need to be positioned in order to figure out what God was. Here's what happened in that morning service. One I gave my life to Jesus, surrendered my life. And I said, Jesus, your life is now everything I wanna live for. But here's the second thing that happened. He said at the end of it, if anyone wants to come forward and wants to experience the presence of God, then we're gonna have space. You can come forward and you can do it in other. In other words, you can position yourself
Speaker 2 00:38:44 Yes
Speaker 1 00:38:45 To experience the presence of God like you've never done before. And never at that point. And I'd felt the presence of God wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit or anything. And here's what I did at the back, gave my life. I took my headphones out, I responded to the gospel. I went up to my mom, I gave her my phone and my headphones and said, there you go. I'm going to the front. I walked to the front. No one else came to the front, just me. 15 year old me. And here's what happened. Just on the side here. I now, the worship band started to play some songs and I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I experienced and encountered God like I've never encountered in my life because I positioned myself. And from that moment onwards, my life completely changed. It was transformed. In a moment everything changed. Position is crucial. Friends, Pentecost Sunday, holy Spirit. This morning I position myself and I say, come give me a fresh touch of a sustaining fire that allows me to live differently. Jesus, come give me a fresh touch of your wind and your fire. Allow me to be marked by who you are. Cuz I wanna know what it means to live a life of wonder. Jesus.
Speaker 1 00:40:14 I wanna know what it means to live a life of mission. And in order to do that, holy Spirit, help me find my position. Church, would you stand with me? If that's okay? I'm gonna hand over to Ruben in just a moment.
Speaker 1 00:40:30 What does it look like to reposition yourself in order to be filled with the ways of the Holy Spirit? That's my end. That's my conclusion. What does it look like this morning to reposition yourself, to be filled with a sustaining fire, to be filled with the fire of God, the power of God, the beauty of God, the wonder of God. What does it look like to be a people who are so willing to press closer to the ways of Jesus that our lives can be transformed and changed? What does it mean to pick up the mission of God, the call of God, the purpose of God? To say, no matter my age, no matter what I've been through and what I've gone through, that's right. I just want what you want for my life. There's no retirement in the kingdom of God. There's just upgrades.
Speaker 1 00:41:07 There's just greater revelations. There's just new calls and new seasons and new moments. What does it look like to say, I want wonder, God, I wanna know who you are. Reveal Jesus to me this morning. Let me know who he is. Let me taste and see that he is good. Let me encapsulated by his love and his glory, that the glory of God. Who is this king of glory? Will we let him in this morning? Will we let him in this morning? I wonder if you're comfortable with this. We're gonna gonna create space at the front for the next few minutes. But if you're comfortable with this, and it's absolutely fine. If you're not, I wonder whether you just lift up your hands to heaven with me. Just open a space of openness and surrender. And just in this space, would you just say, God, I want whatever you've got for my life.
Speaker 1 00:41:49 I want whatever you've got for my life. If you need to gimme a new revelation, give me a new revelation. If you need to gimme your word, give me your word. If you need to gimme your presence, give me your presence. But I am open and I am willing to say yes to the ways of the Spirit. Yes to the ways of the word. Yes to the ways of the kingdom. Holy Spirit, we welcome you in this place. We welcome you in this place. May a fresh wind come here. May a fresh fire of the Holy Spirit come in here. For some people, I pray as there is a baptism of the Holy Spirit in people's lives, there'll be a release of tongues, a release of the prophetic, a release of calling and destiny that will come forth in people's lives. Father, I pray for callings to come right now in the name of Jesus, make callings of God, callings of businesses, callings of everyday life.
Speaker 1 00:42:34 Come forth right now in the name of Jesus, I pray for a repentance to take place. Lord, forgive us for our sins. Forgive us for our trespasses. Forgive us where we've got it wrong. Forgive us for our Luke warmness and let us have a sustaining fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We wanna burn for you, God, that our lives be an altar this morning. That our lives be an altar, fann, inter flame, the gifts of God into our hearts. Who is this king of glory? We let you in. Lord, we let you in, Lord the king of glory. Come and walk in this place. Come and move in this place. Heal our hearts, heal our brokenness, heal up our shame and our wounds, and lead us to a place of fullness. Lead us to a place of intimacy and lead us to a place of wonder. We pray this in your powerful name. Amen.
