7th January 2024 - Communion Service - Dave Food - My Church is...

Thank you, Juliet morning everybody. Happy New year to you. How are

you? Are you good twenty twenty four? Have you changed the We don't

write checks anymore, but you know that's the kind of commonplace where I often

make the mistake at the beginning of the year. You know, we don't

even handwrite letters anymore, do we? So I can't even adjust my handwriting.

But a happy New Year. Our series at the beginning of twenty twenty

four is my church is. Do you know this is a bit of a

loaded title. We're going to explore this throughout the month, but it's a

loaded title because just those two words my church means so much. Firstly,

who's my Well, that's you and me. And I want to say welcome

to a few other people who are joining us online. We've been building relationships

with churches around the world. I want to say good morning, actual if

we did any good afternoon to Buster James and those Consumer and Kenya who are

joined to the day that's connecting with the places of the world. So welcome

as part of our service today, have you joining us? For those who

are around the world are joining us for our service. When I say my

church later the place that you called home, the place where you look to

for finn, the place that you look to for inspiration, the place that

you go to who need help? Now, because the first I mean first

places we go to when you need help should really be God, shouldn't it.

I mean, at two o'clock in them money ooining me up and say

past the day if I need prayer? Yeah, because my first question you

will be have you prayed already? And if you haven't, I'll probably put

the phone down on you. But yeah, if you say, well,

okay, I'm going to God. First of all, there are adverts on

the British TV that used to take say something like the AA or the race,

those road assistance services they're your fourth emergency service. And we often talk

about the ambulance and the police and the fire service, but you know what,

there's an emergency service for me that's way above the police and the ambulance

and the fire service, and that's God. Let's start when we're in a

desperate place. Let's cry out to Him, when we're in a place where

we need help, Let's cry out to Him. Anybody already in twenty twenty

four had a place where you go, oh, my goodness, what is

this? Anybody hands up? Anybody had something even this weekend? Maybe something

is Yeah, yeah, there's stuff that's happened. I'm aware of stuff that's

happened. And actually we can't sort it out and we go God help me,

and you know, there's nothing better than getting our eyes fixed on him.

But you know, church is something I hope that we're proud of.

If it's not, if it's not something we're proud of, then we need

to change. And please don't. I want to encourage everybody this morning.

So when I talk about my church, I'm not just talking about my church.

I'm talking about your church too. And church what is church? Church

is a family of people. You know, if you invited a friend to

church and you brought them to this building, they would go is this church?

Where's the tower? Where's the steeples? Where the views? Because lots

of people don't realize that church can be. A is a gathering of people.

It's a gathering way of people who are looking to God. And in

that midst we're looking for healing, We're looking for our answers to prayer,

We're looking for God to move by his Holy Spirit. And so when I

say my church, I want you to translate it to your church too.

So let's start in Matthew chapter sixteen, and let me just read that from

the New King James version. When Jesus cames, he asked his disciples,

saying, who do men say that I the son of Man am? I

bet you've already been asked this week? How is your holiday? How is

your break? How is your Christmas? And you choose how you are tower

it quite a good time, has in good food on Monday. Some people

will say to you at some point, how is your weekend? I wonder

what you'll say, I was a good weekend. Yeah, the sun shine

shining now? Or are we going to say something? Just give a little

glimpse of church. Who do we say he is? And so they said,

say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one

of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that

I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ,

the son of the Living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed

to you, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this

to you, But my Father who is in heaven. And also I say

to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my

church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I

please of the Kingdom of Heaven. And whatever you bind in earth will be

bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.

God's building. Now, please don't just look at this and think this

is scripture. This is a person and God's building just upon you know,

God's building his church today. It's building his just you go back to that

scripture and actually we could go back to that verse and Jesus said to him

to you, blessed, are you put your name in that place at the

moment, For flesh and blood are not revealed this to you, but my

Father in Heaven revealed that you're part of the living stones of what God is

building. In this place. You're part of the living stones of what God

is building around the nation, living churches drawing people. There are plenty of

churches that are closing. You know, I want to talk as we push

in the twenty twenty four of you know, we won't fit in this room

on a Sunday we've already had to make room to move out the tables.

We did that last year, and we now have to do that every Sunday.

Do you know? Making room and it's a thing that I will push

into throughout the year. Making room is not just about making some more space

in terms of physicality. I don't know what you would do if you came

to church next Sunday and there were so many guests in here that there wasn't

a seat for you. I wonder whether you looked at him. I wonder

whether you want to turn around and go home again, or whether you'd be

standing at the back. Yes, this is fantastic. You know. One

of my family principles was family holds back. You know when often you'd invite

people around for dinner and you've cooked I don't know, so many pieces of

chicken, and you'd have to go with chicken that day because you were serving

chicken to somebody else. To be honest, if I came into church and

somebody keep either floor because they're more important than I am, And guests are

so important the first time they come. They want to feel welcome. So

we will press into a vandalism twenty twenty, We want out in new ways.

But you know there's a contract if you come to church, some people

will come. Okay. And here's the first thing. It's quite difficult to

find our building. The postcodes getting better, but it's still not working perfectly.

And so that means there'll be people wandering around outside looking for the building.

So people who are welcome us on the door, we need to be

standing inside the door keeping. We need outside the door looking up for someone

who's drying to find building. Do you know what? And I've done that

sometimes somebody said I'm coming and I think, okay. So I've stood outside

in the time leaning up to church and I didn't know who this person was.

They just sent me a they are. So I saw somebody looking lost

the other this is last year. I saw somebody looking lost. I was

lost for somebody. So I walked up to this and said, can I

help you? Are you looking for Runnie Christian Fellowship? And said no,

no, actually I'm looking for the station. And we certain we had a

consation for three or four minutes. I don't know whether I couldn't find a

sentation because it's right obvious. And then but the point was I had a

conversation with him because I was looking for someone. Do you know what?

A seed was in their hearts? Was, Oh, there's a church here,

and do you know what I am sure? Let me tell you a

story, a story about I may you may have heard me told this once

before, but one of the life links church and Regina, Saskatchewan. It's

a it's a large church, it's a sea church. And this let me

let me play the story in two or three pieces. A lady was driving

to church. She'd become a Christian a few weeks beforehand, and as she

was driving to church, so this is the kind of second or third time

she'd gone to church. She's driving to church and she sees somebody running down

the road in kind of in a track. I thought, okay, the

lake for church. So I offered to pick them up. So they pulled

up next to them. They threw their door right was to a lift,

and this person looked at me and said okay, and I jumped in the

car and he drove to church. And she got to church and the person

as they were as she was driving to church, she got into this person,

is this your first time of coming to church? And the person went

yes, it's oh great, fantastic, And so she said, and how

did you find out about your boat? She said, I don't know anything

about this church? She said, well, why said I was coming to

church. I was out jogging. But this person came to me in church

and he became the call of God. But it's the interesting thing. The

following Sunday, this person is now drigging type somebody else jogging and they think

that's what they stopped and they opened the door and they invite this person to

jump into their car bleat and say, you know, can I left?

This person had a different why do you want where are going? Why do

you want to give me a lift? I saw you jogging. I thought

you were maybe late for church. Now that person didn't jump into the car.

But it's interesting. I think we can learn from something from a moment

week. I want to encourage you if you walk to church, and as

you're coming to church, and if you you see someone looking lost, but

why not stop? Can help you? Why not stop that? I mean

they might just be looking for the railway station, they might look at for

the cinema. But in the moment, you can say what because they might

say, well why why are you asking, Well, actually, I'm looking

for people are trying to find church. Who do you say that I am?

You know, I want to encourage us to be bold. I want

us to encourage to be bold in twenty twenty four. If you've got to

be bold or not to be bold, why not be bold and just see

what happens. Just see what happens. In if Ephesians che verses eleven and

twelve, it talks about equipping us perch and we're going to bring some guests

speakers in throughout the year. We've already booked in. In the notices you

will often I wouldn't encourage you. Actually in the we bring people in because

we want to equip us. We want to equip ourselves as a church.

We bring people in who we trust, we're in relationship with, who have

gifts and talents that we don't have. So we'll be bringing Clem will be

with us, ian Ian Bird will be with us, Josh Hesler will be

with us. And you will notice in the notices sometimes he says to be

confirmed. That's because I'm still talking to them about finalizing the dates. But

as soon as it's got a date up there, that's final, it's sorted,

it's in the calendar, and so i'd encourage you if you if you

don't want to miss these, boy, put them in your calendar, just

so that we can take people and He will give sys to be apostles,

some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints,

for the work of the ministry, for the eddie fody of Christ,

equipping of the saints. Who's the saints? Anybody's seen the saint recently?

I'm a saint not because of what I've done, not because I'm good,

but because of Jesus. And you're a saint too, because if you put

your trust in Him. And so we're going to be ready for twenty twenty

four in lots of different ways. We're going to be ready because we're going

to equip the saints. We're going to make time. We're going to make

space to equip church to be who God's called us to be, to stir

up the gift that is in you, to press into all of that and

to release mission. I really want to press into a place where some people

will want to go on mission. You know a number of years ago,

Jill, you'll remember this a number of years ago. One of our ship

one did you get a tenor mision trip? So why don't I take some

people with me? Jill came to Spain, didn't you. You came to

Tenarief with us, didn't you? And do you speak any Spanish? Jill

No, didn't speak any Spanish at all. And one of my fondest memories

of the whole trip was after church, between two services, I saw Jill

sitting there chatting away to one of the local church members is together by,

and I think, okay, I didn't know Jill spoke Spanish, and then

I thought, I don't think she does. And so I went to one

of the people from the local church and said, is that lady that's sitting

with Jill? Does she speaking? Went no. So I don't know whether

you were just speaking, that you were just being polite to one another,

or whether you were speaking in tons. But do you know what Jill encouraged

that person? Jill carries a gift of any of us can be encourages.

And in twenty twenty four, let me encourage you be an encourager. If

you want to diffault between silence and saying a word of encouragement, Please do

not shoot silence. So let's equit that we're going to quit the sense,

we're going to relist peak people into mission, and that mission may not be

It may not start with me, probably won't start with me. And somebody

say, hey, do you know what. I've got a friend of mine

who's who's leading a small church in this part of the world, and I'd

love to go for the weekend. Does anybody want to come? With simple

things? We can just take a car for or just two or three people.

We can go somewhere because it stretches us. Do you know what?

One of the things being prophetic at home is a challenge, if I'm honest

with you, because I know you guys pretty well. So God whispers in

my ear sometimes and this might happen to you too. You know, people,

well, God whispers in your ear. You don't say anything because you

think it's the marmalade or the cheese that you at, you know, and

you think, I'm really not sure whether that's just my brain running over time

or whether that's actually from God. When we go somewhere completely different, we

don't even question it. We just go, okay, well, I don't

know this person that's standing in front of me. I don't know them from

Adam. But I will share what I will share, and you share it

with a faith and when God then confirms it something, somebody confirms something,

you go yes, God. So I want to release the prophetic at home

by going away a bit more, by encouraging people when you're at work,

when you're with a friend, whether you're a small group, when you're on

a WhatsApp group, when you're on a WhatsApp call with a friend, why

not release the prophetic? Why not share what God said? If you sense

God whispering in your ear, why not just say, do you know what?

I'd just like to share something with you. You don't even have to

make it complicated and say that's says the Lord. Just say, do you

know I had this thought and I just want to share it with you.

I want to encourage you. And many times we'll get back to you when

they say, wow, that's exactly my situation, that's exactly my circumstance.

Thank you so much, thank you for sharing that. And then on the

foundation of those words, you can then say, my next question, where

did that come from? Then you can tell them you don't have to lead

with God spoke to me and now I'm sharing it with you. Can just

share the word because the word will carry God presents. The word will carry

hisction, his spirit, his nature. And then sometimes pe people will say

when did that's from? And we can share it with faith and body because

they're asking us, von did it? You can share you all like,

yeah, actually, and this is what I believe I got this thought from.

And then then might I ask you more so, how do you hear

from God? Well? Off you go time for discipleship training. Discipleship training

does not start the declasions. I believe it starts long before that because actually

God lines people's up and he has to ask questions. That's us through the

reveal things to them. And then they get to a point and they say,

do you know what I want to put in this God that you're talking

about? I want to put my trust in this Jesus though, who I

read about in the goose as I quit the Saints released for a mission.

I want to grow. I want us to encourage us to grow to our

leadership. I don't just mean in means. You know, if we if

we're going to grab people coming that means more small groups. That means more

teaching, That means a youth group. We haven't had a youth group for

a long time. I used to be a youth group leader. That's where

I started. Julie and I started as youth group leaders in the church many

may years ago, you know. And I just I'm just blessed by the

fact we've got extra children in Sunday School this morning, and praying that that

will be a sign first Sunday in twenty twenty four to double the number of

children in Sunday School. Well, I wonder if Julie's ready for double next

week, and maybe we need to stand with her and say, Julie,

do you know what, sometimes you might need some support because there's a whole

bunch of things we need to do. You can't just do Sunday School,

you know. For example, we need to get cleared so that we're doing

things right, so that you know, we can say that we know that

our staff are good quality staff, those who are helping in Sunday School.

And one of the things I also want to encourage us to upgrade is the

quality of the way we reach out digitally. We're doing so much we're doing,

you know, and from twenty twenty three into twenty twenty four. Now,

I don't know whether you've noticed, but there's videos every day on the

internet. Now something is a little encouraging going out there. And if you

look at the number of people who are watching it, it's going up and

up and up. And that's in different nations. And so let's not just

think about churches the people who sit in this room. Let's think about churches

the wider gathering of who we're equipping. And why couldn't we have a church

plant in twenty twenty four? Is that too dangerous a suggestion? Now?

One of the things that Life Links encouraging us to do is to think about

church planting. We do it together with somebody else. So not only flowership

members, but grow leaderships are capable. I think we all could do.

Why personal this is the personal thing. But one of my personal goals was

set myself to a litt least one hour's training a week. Last year,

set my goal one hour of training week. I've asked you something on Facebook

at the end of the year said I've done one hundred and sixty eight hours

of training last year. It's not too fur week and some weeks I got

sod in it. I put a second hour and some weeks I did three

hours. That's four windsworth of training in a year. Now I'm saying do

this. There are tons of reasults we've invested in as a church that's available

to everybody in church right now. Media that we use for supporting our small

groups is available for all of you. You've all got to log on and

you've probably got it to send your spam folder, but there for you to

log on, and there are millions of hours of go teaching you and if

you want to do it with a friend. I'm made able to a staff

member at or Holloway when Halloway so they asked what would you recommend A simple

is a teaching and said, well how do I act? And made it

free of them for a year and they went through t teaching with some non

Christian friends to campus. I'm really happy to do that on the stuff and

faith like now, we've got millions of films and stuff that you can as

well, and if you help with us some it's access along TV these days,

all these kinds of good things. So want to grow leadership and you

know all that is, so we grow the on the on these zones,

on you and I, God will build his search and you will invite different

people in different ways, some of our friendship of andersm other ones will do

it through through through, through through online. Others will do it but onto

the streets. None of them are rifles wrong. They're all need to be

done. So if dodn't you do it. If you find yourself on stage

homebolding microphone and suddenly God drops a word INDWT as you're standing there at the

microphone, go for it. Just share a couple of minutes. It happens.

God is cryptingness And one of the things that you may have noticed already

in the notice linked de service we changed. I changed the format and I'll

retarted to put in there some of the events that are coming. So on

the AID night March, there's a predit for conference in Canada or organized by

Life Links. You might say, but I can't afford to go to Canada

to day, Well you could go if you wanted to. I'd loathed you

to go something you wanted to do to go do? I think it's in

Regina, but it's also available online, so we could gather as a grout.

You know why I put it on our gender. That's that's how James

in Kenya reached out to me. He reached out me and he said,

Dave, you've got this prophetic conference, can you organize me to go.

I'm knowing I'm going to be there because I'm doing it online. You could

do that as well, and Green Church will be so exciting. Wen't need

a new belie, a new joiner's course. Let's go back to that was

thunder in Matthew chapter sixteen, verse eighteen. And also I say to you

that you are Peter and on this rock you've jumped around. There we go.

Jesus said to him, blessed in you, Simon bar Jonah for flesh

and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, who is

in heaven. The revelation from heaven is something we need to get our hearts

on. I am so blessed that we've got live worship. In twenty twenty

three, we said we can't do anything until we've got live worship oozing out

of our ears. Now we've got different people who want to lead us.

You know, Terris will come back ready for term number two you know,

she'll be part of the band. Ye, And I'm believing God will bring

more musicians and we'll have to manage and control that in some way, you

know, in a good way. I believe God will give us songwriters.

And maybe there's a songwriter already in the room. And God's given me a

few songs. And just take this as a prompt. If God's given me

a few to recently share it with a worship team. Let's see what happens.

In Ephesians chapter four, press He's eleven. So when we make room,

we make room for visitors. And making room is exciting because visitors some

will become new believers. Some of those new believers will want to present to

new ministries. Do you know every Monday bank meets it. Food Bank blesses

people. You meet people even in the midst of church, who want to

help, to be part of food Come and speak to me, Speak to

Julie, speak to Sham. You know, food bank is something that is

so necessary in our day, in our lives today. So press in and

let's see what God will do. Small groups I believe will grow small groups

and as groups, that will mean that we'll need new hosts and places where

people and people will gather. So not only will we make room for visitors,

but we'll need to make room for new believers. In making new room

for new believers, will need to make room for new ministries. And in

making room for new ministries, who knows what God will do. My final

scripture just to bring this all to a close. As we press into twenty

twenty four, I've lost control of Jonathan and thank you. Last script and

so as we press into twenty twenty four, let me encourage you. There's

a promise card that's by the offering bowl. Sama and others have helped us

to bring something of encouragement. So if you didn't take one on New Year's

Eve, you haven't got one already, please do take one a promise card.

They're there for you. Have you got the fan scription? Okay,

So let me pray, Father God, I thank you for a new calendar

year. Lord, we give you our year. Lord, we press into

all that it contains. Lord, we don't know what that means for many

of us. We don't know what we'll be doing later on this year.

Where in moments of change, in seasons of adaption, in Father, I

pray that Lord, you'd help us to step into the day, step us

into the month, step us into the year with boldness. Rather, you'd

let faith arise in us. Let faith arise in us for the days ahead.

Lord, let us look at a mountain and realize that in your eyes

it's a mole hill. Father, help us to look at circumstances where the

door is shut and you've given us the keys, as we read from scripture,

you've given us the keys to the kingdom. And so, Father God,

when we've got the keys, won't you know if you if you if

you know the code to the front door of this building and the door's unlocked,

you press the code. The door is open. Somebody can't stop the

door being unlocked. Because if you've got the and if God gives us a

custod if God gives us something, a clue to an idea about something,

I encourage you to take hold of that with boldness and with freshness, as

it says in Philippians four, verse nineteen. And my God shall supply all

your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Father, thank

you that you will meet all our needs. Father, thank you that you

will meet the needs of those that meet the needs of those we come across.

And so Father, open our eyes to all that you will do,

as we embrace with you. Twenty twenty four in Jesus Name, Amen,

Jerry and Debbie