Vision Sunday - Part 2

You're listening to a podcast from Jubilee Church,

Farnham. To find out more, visit www .jubilee

.church. Wonderful. We've got a few more parents

coming back, but great to have you all here for

our second of our Vision Sundays. I hope you

found last Sunday helpful as we considered our

why. And if you didn't, you can listen to it

on... website, but trying to just paint a bigger

picture for why we're doing the things that we

wanted to do. But at the beginning of the year,

we like to try and say a little bit about what's

happening this next term. We do it again in January

a little bit, but hopefully you'll find it encouraging

because as we looked at last week, there's a

force at work that's out to destroy and steal

and kill. But there is one who comes to bring

life and life to the full. Amen? Do we believe

that? I really hope more of us do, really. Because

that is the truth. There's one who comes to bring

life and life to the full. And there's a force

that's against that, trying to rob us, trying

to steal from us, trying to... Distract, distort.

That's why I love that last song that Nathan

sang that led us in. There's a force at work

against him, but the victory is that Jesus came

and he's here to give us life, life to the full.

And we've really got to get that why in our heads,

I think, that God so loved the world that he

gave his one and only son that whoever believes

in him shall not perish. but have everlasting

life. That's why we're here. That's why we meet

on a Sunday. It's why the set -up team have already

done hours. The PA team have already done hours.

The kids' work team have already done hours,

before we even start. That's our why, because

God so loved the world that he sent his son.

Jesus came from heaven. And from that moment,

we see the kingdom of heaven. breaking into the

world. That's what's happening amongst us. We

look at the news, we look at the bleakness of

the world at the minute, but there is a kingdom

of heaven that is breaking in to that darkness.

We live in the now, not yet, as we often say.

Jesus' rule isn't fully seen. One day it will

be, and there'll be no more pain or war or...

Anything like that. But we live in the now and

not yet. The in -between times of Jesus coming

and then coming again. And Jesus is breaking

in. His kingdom is breaking in. And the thing

that we were looking at last week is that we

are his body that he uses to see some of that

kingdom advance. That's why the church is such

a wonderful thing. Such a marvelous thing. Such

a significant thing. We can get caught up in

the narrative that there is out there that the

church is on the decline and all that sort of

stuff. It's irrelevant these days. But the reality

is that isn't the case around the world. The

kingdom of God is advancing. And the kingdom

of light is breaking into darkness. And we want

that to happen in our neck of the woods as well.

Amen? We want to see it. And we have a big part

to play in it. Because the church is the thing

that God uses to see that happening. So last

week we looked at Ephesians 1 and how the Apostle

Paul wanted his church in Ephesus to grasp, first

of all, the majesty of Jesus. The all -powerful

nature of Jesus. Just the sheer wonder about

who Jesus was. And all the spiritual blessings

that are for us that flow out from that. And

so that's why I wanted to start with that last

week with the why. That all the spiritual blessings

that we have in Christ are for us at this time.

But there's one who wants to rob us of them.

To distort things. But his time has come. And

we want to see life coming. delivered from that

so that we can live, as we were saying last week.

See, the church, he says, is not peripheral to

the world, but the world is actually peripheral

to the church. I mean, that is a big thing to

say, isn't it? The church is Christ's body in

which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything

with his presence in this school hall on a Sunday

morning. And lots of other school halls and buildings

and all sorts of other places as well. The church

is Christ's body in which he speaks and acts.

In which he fills everything with his presence.

Isn't that magnificent? If you continue to read

in the message, chapter 2, just the first few

verses, let me just... Read this and let this

just sink into your souls as we're starting our

morning. It wasn't so long ago, he continues,

that you were mired in that old stagnant life

of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know

the first thing about living, tell you how to

live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief

and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it.

All of us doing what we felt like doing when

we felt like doing it. All of us in the same

boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper

and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead,

immense in mercy and with an incredible love,

he embraced us. He took our sin, dead lives and

made us alive in Christ. He did it all on his

own with no help from us. Then he picked us up

and set us down in highest heaven in company

with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where

he wants us. With all the time in the world and

the next to shower grace and kindness upon us

in Christ Jesus. Are you hearing this? Saving

was his idea. And all his work, all we do is

trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's

gift from the start to the finish. We don't play

a major role. If we did, we'd probably go around

bragging that we'd done the whole thing ourselves.

No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does

the making and the saving. And then listen to

this. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to

join him in the work he does. The good work he

has gotten ready for us to do. Work that we had

better be doing. Sorry for the American vibe

there. Unless you're American. In which case,

we're not sorry. He creates each of us by Christ

Jesus to join him in the work he does. Isn't

that amazing? The good work he's got ready for

us to do. Work that we better be getting on and

doing, is what he says. And that's what's happening

amongst us, Jubilee, in so many ways. It's why

they're practicing the way. motto is so powerful

for us to be with Jesus to become like Jesus

and to do as Jesus did you're making the connections

that's why we've been looking at all these things

behind it is a desire to encounter Jesus be like

him and do as he did and and this Sunday he's

calling each one of us to join him in the work

he's doing Each one of us in this room has got

good works that he's gotten ready for you to

do. And whether you're here this morning full

of faith and passion and right on in there in

your prayer lives and your fasting and your solitude

and all the other things we've been looking at,

he's got... Things for you to do. But also, if

you've just come to faith, he's got things for

you to do. If you've drifted from Jesus, he's

got things for you to do. If you feel like a

prodigal and you're coming back to him, he is

there ready to embrace you. Because he's got

things for you to do. He's created in Christ

Jesus for all of us things to do. But there is

a force that's out to distract you from that,

to destroy that, to distort that, to put you

off embracing what he has got for you in this

next season. Don't be robbed. Because Jesus says,

I come that you may have life and life to the

full. And that's his promise. And he's the winner.

He's the one who has the victory. He's the one

who all authority has been given. He's the one

in charge. He's the king over everything. If

he tells me to love, I love. If he tells me to

serve, I serve. That's the one who we come to

worship. So don't write yourself off. Don't say

to yourself, I haven't got enough time. I haven't

got enough gifts. I've messed up too many times.

I just feel lost. This is a moment for you to

say, no, I don't want to be robbed. I want to

find the one who brings life because he's got

stuff for me to do. And if I'm in the good of

that and the flow of that, good things happen.

And we see the kingdom of darkness retreating

and the kingdom of light advancing. Amen? But

God's got things for us to do. And this Sunday

is a bit more around what we're going to do than

the stuff that we were talking about. And I want

to try and paint a picture this week of our how

and our what. So we looked at why, and we're

now looking at our how and our what. what we

plan to do through this term. And it's going

to be a really quick little, this is the sort

of, trying to capture the whole gambit of what

we're going to try and do. And if you're, and

I'm trusting that as I do it, that the Spirit

might just whisper to different people. Yeah,

get involved with that. Find out about that.

Because I think he's calling some of you into

things that you didn't even anticipate doing

this autumn, which I think is going to be exciting

for you to do. So I'm going to try and quickly

go through it all, and then we're going to conclude.

But it's all based, if you like, on our little

things that we have up here, the Great Commission

and the Great Command. We have this little booklet.

It's very out. Now, if you look at the pictures

of the kids, look at that, very young. Anyway,

it's a great little booklet, though, and it gives

us our mission. Our mission is to go and build

a diverse church of world -changing disciples

in order to glorify God and make Him known to

the world. That's what our mission has been over

the years. It continues to be that. We still

want to do that. And in this little booklet,

it talks about our... the cultures that we want

to do it. We still want to welcome people. We

still want to have a culture of welcome and hospitality

amongst us. That's the culture that we want to

have as a church. We still want to be full of

grace. We still want to love people. We want

people to know the grace of God through our acts

of grace to others. We still want to be Bible

-based and open to the Spirit. It's so important.

We're rooted in the Scripture. We're open to

the power of the Spirit. That's a value. culture

that we want to have. That's the how we want

to do. We want to be deeply rooted in prayer.

If we're not, we lose our way. We want to be

deeply rooted in prayer. But we also want to

be good stewards of all the resources that God

gives us. We want to reach for excellence, not

perfection, because that's hard work, but excellence.

We want to do things well, because it glorifies

God. That's what we try and do. It's why we try

and do things well, because it glorifies God.

We believe in good and godly, servant -hearted

leadership across the church. There are so many

leaders in the church that are good -hearted,

spirit -filled, servant -hearted leaders that

exhibit a confident humility. And we want to

see that in the church. It's the how we want

to do things, the culture we want to have. We

believe we're just a battalion in God's army.

It's not all about jubilee and fardom. That was

a prophetic word right at the beginning of the

church that I think Steve, I can't remember,

that we're Italian joining the army but changing

the course of the battle. That was God's call

on us 20 years ago when we started Jubilee. And

so we want to honour and work in partnership

with other churches. There's a conviction that

we have. Partnership is important with our commission

family. See the fruit of the Spirit amongst us,

don't we? That's what we're seeing as Jesus'

Spirit works in us as we go for the practicing

the way. It's the fruit of the Spirit that we

want to see evidence. That's how people see Jesus.

They see us full of love and joy and peace and

kindness and goodness and all the other fruit.

And as we encounter Jesus, we become more like

him. And when we do as he did, it's the fruit

of the Spirit that is evidence to the town. And

it's what is going to call people towards Jesus.

Amen? And we want to have fun doing it. That's

part of our culture. I mean, what's the alternative?

It's miserable. We'd be miserable doing it. No?

We want to have fun doing it. The Spirit's love

joy. That's the first one. Second one. Love,

first one. But we want to have fun doing it.

I love talking to those who come into the church

and they've been around a little while, especially

if they've been in leadership in the church in

other places. We had Tim and Emma around the

other week and asked, what do they notice about

Jubilee? And Emma said something like, in Jubilee,

people get involved. I thought, yeah, that's

really cool. We want to get involved, don't we,

in culture? Tim said, you take Jesus and the

gospel really seriously, but you don't take yourselves

too seriously. And I thought, yeah, that's the

culture. We want to have fun whilst we're doing

it. So what are we going to do? That's what we

were wanting to hear. Well, I'm wanting to tell

you. And you're wanting to hear. And I thought

the way to try and communicate this is through

our five G's that we have. We have these five

G's that come out of the Great Command and the

Great Commission to glorify, give, go, gather

and grow. We exist to go and share the good news,

to gather people where they can belong, to gather,

to grow believers into world -changing disciples,

to give ourselves in the service of others in

ministry and to glorify God in worship and joy

and forever. This is what we do. This is why

we exist. That's been there for years. It continues.

And I thought, let's use that as a structure

to say some of the things that are happening.

A lot of the things we do straddle, different

ones of those. You can swap me. Can you hear

me now? Thank you. Thank you. Shall we give him

a clap? There's some people who serve, okay,

and when they get it right, nobody notices. When

things go wrong, everybody notices, and it's

a hard thing. So well done, Ian, and PA team.

Let's give him another clap. A little booklet

that we've got here says our five Gs for those

who have forgotten them or might want to remind

themselves on them. Because many of the ministries

we've got sort of cross over different ones of

those Gs. But I think they help us give a little

bit of an idea of where we're going. And I can

just sort of unpack it a little bit. So our vision

is to go. That's one of our visions, to go and

share the good news. to go and share the good

news of Jesus Christ with thousands of residents

in our area and have fun doing it. We want to

empower many to go across the UK and the nations

with the compassion and love of Jesus. That's

part of our vision as a church. And do you know

what we are doing that? I looked up on the database,

the den, there's 137 kids on the register for

the den. Average about 40 each week. Two thirds

of them aren't the church kids. These are kids,

week on, week out, who are hearing the good news

of Jesus. Evane, Hayley, Nikki, Stone, Janet,

Lindy, Michelle, all the young leaders that make

it happen do a phenomenal job each Friday. Every

Friday, we're going and sharing the good news

of Jesus. Friday Youth, we've got 111 on our

database, although I think that brings in all

the Vineyard Church kids as well. But there's

probably about, oh, look, there's an average

of 30 each Friday of young people coming together

to hear about Jesus. Two -thirds of those aren't

church kids, but another generation coming to

hear the good news of Jesus. Sarah, Toby, Steph,

Tom, Anna, Jazz, Sam. Great team leading our

next generation into understanding who Jesus

is. Phenomenal things are happening. Refresh

Cafe. There's 38 now people who are regularly

coming to the Refresh Cafe. Ifean has done a

fabulous job with her team. Hayley, Lorna, Locke,

Carrie, Claire, Leslie, Io, Joe, Sarah. Wonderful

team of people caring for mums, dads and their

little ones and sharing the good news of Jesus.

Big news, Rebecca is now picking up, championing,

leading the Refresh Cafe. Where is Rebecca? There

she is. Matt and Rebecca are superstars. They

are people who do share the good news of Jesus

with their friends, their neighbours, their neighbourhoods.

And I'm just thrilled that Rebecca has picked

that up. She said to me, do you know, we've been

using this book of resources, the little message

that's brought each week. But I think I'm going

to write them myself. I'm going to write it on

the fruit of the Spirit. And I thought, yeah,

go for it. Is that still the case? Perhaps I

shouldn't have said that. The book farmers are

good as well. We are preaching the good news

of Jesus. Nathan's got a light party coming up

in the autumn. with the team who do that, impact

the light breaking into the darkness. I love

that Anna is still involved with the Lantern

Festival, where we robbed Halloween from the

town and turned it into a festival of light.

I mean, that was a major breakthrough in our

town. No longer a focus on Halloween, a focus

on the festival of light. It was our Anna who

sorted that out. We're doing wonderful things

to share the good news of Jesus into our town.

And this term, new things are starting. The Growing

Hope Clinic is a major advance in this town in

terms of the kingdom of light taking over the

kingdom of darkness. Building on Luminate that

Laura championed, who is a superstar. She's probably

out there now leading it. Sofa with Alison, then

followed up from that, when dreams change. I

mean, these are major programs helping families

with additional needs. And now we have a clinic

offering free professional services. I mean,

isn't that just a major thing? When I talk to

the town council, when I talk to people, they

just are amazed that a church is involved with

doing something like that. I am thrilled that

that is happening. So well done, Rick and Laura,

the trustees, Laura and Esther, Sue and Jim,

I think, and Paul Bryce from Grace Church. Well

done, Nikki, for taking it on. This is a major

kingdom -advancing opportunity to share the love

of God with people who so need those sorts of

services. What a wonderful thing that is happening.

We're still wanting to get the Transforming Lives

for Good into this school. Sarah and I nearly

got over the line with the old head teacher.

She said, oh no, this is so good, so exciting.

We need to get a lot of our senior team down

to Wading Christian Centre to talk about how

to mentor and how to do the counselling and therapeutic

work and stuff with young people who so desperately

need it. Unfortunately, there's a new head now.

Her EA has said, though, we're going to get a

meeting together with you. So keep praying. We

want to see that breakthrough. It would be wonderful

to see that way of going out with the good news

of Jesus. And it's not just the UK, the South

African trip. I tell you, it's going to impact

22 of us in a big way, but impact the whole of

the church in a big way. Going to share the good

news, but also learning as we do that. We'll

say more about that next week. But there's other

things happening this term as well. We've got

a new website that is being worked on. It's halfway

there. We've got to take a few more photos, which

will happen in these next few weeks, but we'll

warn you and you don't have to be in it if you

don't want to and we'll say when it is so that

you can get your hair right and all that sort

of stuff. But we'd quite like some photos of

people looking really unprepared as well and

just like normal so that it reflects what normal

life is. Social media, I'm working with Ben,

doing some good work on that. We're going to

see that happen because we want to communicate

better into our town through this term. And that's

going to be a major advance for us as we go through

that. We've got Christmas. I tell you what, it's

going to be the best Christmas we've had where

we're going to share the good news with Jesus.

I've even got animals this time. We've got a

nativity with real animals. happening as part

of our Christmas theme. We'll have our usual

nativity service. We'll have our carol services

where we want to launch what's happening at Wade

and Christian Centre in the new pods that I'll

say something about in a minute. Christmas in

Jubilee is going to be significant. We're going

to be reaching more people with the love and

the message of Jesus. But do you know what? This

term, we also are gathering churches together

for the biggest... evangelistic event there's

been in Farnham in the 35 years I've lived here.

I mean, we've got Nicky Gumbel coming to the

carol service in Gostry Meadows and it's a significant

thing to happen. I mean, Nicky Gumbel is probably

one of the most significant evangelists of our

era. He's, you know, there's 24 million people

have gone through Alpha now. It's in 110 countries.

I mean, just think about that a minute. I think

it's like a third of the country have brand recognition

with Alpha. I mean, these are significant things.

And Nicky Gumbel wants to come to Farnham because

he hears that churches actually get on with each

other here. And he wants to do his Christmas

carol service here in Farnham. I mean, this is

a major, major thing. that is happening in Farnham.

And we want to build up towards that. We want

to see it happening in a significant way. There's

going to be a prayer meeting on the 9th of November.

There's going to be an app that we can pray through

every street in the town in the run -up to it.

There's going to be some significant things happening.

But I have to say, there's a major thing that's

happening through the autumn as we're seeking

to share the good news of Jesus. want us to be

praying for it, being involved with it. It is

a tremendous thing that is going to be happening.

So we are going. But it's not all just about

going. We also want to continue to gather. We

want to gather and see Jubilee as a place, a

loving community where everyone can belong, a

vibrant, healthy community, gathering in socioeconomic

groups and many nationalities. A healing community

where everyone can find love, acceptance, hope,

forgiveness, guidance, encouragement, purpose.

What a vision, eh? To see. We want to gather

people. Can I just honour the New Day team? I

wasn't when they came back. Sarah, you did a

fabulous thing with the New Day. I know young

people have got lots of energy. Should we just

say that? And lots of, you know, opportunity

for mischiefness and things like that. But do

you know what? The fact that Sarah, Toby, Steph,

Tom, Theo, Catherine, Paula, Cheryl, set up with

Rafi as well, gave up a week's work to serve

28 of our young people at a festival like that

is phenomenal. So well done. Let's give them

a clap. Across the board in Jubilee, there are

people who've got faith and are doing things

that are seeing the kingdom of light advance

into the kingdom of darkness. And I think that

is a big part of it. There's a generation emerging

amongst us that is going to take the kingdom

of light into the kingdom of darkness. No doubt

about that. There's other ways we gather, though,

as well. The men are getting together. for all

sorts of things, breakfast, also some dinners

as well. Well done, Kenny and Matt and all the

team for that. Our growth groups are continuing

through the autumn. That's the place where we

feel we belong, where we feel we can be known,

where we feel we can care for one another and

really encourage you to get involved with a growth

group. If you're not involved with a growth group,

there's the Waving Christian Centre group that

anybody is welcome to. every Wednesday through

the programs that we'll be running you. But I'd

really encourage you to do that. We need some

more hosts for the next two modules of Practicing

the Way. So if you are interested and open to

giving your home up for four evenings, then talk

to Rick because we'd love to see some more of

those happening just to give more opportunities

for people to go into that. So all of that is

continuing about gathering. as a community. But

this term, we want to do some other things as

well, some other new things. So this term, we

want to also have a particular focus on our welcome

and our hospitality and how we help people become

part of the church. It's a big project. We actually

need a champion to make it happen. God might

be calling one of you right now. I'm not going

to do a finger or anything like that or look

at anybody. We want somebody who's able to say,

do you know what, and own, welcoming people,

getting to know people, helping them, feel that

they can be part of a group, helping them, helping

us in our communications with them. If somebody

fancies taking that on, come and talk to Rick

or I. It was great just to host a dinner, to

share, to talk with them. On the Wednesday, we

had a wonderful retreat with just the more evangelical.

Church leaders are able to bring people together

and talk about how, as churches, we can portray

what significant good the churches are doing

in the town. The websites that I mentioned last

week, these are significant things that are happening

within our town that communicate what is happening

across the town. Because we believe, don't we,

Psalm 133, that how good and pleasant it is when

God's people live in unity. For there the Lord

bestows blessing, it says, even life evermore.

So there's lots of complications, lots of things

we need to navigate. But I have a conviction

that as the churches come together, God's blessing

comes on Farnham and comes on us as we seek to

do that. Through the autumn, there's going to

be something called Love in Action, which is

like an exhibition. Come celebration, 6th of

November, celebrating all that the churches do

through food bank, debt advice, the bereavement

care, schools work, all the different things

that we do. And do you know what? I'd encourage

you to get along because what the church does

in the town collectively is phenomenal and is

powerful witness to our town. So we want to gather

people. In Jubilee, we gather people in the town

because God's blessing is coming on the town

as a result of that, I believe. But we gather,

we grow, we go. We also want to grow. I think

each of us in the church have got to keep in

mind and be intentional about our own spiritual

journey. Amen? I really think it's important.

The hand up at the end. You can't read that.

Oh, no, I can't read that. I'll read it to you.

I can give you one of these books. It actually

says we want to see a jubilee go into authentic,

world -changing disciples of Jesus. We want to

see children, young people, and adults develop

into spiritual maturity, living out purposeful

lives. We want to see believers baptized and

full of God's Spirit with a desire to apply biblical

truth to real life and relationships. That was

our statement. We want to grow. We want to keep

growing as a people. Individuals. Practicing

the way has been so powerful, I think, for those

who've really engaged with it and been intentional

about it. This term we're looking at scripture.

Powerful. Then we're going to look at community.

They're the two modules for this term. Really

encourage you to engage with it. If you haven't

already, it doesn't matter. Don't feel bad. Just

see how you can engage with it. The youth on

Wednesdays are doing it as well. I mean, it's

phenomenal that we've got young people who are

wanting to learn about how to be followers of

Jesus, apprentices of Jesus, wanting to grow

in the faith. I mean, it is significant what

is happening. And I want us to be praying for

it because it's important as we do that. Each

week we have in sunbeams, blaze and illuminate,

kids being taught truth, taught about how to

pray, taught about how to worship. All ages,

we want to see growing and becoming apprentices

of Jesus. I think we really have a conviction

that it is all ages who enter into this. We're

going to say more about that next week. Because

actually, it is together that we are growing

and finding Jesus. We need more help in Blaze,

just as a little sideline. If you want to get

involved with the kids' work, it will bless you.

Talk to her in vain. She would love to have just

a few more up in blaze, able to serve the young

people or the kids that we have on a Sunday.

What our kids' teams do is a phenomenal thing.

I can't give a list because there's too many.

Each Sunday, it's phenomenal what our kids' works

do. And it's because we want to see all ages

growing, all ages becoming apprentices of Jesus,

all ages becoming more like Jesus. We don't just

entertain the kids. We want to train them in

the way that they should go so that they can

make an impact into the world. And that happens

through Jabble, with the pre -teen girls, all

sorts of ways we see people and the next generation

grow. It's great to see Oakley going off to YWAM,

isn't it? Wherever he is. There he is. No, it's

not him. That's his brother who's really keen

he's going off to YWAM. Do you believe we want

to go, we want to gather, we want to grow? Don't

we? We do. We want to give ourselves in the service

to others as well. We want to be a people who

are serving. Big shout out to the setup team,

PA team. We need more on the PA team. It's why

we do safeguarding training. So blessed by Kenny

and Cheryl. Kenny said, is there anything I can

do to help? Can I help you with the Wade and

Christian Center? Because he knew that I rotted

the drains. And he said, what can I do to help?

Can I take all that off you? Joy. The trustees

do so much behind the scenes. If you could see

the number of policies that Ian has revised and

rewritten that we are now implementing, it is

phenomenal. It all has to be there. It all has

to be done. Most people don't even know it's

all there, but it's really important to keep

us safe, to keep us in line with things that

we need to be in line with. Phenomenal work has

happened behind the scenes. So a big shout out

to Ian, who's the chair of trustees, and our

trustees. I mean, they do a phenomenal thing

for us behind the scenes and give themselves

in the service of the church. And I want to just

say that they have done phenomenal work in our

building project. We met the architect on Friday.

I still think we're going to get our pods up

by Christmas at Wade and Christian Centre. Oh,

Ian is now despairing. Can you pray with me for

Ian and Neil who are doing most of the donkey

work? But do you know what? They are going to

make such a difference into that community. so

be such an enabling tool for us. Phenomenal amount

of work has gone on, but I want to see for our

Christmas events those up and running. So can

you pray that we get the right builder, that

they're able to fit it in their diaries? Because

this is a major advance for us as a church. Major

things are happening as we're looking to serve

our community and serve our town. Are you hanging

on in there? Is this just giving you an idea

of all the things that are going on? Because

all sorts of things happen that you're not even

aware of, really. In a couple of weeks, Rick's

presenting a lot of his PhD studies to all of

our commission leaders, because it's on commission

and how to help churches grow spiritually. It's

just a joy to see that beginning to impact beyond

us. I'm finding more church leaders coming and

saying, look, can I just talk about this with

you? And so I'm spending more time trying to

help other church leaders as well. There's lots

of things happening where we give of ourselves

in the service of others that I think is part

of God's calling upon us. Next week, we want

to share a bit more about our all -age serving

vision. The team went to the all -age worship

conference and got so inspired about how actually

we want to see kids, young people involved in

serving in different ways. We've always had that

as a value. That's why the young people are involved

with the den, why they're involved in kids' work,

involved in all sorts of ways, things that we're

doing. But we want to expand that. We've got

a vision to see all ages learning how to be apprentices,

how to be serving in different ways in the church.

Going to be so excited sharing about that next

week because we want to see serving as part of

our culture. Amen? And we do all of this to glorify

God. That's what we are here for. We want to

glorify God in all of this. Our Sundays bring

all this together as a wonderful celebration.

Can I just honor Chrissy and the worship leaders?

They, behind the scenes... I mean, there's two

meetings she's had this week, I know, with the

teams, leaders and the worship teams, consistently

preparing, learning, keeping their hearts right.

Honestly, well done, Chrissie. Let's give her

a clap. She's going to really tell me off now

and say, look, there's lots of leaders. And there

are lots of leaders out there, and there's lots

of team, lots of people, musicians. Honestly,

you serve us so well, and we're so grateful to

that each Sunday, to our preachers we're so grateful

for. We want on these Sundays to be a place where

we are celebrating all of God's goodness to us.

We say it, we want to see our church services

and gatherings full of thankful, vibrant, joyful

prayer and worship and passionate prayer that

glorifies Heavenly Father. who we want to reflect

Jesus and glorify God. Isn't that what we want?

It is, isn't it? That's what we want to do. It's

why we have our worship nights at the end of

our Practicing the Way sessions. There's another

exciting thing happening. Blaze Band is mutating

into Ignite. And so this term, Nathan and the

team are going to be taking some of our young

people and children to train them in how to worship.

And they're going to be leading us as we go into

some of these next services as we get towards

Christmas. A significant thing to see our young

people learning how to worship because we want

to glorify God in that. Amen? Just a taster of

the things that are happening. But let me conclude

with this. That's the what of the term, but let's

conclude with this. You know, there's lots happening.

There's a phenomenally exciting program. that's

been put together by all sorts of people. There's

buildings being erected, new systems, better

communications being put in place, a greater

focus on welcome, integration, greater focus

on all ages involved and serving. But it's all

about people, impacting people with the kingdom

of heaven and the kingdom of light. It's about

the lady who came to refresh one week after feeling

lonely and stressed out all week and said, you

know what, there's something about this place

that makes me just feel I've got peace. It's

like, what's the peace that's in this place?

It's about people. It's about the dad who came

to the den to register his kid and Hayley noticed

there was another kid in the car and asked about

this other kid in the car and the dad said, there's...

He wouldn't want him. He's got involved with

lots of different things, but he's got additional

needs and can't cope, and nobody can cope with

him. And he said, oh, we've got a ministry to

people with additional needs. Why don't you just

bring him in, see if he can come in? He loves

it. First place he's found that he can get a

dad just was in tears. First place I found that

would take him. It's about the pre -teen girls

who are going through so much at that age. So

many changes happening. Finding a place at Jabal

where they just feel safe. They can be honest.

Where they're encouraged. It's about people.

All that we're doing, it's all about impacting

people, isn't it? It's when young people come

to the youth group. who feel they don't fit somewhere

else, but they find a place where they can belong.

Do you know what? That is life -changing. There's

a new generation rising who need to know Jesus.

It's in all sorts of ways, isn't it? It's when

the men get together with breakfast and Kenny

shares the reality of life, or one of the other

guys do. There's just an honesty and an authenticity

about how life's hard sometimes. But do you know

what? They are moments where men can be changed,

transformed. It's in our growth groups when it's

about people, isn't it? When I hear little stories

of somebody who's in need, getting fed for the

next few weeks, or having a baby and being fed.

The care that there is for people in a group.

Just a concern for one another. It's about people,

isn't it? That's what it's all about. It's all

about people who don't know Jesus as well. Coming

to find a saviour. I believe this Christmas there's

more people are going to meet the person who

Christmas is about than we've seen ever in 20

years of Jubilee. And I'm believing that there

is going to be more people saved. The Alpha in

January will be bigger than we've ever seen because

God's kingdom is advancing. And if we embrace

this, people are going to be impacted. People

are going to find purpose. People are going to

find eternal life. It's about people. All that

we do is about people. Meeting Jesus. Being transformed

by Jesus. Becoming like Jesus. Beginning to do

what Jesus did. And do you know what? The world

is going to be changed as a result. Big statement.

We can't change the whole world, our little group,

but we can change Barnum. Jesus had 12 and 70,

120, we've got back to 120. He changed the world

with those. disciples, as we are apprentices

to Jesus and as we pursue these things through

this autumn, do you know what? We are going to

change the world. Do you believe it? I believe

it because all authority is given to Jesus and

he said he's going to be with us as we do it.

So please don't count yourself out. Please don't

be robbed. Please see yourselves as part of the

kingdom of heaven that's advancing. Amen? I want

to show you a video that Haley showed me this

week that is going to make you smile. Now I've

said it, I really hope it does. But I don't want

you to be just distracted by the smile. I want

you to watch, listen to it. It's a worship song

that in a way that you think, do you know what?

Everybody's in, in the kingdom of God. Whether

you're a child, a young person, especially young

people, you're definitely in. Whether you're

in your 20s and 30s and dealing with all the

pressure you have in your 20s and 30s and lack

of sleep. Whether you're in your 40s and 50s.

All the pressures that you've got in your 40s

and 50s. Or in your 60s and 70s, and that's when

your pressure really is. Because everything stops

working properly. Whoever you are, you're God's

handiwork this autumn. And he's got things for

you to do. And we'd love to help you find your

place to do them. Amen? Because Jesus came and

he offered us the most wonderful thing. He gave

us himself. And he said at that last supper,

this is my body that's given for you. Every time

you break it, remember that. This is my blood

that's shed for you. Each one of you. Because

you're his handiwork. You're... You've got jobs

to do for him. Things to serve him in. And he

gave everything for you that you can be his body

at this time in Farnham. So I want us to listen

to this song. Nathan's going to come up with

the band.