The Cost of Mission

Reading comes from Matthew chapter 10. Please follow a line on the screen in your bulletin or

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

your own Bible. In Matthew 10 verse 16 we read, Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst

Matthew 10:16

of wolves, so be wise as serpent and innocent as those. Beware of men, for they will deliver you

over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged over, you will be dragged

before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say,

for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour, for it is not you who speak,

but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death,

and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,

and you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly I say to you,

you will not have gone through all of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple

to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have caught the master of the house

with Ziba, how much more will they malay those of his household? So have no fear of them,

for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy

both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for one penny? And not one of them will fall

to the ground apart from your father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not,

therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men,

I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men,

I also will deny before my father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the

earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father,

and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's

enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of

me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his

cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it.

And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me. And whoever

receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he's a prophet will

receive a prophet's reward. And the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person

will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold

water because he's a disciple. Truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

This is the word of God.

Thank you so much, Ellen, for reading that. Wow, this is a really tough passage that we're going to be

looking at. But before I start, I just want to say just a really massive thank you to you as a

congregation. We gave birth to our second child a few weeks ago, and you guys have just been awesome,

just praying for us, supporting us, bringing food. We are just so grateful for the way that God is at

work in our family, our Watermark family together. So I just want to thank you for your love and support.

We've really sensed that during this time. Let me just pray for us as we look into God's word together.

Father, let's pray. Father, I just want to thank you that you are a God of awesome, gracious, good,

power, kindness, compassion. You're a God who knows us. You're a God who hears us. You're a God who sees us.

And Father, right now it feels like even as a church family, there's just a lot of sickness going around.

There's just a lot of challenges that people are facing. Lord, we keep praying for Wilson and Gloria

and Jacob and the family there. We keep praying, Father, for Ed and Trish and the choice, for Maddie's

in hospital, for Cecilia, whose dad is sick right now, and for many other people who I know are struggling,

whether with health issues or other family issues. Lord, we just pray for them. We pray would you have

your healing hand on them. We pray that you would show your power and your mercy and restore, Lord.

Show us your grace and your kindness to each one of these families, we pray. And we pray, Lord, in this

city where there's just so many things going on, whether it's with COVID, whether it's with politics,

whether people are leaving, people are coming. Lord, just we pray in the midst of all the uncertainties,

we pray that you'd help us as your people to keep your eyes fixed on you. We pray that even as we

look into this tricky, challenging passage, Lord, that we would see the great hope that we have in

you. We would see that you are worth giving everything for because you are the only thing,

the only one who is rock solid in our lives and in this city and in our world. So, Lord, I pray that you'd

speak to us. Give us hearts which are open. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen. Great. So, good morning

again. If you don't know me, my name's Chris. I'm one of the leaders here at Watermark. And we're going

to look into this tricky passage today, which, to be honest, I kind of wish Jesus hadn't said some of

these things. But let me start by taking you back to the year 302. For 40 years, Christians had enjoyed

a time of peace and there'd been a lot of growth in the churches. But then the Roman emperor, Diocletian,

decided that he wanted to return to pagan ways and to persecute the Christians. And if you want to

target and a movement, you hit the leaders. And so, what Diocletian did, he got to the pastors and the

bishops who in every town were the guardian of the scriptures. There was just one Bible in the whole

town for hundreds of people. And so, these pastors, these leaders, and some other members of the

congregation were dragged in front of courts and the officials. And they were threatened to say,

either you renounce Jesus, you burn those Bible, or we'll kill you. And many of the pastors,

they refused and they were martyred. But some decided to take the easy way up. They renounced their faith.

They burnt the scriptures so that hundreds of people were denied access to God's word.

And they went free. Three or so years later, a new Roman emperor came into power. And just a few years

later, Christianity was legalized. In fact, it wasn't just legal. It now actually became beneficial

to be a Christian. You could get great career benefits. You could get networking opportunities.

There was a huge advancement that could happen if you just became a Christian. It was a time of peace.

And throughout the world, throughout church history, throughout the world today, and even in

churches today, you see this whole spectrum of what it means to follow Jesus from persecution

to times of peace. But do you know actually that the thing which has caused the most dishonor to Christ

and has been the most dangerous for Christians, whether in persecution or in peacetime, has been

when we have chosen our own ease and our own comfort above Christ, when we've chosen a kind of consumer

Christianity. And so what happens when we are tempted to do those things, to put comfort above Christ,

is that Jesus becomes a little bit more like your pet hamster. You keep him in a little box, confined,

on your desk during the week so he doesn't disturb you too much, and then you bring him out on Sundays

to feed him with some worship. And that just kind of suits us fine. But Matthew's gospel, which we've

been going through over the last few weeks, Matthew has been painting a different picture of Jesus.

He's been showing us that Jesus is the King, the divine Messiah who has come to bring in his kingdom.

And he's been preaching and teaching this kingdom, but he's also been embodying this kingdom by bringing

healing and restoration and forgiveness and deliverance to outcasts, to sinners, to the sick,

to the marginalized, to every person from every background, race, tribe, and tongue, calling them

to repent and believe and come into his kingdom. He's been calling people to follow him.

And last week, Kevin took us to Matthew chapter 10, which marks a transition in the book of Matthew

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

from where Jesus has been teaching and doing and healing and doing all these signs of the kingdom

to where now the focus now shifts off. He sends out his disciples to do the very things that he himself

has been doing. And we've seen that disciples of Jesus are people who are with Jesus. They become

like Jesus and they do what he does. And so as he sends them out on his mission to preach, to teach,

to heal, to embody the kingdom of God into our city, just as he calls us to and sends us out into

the neighborhoods and the areas of Hong Kong and Asia around us. So Jesus is going to up the ante a

little bit today. He's going to say that if we're a disciple and a follower of Jesus, who's becoming

like him and doing what he does, then there's going to be scars. There's going to be scars of mission,

but he's going to give us, there's going to be courage for mission and there is a promise for

mission. So that's where we're going today. There's three things, scars, courage, and a promise. So let me

start with the scars of mission. Jesus verse 24, he says this, a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a

servant above his master. It's enough for the disciple to be like his teacher. Okay. I mean, that, that, that's,

that's great, isn't it? In fact, in Watermark, I've just seen so many times where the, the love that

people are showing, the service that people are caring for one another, praying for another, I just

see glimpses of Jesus at work in our community. It just looks something like him and it's beautiful.

But Jesus goes on to say, if they have called the master of the household, Beelzebub, and the, the message

translation says, calls that dung face. That, that's an insult. Okay. He says, if, if they call Jesus that,

then how much more are they going to call those who are of his household, his followers, his family

members? You see, what he's saying is, if you're going to be my followers on my mission, there's going to be

scars. Just like me. Because my life was marked by deep love, but also deep suffering, which is where you

see that love. Because when the kingdom of God breaks through, there is always pushback from the

kingdom of darkness. You know, Jesus says it like this. He says about his own life, he says, unless a

grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

You see, what he's saying, just as grapes need to be crushed for the beautiful wine to come out. So

Jesus was crushed in rejection, in insults, in, in betrayal, all the way to death. In order to bring us

into his kingdom in order for this fruitfulness of many lives to be transformed. And he says,

we as his followers should expect the same, that kingdom fruitfulness in our lives will also bear

the same kind of scars. You know, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it like this. He said,

when God calls a man or a woman, he bids him come and die. That's challenging, isn't it? Because

many of our evangelism techniques, what we say is we say, come to Jesus, get love, peace, joy. And

we forget the small print, which says, actually, there's a place where you've got to die to find

life. And Jesus isn't, isn't covering over the small print. He's telling it like he is. Verse 16,

let's kind of go back to where he says, he says, behold, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst

of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Now just think about that image for a

moment. That's not particularly comforting, really, is it? I mean, because sheep, have you ever seen a

sheep? In Hong Kong, probably not. But sheep are defenseless. Sheep have no claws. They have no sharp

teeth. They can't run fast. They're a cloud on legs. But wolves are predators. They have sharp teeth.

They have sharp claws. They can run fast. And they like eating sheep. What is Jesus saying here?

What he's saying, he's saying there's a legitimate reason why many of us really find it difficult to

go out on mission, out of our comfort zone, because it is scary and threatening. Why? Because we're not,

Jesus isn't sending us out onto neutral territory. He's sending us into our neighborhoods and workplaces

and families where there is a clash between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.

They are war zones. And so he says, be wise. Like, don't be naive. Don't be naive about this.

Like, just think about it. You see on it, you're desperate to find somebody to date. And you look on

that dating app and they put Christian on the label. And you think, wow, finally. And then when

you meet the person, you see that they don't really go to church and they're pressurizing

you to sleep with them. And you go, but it says Christian. And Jesus says, be wise. Be innocent.

Be alert to Satan's tactics. There's a war on. And you know, you can feel the heat of the battle.

Sometimes with outsiders. But Jesus focuses down and says, often it's with those who are closest

and most precious to us that the challenge comes. He says this, people will betray, will deliver you

over to the courts and flock you in their synagogues. But when they deliver you over, don't be anxious.

And then he says, brother will deliver brother over to death. And he says a father and his child

and a mother. And you see, this is really challenging. You see, but the word deliver is the same word

that is used for betrayed when Jesus was betrayed by his close disciple Judas.

You see, what he's saying is Jesus himself knew opposition from those closest to us.

And for those who follow us, we may too.

And then in verse 34, he gets even stronger. He says, don't think I've come to bring peace

on the earth. And you go, what? He says, I have not come to bring peace on the earth,

but a sword. And you think, really? But I thought you were the prince of peace.

And it gets even stronger. He says, but I've come to set a man or divide a man against his father

and a daughter against his mother. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

For a Jewish listener, this is the equivalent of how the royal family would have received the recent interview

with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

This was shocking because every Jew at the time would agree with Michael J. Fox,

who says, family is not an important thing. It's everything.

And it's for many of us in Chinese culture, too, that's the same idea.

And so what is Jesus saying in this?

He's not saying, deliberately go against your family or just be a rebel.

He's not saying, kind of, be an idiot and get some response, bad response back.

He's not saying that because he's very strong with the religious leaders

of calling them to uphold the commandment to honor your father and mother.

Jesus is big into family.

He's not saying either, I'm all about violence.

This isn't justification for things like the Crusades.

What is he saying?

He's saying that when believers choose to follow Jesus,

family members may reject your profession of faith and your new identity in him

because they're rejecting Jesus himself.

And if they do, his call is to choose me,

even above your most precious family members.

You know, in Western individualistic society, we say,

hey, I want to do what I want to do.

In traditional Eastern societies, it's I do what my parents want me to do.

But for Jesus' disciples, it's we do what Jesus wants us to do.

And often that's going to be compatible with your parents' wishes.

But where it is not, where there are clashes,

Jesus says, choose me.

Will you follow me?

You know, I went to Cambodia a couple of years ago

and I met this church planter, a Cambodian church planter there,

whose father had been killed by the Khmer Rouge.

And he was the eldest son and he was expected to support and look after the family.

And his family wanted him to study at college and to become a tour guide

because that was a lucrative job.

But he became a Christian and he felt God calling him to be a pastor and a church planter.

And his family, his mother and the rest of his family could not believe this.

They threatened him with disowning him.

They said he dishonored the family.

How could he be so selfish?

All these things.

There was an emotional blackmail.

And he was just so torn in this time because he loved his family.

But he really felt God calling him.

And so he actually decided to leave to go to Bible college.

And his family disowned him.

Fast forward a few years' time when he'd actually been planting a number of churches.

And he actually managed to, because of his church planting work,

he actually got connected with working for an NGO,

which actually paid him a really decent salary.

And in that time, his family had seen the way that he had lived his life.

And some of his family members started coming to Christ.

And he was able to both support his family,

but also see them one to Jesus because they'd seen how much Jesus meant.

You see, Jesus loved his family more than even he did.

He just couldn't understand it in the moment.

And so that is what the call that Jesus is saying.

He loves our families, but he wants us to place him first

because placing him first is the best way to really love your family

with eternal consequences.

You know, some of us, we know just how challenging and how hard this really is.

Some of us, our families, our parents, they have a lot of expectations on us,

whether it's to do with marriage, whether it's to do with careers,

whether it's to do with parenting choices or finances or lifestyle decisions.

And there's often a clash of values between their values and Jesus' values.

And it's hard.

Many of us know that.

Particularly when you know your parents have just invested so much in you.

Some of us are being held back maybe from thinking about baptism

because of family pressures.

Some of us, as God is going to be calling some of our families

to really engage in the fostering and adoption program

that we're really trying to push as a church,

some of you are going to get pushback from that from close members of your family.

And Jesus says, don't be surprised.

Don't be surprised.

If you're in peacetime or if you're in persecution,

there will be pushback.

But will you follow me and trust me in this?

And you've got to think,

all this feels like a little heavy, doesn't it?

How can you do that?

That sounds scary.

Which is why Jesus then moves on to his second point,

which is the courage for mission.

Because when you hear all of these different things,

isn't often animal's natural response fear?

And Jesus knows that

because he expects it as normal.

That's why four times in this passage he goes,

don't be anxious.

Don't be afraid.

Have no fear of them.

Don't fear those who kill the body.

Fear not.

Do you get the idea?

He's telling us, don't fear.

Why not?

Why not?

Well, because, he says, fear God, not people.

Why?

Because two things.

One, your life and your future

and everyone's, a whole of history,

is in God's hands.

Look at it.

Verse 28.

Don't fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

And then later on in verse 39, he goes,

whoever finds his life will lose it.

And that's the same word in Greek,

just slightly different grammar,

same word as destroy.

And whoever loses, same word,

his life for my sake will find it.

What is he saying?

He's saying human beings right now may make your life uncomfortable,

can pressurize you, can intimidate you, can hurt you,

can even in the most extreme circumstances kill you.

But, they can't touch the inner core of who you are.

Because that's in the hands of the source of life,

in your creator, the God of the universe,

our Father himself.

Life itself and all of your future is held,

not in your parents' hand, not in your boss' hand,

not in anyone else's hands.

It's held in his hands.

And so he says,

fear me,

which means look to please me,

honour me first,

by being willing to proclaim me,

go public with your faith,

from the housetops.

And if you lose your own comfort now,

for the sake of making me known,

you won't miss out,

because I'm the one who holds your life itself.

So look to please me first.

But then, in the same time,

there's also this warning,

which he says,

if you live for your own comfort now,

be like a chameleon.

Like, just wanting to blend in,

just wanting a comfortable life,

so just staying, like,

Jesus light in your life.

Jesus is your hamster kind of religion.

You may avoid all the opposition from people right now.

You may have comfort,

you may not,

but you may have comfort now.

But you'll get opposition from God later on,

on judgment day.

And he says,

God is the eternal judge,

who has your entire life in his hands.

He can both give you the whole of life,

but he can also take it away.

So look to him and please him,

because he's the win-win situation.

You know, there was a tennis player,

Australian tennis player,

Margaret Court,

who's a pastor.

She got mocked for some of her disagreement

with gay marriage a few years ago.

And in a tweet by a fellow tennis player,

Martina Navratilova,

she said to her,

Margaret, hashtag,

wrong side of history.

Jesus is saying,

history is not judged by the current cultural trends

or what seems to be comfortable right now.

The true hashtag,

wrong side of history,

occurs on judgment day

when we stand before the king of the whole universe

and we want to be on the right side.

The side of those who are loved by him.

So he says,

don't fear,

look to please him first.

Your life is in his hands.

Secondly,

he says,

don't fear

because the sovereign God of the whole universe

knows you

and cares for you intimately.

I love this.

This is great.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father.

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear not,

therefore,

you are more value than many sparrows.

You see,

in the first century,

a sparrow was the cheapest thing that you could buy in the market.

And so if one sparrow dropped dead,

nobody cared.

It's like,

you know,

if you walk past those vegetable stalls

and you just see like a straight grape or a mushroom just in the gutter there.

Like everyone walked past it.

They trample on it.

Nobody cares about it.

At all.

It's so insignificant.

And then he goes,

actually,

your hair.

How many of you have actually itemized how many hairs you have?

I just had my hair cut,

but I didn't look at how many I lost.

Because I don't care that much about it.

We care about our hair,

but we don't care about the details of it in that intimate attention.

But Jesus is saying,

if he has itemized every hair on your head,

if he knows even that grape,

even that little mushroom there,

then don't you think,

if he cares and is attentive

and has his hands watching over even that,

that the very things which are far more significant in our lives,

that we really care about,

that our very life itself,

don't you think that he cares way more than you do about it?

Don't you think that you matter?

He says,

you are of more value to him

than many grapes,

many mushrooms,

many hairs,

many sparrows.

This is awesome.

It really is.

He says,

you know,

my daughter,

when she was born,

she was just tiny,

but she's precious.

And how do you treat someone who is precious and valuable?

Oh,

with great care and attention.

That's how Jesus,

that's how God the Father,

thinks of you.

And it doesn't matter how insignificant

or how inadequate

or how ignored,

how rejected,

how hard your life is,

he

says you matter to him.

That

is an awesome truth.

So he says,

don't fear.

But can I be honest?

Like,

just really honest for a moment.

I actually know these two truths.

And yet,

sometimes I still fear.

Right?

Sometimes I still

have fear

in speaking about Jesus

to people,

in really facing the cost

of living for his kingdom.

You know,

Tim Keller

shared this story

about a teenage girl

that he met.

And she came to him

and said,

you know,

I know Jesus loves me.

I know I'm his child.

I know I'm valued

by him immensely.

But

what's the use of that

when none of the boys

in my class

like me?

I love her honesty.

Right?

Because

what she's saying is

she fears

the social rejection,

the relational rejection

of the boys

more than she does

fear God.

she's actually saying

she loves the acceptance

of those boys around her

more than she loves

the acceptance

of Jesus.

And that's real.

Because I think

functionally

that's where many of us live.

Don't we?

But

we know these truths

but they haven't sunk

into our hearts.

And so the call to die,

the call to mission

sounds like a call

to suicide,

sounds like a call

to ruin your life

rather than a call

to finding life

as Jesus says.

But can I just share

very personally?

You know,

when I've realized

that actually

that's what's going on

in my heart

with all of my fears

and I've come before Jesus

and just repented

and asked God

to restore

a fear of him

and a love for him

and a delight in him

to know that value

in my heart.

And then he's given me

opportunities

to step out in obedience

and to share my faith

or to make significant

decisions for his kingdom

which I know

are going to cost

which get pushed back

where there is rejection

where there is discomfort

where I have felt

the shame of others.

Do you know

two things have happened?

One,

I've really felt the pain

and the wrestle

and the struggle.

It's real.

It's uncomfortable.

Dying to my own comfort

and my own approval

really is painful.

And even at the same time

as I've wrestled

I've discovered actually

increasingly

the heart of Jesus

that actually

as we are rejected

we see how incredible

his love for us is

that he was rejected

even by us

in so many ways

and yet

we just sense

more of what he's done

for us.

But secondly

I've also discovered

the liberation

from being freed

from actually

all these things

that have enslaved me

the fear of other

people's opinions

when suddenly

you're able to be bold

and actually

it doesn't matter

what people come back

with you

and you discover

that Jesus

is truly enough

that there is

this joy in Jesus

that he is truly

your life

then

the gospel penny

just drops deeper

into your heart

and you realize

that what he is saying

is true.

you will never

understand

brothers and sisters

just how valued

and how loved

you are

by the king

of the universe

by simply sitting

and listening to sermons

or simply doing

bible studies

though good

though those are

we've got to take

our faith public

and as we do

we will experience

all kinds of

different things

will happen

rejection

for some

death

even for others

but we'll begin

to taste

life

in him

in a richer

deeper way

this is the courage

we have

as God calls us

and sends us out

on his mission

but finally

the promise

of mission

and again

this is just amazing

because Jesus

though he promises

suffering

in his mission

he doesn't

leave it there

he's got this

extraordinary promise

for us

as we go out

into loving

the city

the end of April

as we go out

into all the

different things

that God is calling

us to

in the neighbourhood

in the love

offering

he gives us

this promise

verse 40

whoever receives

you

watermark family

receives me

and whoever

receives me

receives him

who sent me

now think about

this

this is incredible

it just blew me away

when I read this

you see what he's saying

is do you know

how the kingdom

of God

comes

and spreads

in Hong Kong

and in Asia

and around the world

how Jesus the king

the sovereign creator

of all the galaxies

the one who has

all power in his hands

the one who could

who breathes

and speaks

and life happens

that God

has chosen

to reveal

his kingdom

and to draw people

to his kingdom

to restore

and to heal

through

ordinary

broken

individuals

like you

and me

that as we go out

and the people

who do receive us

they receive Jesus

and they receive

the father

and they receive

the kingdom

that's awesome

right

you see

marriages

will be broken

which will

be restored

as we go out

self-centered

individuals

will become

those who have

compassion

and serve

other people

divided families

will find healing

the sick

will be restored

there will be

lives which

will just

crushed

and hopeless

which find

a savior

who restores

and gives them

a life

to live

and hope

for the future

you know

above us

where we live

there's a

there's a couple

there's actually

a couple

of units

but there's

a couple

with a young

child

that have

just moved

in

and I got

chatting to

them the other

day

and they've

actually just

moved in

to

sorry

they left

some very

successful careers

they're still

quite young

to work

and serve

amongst some

teenage girls

who were

school dropouts

whose parents

had abandoned

them

or just in

a whole load

of messy

situations

and they've got

two or three

of these girls

living with

them

and they

said at

times it's

just been

a nightmare

because troubled

kids have

issues right

and when they're

in your home

that makes it

even more

real

but they

said each

one of these

girls has

actually come

to faith

and they

have experienced

they're now

getting back

into the

schooling

system

their lives

are being

turned around

and these

couple are

not being

hauled in

front of the

courts

in fact the

social security

system are

referring cases

to them

but they

are looking

like Jesus

and they are

learning to

die to their

own comfort

and follow

where Jesus

takes them

you see God

is calling us

out on his

mission

to follow him

for every one

of us it's

going to look

different

it's going to

look different

but are we

willing to

say yes

as Jesus

sends us

out

because as

we move out

into our

city even

over these

next few

weeks

this promise

Jesus says

if you

acknowledge me

if you go

public about

me

do you know

what I

will go

public about

you before

my father in

heaven I love

to imagine it

like this and

I'm going to

close here

but when we

die we come

before our

father who in

his dazzling

glory we can

hardly breathe

but if we

get a chance

to

what we

would want

to start

saying when

he says to

us hey how

did you follow

me in life

and we'll go

hey I just

think I didn't

do a great

job I was

sometimes I was

cowardly

sometimes I just

felt like things

didn't work the

way I wanted

them to

sometimes it's

frustrating

sometimes I

fumbled over

my words I

tried to share

with people

didn't always

work I tried

to live for

you but you

know and just

as we're kind

of going through

this Jesus will

cut us off and

he'll say turn

around and behind

us there will be

this queue of

hundreds and

hundreds of

people snaking

around longer

than a queue for

an iPhone new

iPhone launch and

some of the people

you'll recognize and

some of the people

you won't and

each one of them

will have a

testimony to share

of how God had

used you to

bring him into

the kingdom and

Jesus will say to

the father look

father this is

what you did

through your

faithful servant

Yidi Echo Greg

Gary Margo Kathy

Brian Henry Joe

Chris carry on the

list of water

markers and the

whole of heaven

will stand on its

feet in applause

a resounding

standing ovation

not for you but

for the father the

son and the Holy

Spirit for the work

that they did in

your lives that the

fruit of Jesus

death was that

people ordinary

broken people like

you and me were

willing to have

scars on us but

bore so much fruit

in our lives and he

will get the glory

let's pray

father I pray that

even as we hear

what is just a

it's just really

challenging Lord

but Lord you

promise that you

are going to be with

us

and so I pray for

us even as we

hear this Lord I

pray that in our

hearts that

actually we'd feel

that sense of fear

of what it really

means to follow you

but then we would

look up and see

what a kind of

saviour you are

what a kind of

awesome but

compassionate and

gracious God you

are and Lord that

we would bank our

lives on you and

you would send us

out this week you

would send us out

every single one of

us into loving the

city Lord every

excuse that we put

up Lord I pray that

you would remove

that because we see

that in your hands is

our life our lives are

not in our busyness

our lives are not in

our exams our lives are

not in our studies our

lives are not in our

workplaces our lives are

not even in our

families good gifts

though all of these

are our lives are

held in you and so I

pray that you'd make

us a people of faith

a people have so many

stories to tell of how

you broke through and

used us insignificant

though we are for your

glory and your kingdom

in Jesus name Amen