Preparing for the Global Church | Acts 13 | Eben Adu

Yeah, good to be here. I think this might be

my probably third or fourth time I've been here.

So Oak Hill is becoming my second family home.

And anytime I come here, we have healthy conversation

with James and I can see Chris up there and seeing

what God is doing over here. And I think that

looking at how London is and London is changing

and UK and our world is changing being trained

in a theological institution like this should

be taken very seriously so that we can be well

positioned to go in and resource the church and

also be a blessing to our world and so when I

was asked to come and share. I was thinking,

what should I talk about? But I think with some

time of prayer, I felt it's very important to

talk about being prepared for the global world

and church. I'm sure you are not new to this.

You know, our world is changing. It's becoming

more global. The church is more getting diverse.

Even here, I mean, when I look at the band guys

on the stage, it shows diversity. So it reflects

the world we live in. And so I just thought it

would be good to share that. But before that,

I go into what I'm going to talk about today.

Last Sunday, I was in a church in Hurston, in

Hunslow, and I was having a chat with James,

and I told him I had an experience. That more

or less confirmed the calling on my life. I went

to this church, which is predominantly, I would

say, African. But it's got some Caribbeans and

a couple of Irish guys there and then a few other

cultures. But they are situated in a heavily

Asian demographic. About 61 % were Asian. And

so the service, when I went in there, they were

having a worship and all that. I was part of

the worship, but... They were using a kind of

song and singing a song, and I would say the

drumming and everything, which more akin to the

African or Ghanaian type of music. But I saw

they were jubilating, they were happy, praising

God, and most of them were first -generation,

I would say, Ghanaians. But I felt a sense of

overwhelming emotion. that I started having tears

down my face, and I was wondering what's going

on. And so I had to just sit down and get a tissue

to wipe the tears. But it became intense, very,

very intense, the way she was going on. So the

impression I had was that it's more or less the

Lord confirming his call on my life and saying

that this is what I've called you for. Meaning

that I've called you to bridge the gap between

Christianity expressed in the majority world,

particularly Africa and that of the West. And

so when you die and you are laid in state, you

should be known or seen as somebody who tried

to bridge that gap, that theological tension.

that diverse Christian expression. So when I

was invited to go and preach, I was just going

on with the message and this emotion came again.

Very strong that I had to pause. I was making

a very strong point and I had to pause. And I

left the service last Sunday knowing that that

is one of my main calling. is to help Christians,

help believers, and even non -believers to understand

that we are called as God's people, but we are

one. We may have different theological positions.

We may come from different cultures, but we live

in a world that is totally different. And can

I just give you the next slide? If we look at

the world that we live in now, There's a global

shift of Christianity from the west to the global

south, what is known as the majority world. And

then majority of Christians now live in Africa,

Asia, and Latin America. The church is no longer

western, it's a bit global, and more or less

in the global south. In 1900, the population

of Christians within the Western space was 80%.

Now it's about, it's around 30%. That means about

70 % of Christians, around 65 to 70 % of Christians

now live in a global South. So the demographic

is changing rapidly. Let me just give you a breakdown.

In Africa alone, we are about 30 % Christians.

In Latin America, 25%. And then Asia, 17%. And

Europe, about 22%. And then even North America,

10%. So Christianity has not declined. It has

relocated to other parts of the world. So there's

Christianity in the UK, in England, in Europe,

in North America. But majority of Christians

are in other parts of the world. And some of

you here might be preparing yourself to do missions

in that part of the world. But we also have to

understand that the nations are now here. All

right. So on this background or backdrop, I would

like us to read again, I think. The mission of

call of the church in Antioch. And if you look

at the church in Antioch, it consisted of that

diverse team. A team that wasn't from one ethnic

background. And it was a worshiping community

of a church where they prayed. The Bible says

that they prayed, they fasted. And then the Spirit

can send Paul and Barnabas or Saul and Barnabas

to the mission field. So the Antioch church,

next slide, please. The Antioch church was a

multicultural leadership. Yeah, the next slide.

It wasn't a monocultural leadership. It was a

multicultural leadership. It was also a spiritual

worshiping community. It was an ascending church,

and it reflected a global church that we have

today. And I think that this environment, or

the Antioch Church environment, looks like even

what we're trying to do here at Hokio, bringing

people from different backgrounds, training them,

shaping them. Having a time of fellowship and

worshiping and then being sent out to other parts

of the world. And this is very, very important

in our world, particularly if we are trainers,

as theologians and as pastors, that we understand

that we are not living in a world that is monocultural.

We live in a very diverse world. a diverse city,

and we have to have that mindset, that preparation

in order to do that. If you look at even the

leadership of the Antioch Church, we have saw

who is by heritage is Jewish, but by birth is

a Roman. And so he came from a very diverse background,

and God called him into the Gentiles to do the

missionary work. If you look at a gentleman called

Lucius of Cyrene, he was from what is known as

Libya or North Africa. Manion was connected to

the Herodian royal household, so he came from

a more elite background. And you have Simeon

of Niger. It is likely he came from African descent

because the word Niger, the name Niger, from

a Latin means black or dark. So there's a likelihood.

So you see a very diverse team. And I think that

if you are being prepared for ministry, if it's

in London, which is very diverse, or any part

of the UK, or any world, city, major city, you

must be prepared that you are going to meet people

who are different from you. You must have that

at the back of your mind. Because in the past,

people have gone to study theology or been trained

theologically and gone out there and did not

know what to do with the cultures that God brought

to them. Or you may even be in the church at

the moment that you are seeing people who are

coming from different backgrounds into the church

and have no idea what to do. What do we do with

them? That's the expression. What do we do with

them? They are our brothers and sisters. And

we must find ways of engaging. So I want to talk

about six critical pointers that we should consider.

The first one is that UK or London or most major

cities of the world are mission field. So UK

is now, or London is now a mission field. Why?

Because the nations are here. The days where

people have to study cultural mission and communication

and learn other cultures, to travel far, they

are still relevant, but the nations are here.

God has brought them to our doorstep. So we might

be ready to engage. And we must also be culturally

intelligent. I'm going to talk about that and

unpack that. We must also be religiously aware.

What do I mean by that? We must know that people

who have different faith around us. And then

we must also have a level of understanding of

diaspora communities. Those people are coming

from other parts of the world. We need to know

them. And then fifthly, we must be ecclesiastically

aware. We may have come from different traditions.

We have to find a way of knowing other people

who may not profess or hold the tradition that

you hold. And then we must have an understanding

of intergenerational formation engagement. Because

we live in days where we have different people

in our churches, and particularly young people.

And we have to find a way of engaging them. So

first of all, let me look at the first one that

UK, Well, London is a mission field. And Matthew

9, 37, 38 says, Then he said to his disciples,

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are

few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,

to send out workers into his harvest field. UK

used to send a lot of missionaries to other parts

of the world, particularly in Africa and other

global south countries. But now, UK is a mission

field. And we must be prepared to reach out to

those who the Lord has brought to us. There are

people who come from other parts of the world

who are not Christians at all. And we must be

ready to share the faith with them. So UK is

no longer a place where has a huge number of

missionaries being sent to other parts of the

world. It's rather the other non -Western countries

who are doing so. So we must move from maintenance

to mission. What do I mean by that? It shouldn't

be church as usual. We shouldn't go to church

and just warm the pews and just maintain the

church and see the same old faces. We must trust

God to reach out and be intentional about mission

and go out there and talk to people who are not

Christians. And we shouldn't see the decline.

Normally, the research shows that, I'm going

to talk about the choir revival research today,

shows that, you know, it's been said that Christianity

is in a decline in the West or in the UK. And

let's see this idea of decline as opportunity,

not as something that we will despair. When there's

a decline, it means that we must go out there

and reach out to people. And then we must be

intentional about evangelism. There's a need

for us to be very intentional about evangelism

in terms of how we reach out to people. It's

not just talking to people and organizing events.

Any event or anything we do in our churches must

have the purpose to it in terms of trusting that

the Lord will open opportunity for others to

be saved. So we must do that. We must build relationships

with other people and also be praying for people

to be saved. The church in Antioch was a praying

church. You cannot do mission now without prayer.

I'm not talking about prayer now. I'm from Africa,

and so I understand what prayer is. But prayer

must underget even our theological formation

so that it's not about getting information and

having a lot of knowledge. but it is bathed in

prayer. And that sharpens your theological understanding.

So we must understand that the UK is now a mission

field and God is calling us to reach out to the

lost. The second point I want us to look at is

that we must be culturally aware or intelligent,

what I call cultural intelligence. 1 Corinthians

9 .22, Paul says that to the weak I became weak,

to win the weak. And he said, I have become all

things to all people so that by all possible

means I might save them. Paul wasn't compromising

the gospel, but he wanted to make sure that he

understood people. The gospel word is unchanging,

but the world we live in is changing. The unchanging

word. God must be proclaiming a way that the

changing world we live in, I do understand. And

it means that we must understand cultures deeply.

You can have a superficial understanding of a

culture without going deeper to know why they

do what they do. Some of you here are from different

backgrounds. The question is how deep do you

know one another? in terms of their cultures.

Are you more interested in the food the person

eats? Are you interested in their background?

You sit down with them to ask them questions.

Why do you do what you do? Because sometimes

we may have blind spots without knowing that.

Some people may see cultures through their own

cultural lens, what we call ethnocentrism. So

everything must be fitted to their lens. If you

don't do things the way Ghanaians do, then you

are not doing right. If you don't do the way

English do things, then you are not doing right.

As I always say, culture is not sacrosanct. Culture

is espoused by people and it's fallible. Women

espouse culture. We form culture and we are fallible.

We are fallen. Only God's word is infallible.

So we must learn to know people and listen before

speaking. We are quick to speak. I like to talk.

And sometimes I'm at fault, not listening well.

I quickly want to, once you finish a sentence,

I come out with something else. Sometimes you

just have to be quiet and listen to what the

other is saying. to properly understand where

the person is coming from. And then we must adapt

without compromising the truth. As I said earlier

on, I'm not talking about compromising the gospel.

The gospel, God's word is unchanging, but we

live in a changing world. So we must learn to

adapt and know other people by being faithful

to the gospel. Being faithful to that is very,

very important so that we can be able to engage

meaningfully. I was talking to James and I said

earlier, I was saying that you just, we must

go beyond how you're doing and how are things

and sit down with people and get to know them

better. Invite them to come and eat. Don't say

that the African or the Asian culture is communal.

I think all cultures, if you want to be communal,

you can be communal. Yes, build trust with people

and invite them to come and eat at home and share

fellowship. When you do that, you get to know

people more. It's not enough to say hi to people

and that is it. If you really care about them,

you want to know more. The next point I want

us to consider is we might be religiously aware.

Acts chapter 17, 22 to 23, when Paul was an Areopagus,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

he realized that the guys were very religious.

I like the expression that all they did was to

just sit around and try and talk about new ideas,

new philosophies. But Paul used their religiosity.

to engage them. And the UK is religiously diverse.

We have Hinduism, we have Islam, Sikhism, and

secularism, and people who don't even want to

belong to any faith in a way. So the UK is diverse.

Your next door neighbor might not be Christian.

Your next door neighbor might be somebody from

the Islamic faith. And so you must find a way

of being aware of them and we must engage other

faith wisely you know sometimes you can be very

you know antagonistic when it comes to engaging

other faith you know the gospel Christ is the

only way and that's it and sometimes people can

be very you know too hard to the point that they

don't want to even hear other people and listen

to where they're coming from You don't compromise

your Christian values and faith by listening

to somebody who might not share your faith so

that you can find a way of engaging the person.

And the God Spirit might use that to get a person

saved. So let us not be dismissive of other people

who may not share our faith, but find a way of

engaging them. I'm not saying compromise your

faith. I'm not saying just about dialogue and

nothing else. Oh, we are all the same, going

on the same. place. That's not what I'm talking

about. Sometimes when people talk about dialogue,

it's like, oh, I just want to know a bit about

your faith and you know mine, and that's all.

That's not what I'm talking about. Yeah, know

a bit about them, but trust that the Lord can

use you to reach out to them. And then we must

speak truth with humility. Sometimes we can come

across as arrogant, even when you are sharing

your faith. It takes humility for somebody to

even listen to you. You can have the truth, but

the way you communicate it can push somebody

off. I'm not saying that the gospel is not offensive.

It is. But sometimes the way, the posture that

we may carry can cause somebody to just be defensive

and not ready to listen to you. So we must ask

the Lord to always help us to have some level

of humility when we are speaking to people, particularly

those of other faith. And then the very important

point I want us to look at is diaspora engagement.

The nations are here among us. As I said earlier

on. You can still prepare and go to Ghana and

do missions in Ghana, but Ghana is one of the

growing Christian nations in the world. Most

Ghanaians are now here with the gospel. So the

nations are here, and some come without their

faith. They come without any Christian faith

at all. So we must learn to also engage them.

But some of them also come here with their faith.

It has been said that the African is notoriously

religious, or I would say persistently, or, I

mean, ardently religious. It means that the African

doesn't mean words with his or her faith. Everywhere

they go, they carry their faith. And most Africans

are... come from the Christian background, or

I would say Ghanaians. And they are here in this

country. Some of our planted churches in London.

When you go out to this place and maybe travel

a few miles from here, you'll find a church that

belongs to somebody from Africa or Ghana. And

the planted church is here. So we must know that

the nations are here. And we must welcome and

also learn from them. Learn from them. The church

I went to over the weekend, The way they praise

God, they praise God with some vibrancy energy.

Maybe your tradition is not like that. It doesn't

mean that. Just, okay, what can I learn from

that energy of praising God? What can I learn

from them? Add to what I know. What a beauty.

to learn from other people and enrich your experience.

I was still in the church over the weekend. I

was preaching. I come from a background where

when we're praying, when we say let's pray, people

pray simultaneously and pray very loud. Okay?

I don't know. Even when I was in Korea, it was

the same. Koreans pray with a lot of energy and

loudness. When I came to the UK, I realized it's

nothing like that, particularly most churches.

They pray in tents, all right? So the tradition

is when you pray, I have to wait for you to finish

your prayer, and then I will then join in. And

sometimes people from our background think this

is not powerful enough. They will tell you the

fire of the Holy Spirit is not so strong there

because of the way they pray. They pray very

quiet. But I said to them, you have to listen

and also know that God hears that level of prayer.

God is in the quiet and is in the loudness. God

appreciates when sometimes you desperately cry

to him. And you also appreciate when people are

silent before him and meditating and reflecting.

The God we serve is diverse. He's not nervous

when we do things in a diverse way. He's not.

We human beings are quite nervous, but God is

not. He understands diversity. And so let's learn.

And then also learn to partner in God's mission.

We can do... a lot with other people from other

parts of the world we can reach our communities

we can reach their own rich people when we partner

with other people and and this is very important

we might also be ecclesiastically aware or our

ecclesial awareness the bible says in and ephesians

4 46 says there is one body one spirit Just as

you were called to one hope when you were called,

one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and

the Father of all, who is over all and through

all and in all. We must learn to work together

with diverse bodies who express different traditions.

We must understand the traditions. You may come

from a Reformed background. You may come from

a conservative evangelical background. You may

come from a typical, maybe, Pentecostal background.

but learn from one another so that we can. We

may not fully agree on certain secondary things,

but we're all God's children. As long as we stay

faithful to the core tenets of the Christian

faith, there are some things we may not be able

to. Understand. You are different. I read this

very important statement or observation by one

professor, Frank Macchia. He's a professor of

Christian theology from Vanguard University in

South California. And I just want to read this

for your understanding or for your consideration.

It reads, I desperately need this gets called

the church. My tendency is to surround myself

with people I enjoy being with, who I feel compliment

me. It is fine to enjoy the company of such people.

Friendship, that is often uplifting. But it goes

on to say that, but to be like Christ, I need

to have my soul expounded beyond this. Beyond

this, becoming close to others who are different

from me and especially who I may not particularly

enjoy being with. People who are different from

you that you may not particularly enjoy being

with culturally, church traditionally. But sometimes

you must learn to do so for the sake of the gospel.

And we must collaborate across differences. We

can do things with other people. Anglicans can

work with Pentecostals. Baptists can work with

Presbyterians for the sake of the kingdom. It

doesn't mean cede your or let go of your tradition.

You be loyal to your church tradition, but I

can work with other people. So as I conclude,

Let me look at this last one before I conclude.

You must also be intergenerationally aware. That's

intergenerational formation engagement. Psalm

Psalms 145:4

145 verse 4 says, if we fail to engage and disciple

the younger generation, we are... No, that is

not it. I'm just coaching the word. Let me just

read Psalm 145 verse 4. One generation commends

Psalms 145:4

your works to another. It's very important that

if we fail to... engage and disciple the younger

generation, we are not just losing the future,

we are failing to present the mission of the

church. The choir revival shows that even though

there's the idea that church is declining in

the UK, among the young people, many people,

particularly those with an ethnic minority background,

are coming to the faith. Those within the 18

to 24 year kind of demographic. And I can bear

testimony of that. I know friends who are pastoring

churches that are attracting very young people

who are desperate for God. And so in our missional

work in our churches, and as we prepare to engage

the global church and the cities that we find

ourselves, we might be aware of the intergenerational

differences so that we can build strong churches

that are intergenerational. As Paul said that

Timothy had his faith. given to him or transferred

to him by the grandmom through the grandmom to

the mom to him. There was an intergenerational

connection. We must learn to pass our faith to

the younger generation. And that is the beauty

of any church that represents what God has called

that church to be. So as I conclude, the Antioch

church or model was or is a diverse one. And

it was spiritually formed, very, very active

spiritual kind of church. But also after they

gathered and were able to see God's face, it

was a missional church. They sent people out.

We cannot build churches and we cannot be part

of churches that maintain people and not send

them out to do God's work. At Oak Hill, and Oak

Hill is a typical example. As people come here,

they have been prepared to go out there and minister

to a church or a world that is diverse. And I

think that let us not take our experience at

Oak Hill for granted. You might be here for three

years, two years, but it is a very important

part of your journey, your Christian journey

or ministry formation. Very important. I remember

back home in Ghana when I did my BA, I was within

a campus like that, an environment like that,

and that environment shaped me very well. And

when I went to South Korea, the same thing. I

was in an environment with people from China,

people from Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria,

from all parts of the world in South Korea. And

that enriched my... cross -cultural, multi -ethnic,

intercultural perspective on mission. And I think

what you are doing here is very important. I

don't take it for granted. By the time you blink,

your training here is over. You'll be sent out

to the world. The question is that, were you

prepared? Are we prepared for the global world

and church? And any theological education now

that is fit for purpose must train people for

the global world and church. It must shape their

thinking. So I want to end with this prayer that

the Lord would prepare us so that we can serve

across cultures to engage in a diverse world.

And to be sent wherever the Lord calls us. Some

of you may be sent to places that you may be

contemplating. What next after my training here?

Be ready to hear what the Lord is saying to you.

He might send you somewhere among migrant communities

that might be different from your comfort zone.

You might be prepared. He might send you among

Ghanians. And you are not raised from that culture.

You must be prepared. They must send you overseas.

You must be prepared. Modern Day Mission is both

overseas and also next door. You can travel somewhere.

That's great. But it's also next door. So I want

us to just let me pray with you before I say,

if you don't mind, let's pray. Let's pray. Father,

we thank you. We give you praise for calling

us into your mission. We come from diverse backgrounds

and traditions, but you've called us to be one

in you. In Christ, in you, we are one. Your spirit

calls us to the nations for the purpose of making

them known that Christ died for them. We live

in a very challenging world at the moment. There

are wars all over the world, all over the place.

But Lord, prepare us from this place to be sent

to the mission field where we are culturally

aware. We are aware of our differences, but we

seek to work together. May you prepare us and

embody us where we are weak and anxious. and

afraid, we surrender all of that to you. May

you take absolute control of who we are so that

we can be assured that you are with us to the

end of the age. May you empower us by your spirit.

May you give us the boldness and the confidence

to do what you've called us to do. When we face

challenges, Give us the grace to rest in you.

Lord, we thank you for what you are doing in

our lives. And we also pray for the leadership

of Oak Hill, that you will continue to shape

them and prepare the ordinance, the ministers,

the pastors, those who come through these doors

to be prepared for the global world and the church.

Heavenly Father, we thank you. In Jesus' name

I pray. Amen.