When You Believe in God but Not in His Church

My name's Andy and those of you who I haven't met before, hello.

I am together with Jay and Lydia, one of three trainee vicars

who are placed with a Christchurch here for this year.

I'm the one that you won't have met before, so hello.

We arrived, Lucy and Gideon and I, in Bristol in August of last year.

It was a bit of a rush getting here.

We'd found out quite late that we'd been accepted to come and train at Trinity

and we had to organise lots of things.

We had to let out our flat.

We had to find a place to live here.

We needed to, you know, arrange for moving and so on.

And so by the time we got here, it felt like a rush getting into the course.

And then, you know, a new course like that, it's a new way of life,

a new routine to learn, new knowledge to pick up, new friends to meet.

And so it was busy.

And then we got sick.

All three of us managed to get sick in the first half term.

And then the deadlines mounted up.

And with one thing and another, we went through the entire year

and I didn't feel like I had a chance to take a breath.

And it was June.

It was June by the time I felt like I had a little bit of time

and a little bit of space to consider the really huge step that I'd made in my life

by agreeing to train to be a vicar.

And do you know what flooded into my life, flooded into my heart and my mind

on that day when I stopped in a church and thought?

It was fear.

It was absolute blind terror.

Because, you know, I had a good life.

I had a good job.

We had a nice flat in a nice, exciting part of London.

We went to a great church.

We were members of a great church.

Who wants more than to be a member of a great church?

But there I was considering giving up all of that for something really uncertain.

You know, becoming a vicar.

Becoming a vicar means, Clive will tell you, poor salary.

Fewer choices than you get as an independent person following your own career.

And also the Church of England is great at times, but sometimes can be a bit funny.

And also being a vicar, Clive really does his best to...

But it's not cool being a vicar, really.

And I realized that I'm somebody for whom it's far, far, far too important

to look cool, to look good, to be impressive.

So there were lots of genuine reasons why I might be afraid,

but I came to realize that most of those were not to do with the C of E.

They were to do with me.

They were inside of me.

So when Clive offered me the chance to preach,

and there was the chance to preach on this passage,

on this topic,

when you love God but you don't love his church,

then I was like, that's for me.

That's a topic I can speak on.

So the book that we've been working through in the series,

The Christian Atheist by Craig Rochelle,

this chapter is all about people that he comes across in his life

who are really committed Christians, love God,

but for whatever reason haven't found a commitment to the church,

haven't found a way into the church family.

And he talks about all the reasons that they give for that,

but he also talks about just how important it is

to overcome those barriers and to become part of the church,

and that's what we're going to talk about today.

Craig Rochelle mentions a number of reasons

why people don't commit to church,

and I can relate to a lot of them.

How about you?

He talks about people who've been hurt in the past,

who've had a bad experience,

and that that puts them off committing.

People who don't feel that they've got anything to offer,

who don't feel confident,

who feel like they'd rather play it safe

and not commit and not be part of it.

And people who just don't feel they can find the right church,

the right one that suits them.

I can relate to every single one of those reasons,

and those reasons hold me back

from something that could be a real blessing in my life.

The passage we're going to look at today

is one of the few times that Jesus mentions the church directly.

Jesus had been ministering for a few years by this point.

He'd received some praise and some acclaim,

but he'd also experienced some opposition.

And he just heard at this point some really bad news.

His cousin, John the Baptist, had lost his life

because of his following the call on his life.

So Jesus, knowing what was ahead for him

and needing to process this news,

he took the disciples off to a solitary place,

a place where they could be away from the crowds,

where they could talk and have some time.

It was quite an amazing time for the disciples.

They saw Jesus feed 5,000 people.

They saw Jesus walk on water.

They saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes

into, you know, white clothes and shiningness.

And Jesus also talked to them about some tough stuff.

He told them that he was going to go on to Jerusalem

and he was going to lose his life there.

And he wanted really to make sure

that they knew who he was as well.

So he talked to them about who he was.

So in the passage we've just heard,

Jesus says,

So who do people say that I am?

Who do people say the Son of Man is?

By which he meant this person in front of you, me.

And they said,

Oh yes, some say Elijah,

some say the prophets,

some say John the Baptist.

But then he turns the focus on them

and he says to them,

What about you?

What about you?

Who do you say I am?

And then at that moment,

it's Peter's big moment.

Peter stands up and he says,

Oh, I think I've got the right answer.

It's like that Sunday school moment

or that school moment, isn't it?

I think I've got the right answer.

It's inside me.

It's coming up.

I can feel it.

I think it's the right answer.

I'm going to say it.

I'm going to say it.

I'm going to say it.

You're the Messiah.

You're the Son of God.

I can really relate to Peter in that moment.

That kind of,

he'd seen Jesus ministering.

He'd seen a lot of stuff.

And he felt like it was adding up for him.

He knew what it was all about.

There was something in Jesus that was different,

that was important,

that was special,

something of God.

And in that moment,

when Jesus asked that question,

he thought,

I'm going to say it.

I don't care if I look foolish.

I'm going to say it.

And that was a moment that changed everything for Peter.

Jesus says to him,

Blessed are you,

Simon,

son of Jonah,

because this has not been revealed to you

by flesh and blood,

but by my Father in heaven.

He says that Peter,

Simon Peter,

is blessed

because he's heard from God.

And that's a blessing.

And because he's had the courage

to follow up on what he's heard

and follow it with his life.

And because he's right,

because he's got the right answer.

He's onto the source of life.

And Jesus goes on to say,

and I tell you that you are Peter.

So often,

this disciple's called Simon Peter

because Jesus is giving him a new name.

Jesus says,

you are Peter,

and on this rock,

I will build my church.

This was a humble guy,

a bumbling guy.

He came from,

he was a fisherman.

And he came from a backward part of Israel.

And he was a guy

who got stuff wrong all the time.

He was keen,

but he got the wrong end of the stick.

He failed.

He did silly things.

And he was going to continue

to be all of those things.

But actually,

in this moment,

Jesus is saying,

I see beyond that.

I see something else beyond that.

I see strength in you.

I see faithfulness in you.

I see something in you

that a church can be built on.

And it's really significant

that he gives Peter

this new name,

Peter,

because of course,

Peter is a play on words of rock.

So I'm going to build

on this rock,

my church.

But just the mere idea

of changing a name

is significant in the Bible.

Names in the Bible

are never coincidental.

They're never random.

They've always got a deep meaning.

And there were two other famous people

in the history of God's people

whose name was changed.

Abraham.

His name was changed

from Abraham to Abraham.

Jacob's name was changed

to Israel.

And in both cases,

God wanted to say something

through that change.

He wanted to say

something about their character,

but also something about

the role that they were going to play.

In all of those,

in those two people,

God was going to build

a new people of God.

They were going to be

the foundation stones

for a new people,

a new family,

a new people group.

And it was the same for Peter.

Abraham and Jacob

had incredible encounters

with God.

But not everybody

was going to have

that kind of encounter.

So God created through them

a people

who could show the world

what God was like.

And that's what he's doing

with Peter as well.

Peter was able to walk

face to face

with Jesus

in the years

that Jesus was on this planet

ministering.

How few people

get that opportunity.

And so God creates

through Peter

a people group

that can show

God to the world.

It takes a people

to change the world.

God knows

what he's doing.

That's always been

his way of doing it.

And it's his way

of doing it now.

The church

that was described

in Acts,

in Acts 2

and in Acts 4

the church

that just erupted

in Jerusalem.

It turned Jerusalem

upside down.

And some of that

was through

amazing preaching

because Peter

became this amazing preacher

and the others did too.

But as much as that

it was about

the lives

that they lived

and people witnessing

their lives

and going

wow

there's something

different there.

There's something

important there.

There's something

life changing there.

There's something

of God

in these people

and I want to know more.

It's great to be

welcoming Joy

and Edie

into the church

family today.

And it's exciting

to think

about Donna

and Dave

and those two guys.

You know

what is their family

going to become?

And who

you know

what will people

that witness

their family

see in them?

Will they see God?

I'm sure that they will

and it's exciting.

I was

I stare

share a study

at my college

with a guy called

Ben who's amazing.

I'm totally

in awe of Ben.

He and his

wife Sarah

have got six kids

under the age

of ten.

Six kids.

And

I had lunch

with the

on a Friday

they often bring

their six kids in

and I had lunch

with them

all of them

on one big table.

It was amazing.

They're lovely kids.

And I was just

talking to Sarah

and she was saying

God uses their family

so much

to do his work.

They just invite people

to come and be part

of their family

and those people

see something

in that family

that they've not

experienced elsewhere.

Earlier this year

an eleven year old

girl who was

their neighbour

gave her life

to Jesus.

She doesn't have

a church family.

She's got no

background in church

but she was just

around their house

all the time

and she saw

in them

something amazing

and she gave

her life to Jesus.

I'm sure

you could tell

stories like that

of your family

or your friends

of your church.

I could tell you

a story.

In my church

in King's Cross

every year

we do a social

outreach project

in a deprived

estate near us

and we do

improvement works

in the estate

we do social

activities

and sometimes

we decorate

people's houses

and there was

one guy

a couple of

years ago

who had

just so profound

needs

such multiple

needs

his name

was Joseph

and when we

went round

to his house

they'd ask

could we help

to decorate

his house

and it was

phenomenal

to see the

state that he

was living in

I couldn't

believe it

it was dirty

it was untidy

it was dilapidated

and so we went

in there

and we decorated

and we did

a great job

we cleaned it

and cleaned it

and we redecorated

and it looked

great at the end

but much more

profound than

the decoration

of his flat

was the experience

that Joseph had

in those days

as I say

he's an elderly

guy with really

profound needs

and he was

very lonely

it says in the

bible that

God puts the

lonely in families

and for those

days

we had to get

him out of his

flat because we

were decorating it

and so we just

surrounded him

with people who

looked after him

and loved him

and it affected

him profoundly

we stayed in

touch with him

sadly a few

months later he

died but do you

know what I know

that those days

and the months

afterwards were an

experience of heaven

for him because he

had been he'd

experienced love

he'd experienced

God in meeting us

I know you can tell

stories just like

that that's why the

church exists

because it takes a

people it takes a

family it takes a

group to change

the world it takes

a group to show

God and that's the

invitation that is

ours this morning

God is God has

always worked through

a group of people

he needs a group of

people to show the

world himself and

his invitation to you

and his invitation to

me is do you want to

be part of that do you

want to be part of

something like that and

I don't know about you

but my answer is yes

but then my courage

fails it took courage

for Peter to respond

in that moment that

we've been talking

about I know who

Jesus is I know it's

inside of me I can see

it but it would have

been terrifying to have

said that thing that he

had to say in front of

everybody and it would

have been terrifying for

him to have followed

the call that was on his

life from that day on

he followed Jesus to

Jerusalem watched him

executed his friends and

families scattered he

went on to speak in

front of thousands of

people in Jerusalem he

spoke in front of

authorities that were

trying to put him

behind bars they

succeeded in putting him

behind bars he

eventually died in Rome

because of his faith

he's martyred in Rome

they say that he was

crucified upside down

right because he didn't

want to be crucified the

way that Jesus had been

so huge huge consequences

from follow that call

but I don't think he

would have chosen anything

different you know he's

he was part of founding a

movement that literally

billions and billions and

billions of people have

signed up to since then I

don't think he'd choose

anything different as for

me I feel God is calling

me to consider this thing

about vicaring it's just a

from it's that's the

particular type of calling

that he seems to be

talking to me about and my

courage fails I'm terrified

but I'm determined to

follow the call somehow

anyway Lucy and I my wife

we're talking about this

fear what is this fear that

you've got in you Andy where

does it come from why is that

holding you back how can we

change that and I'm hopeful

that we'll manage but I

wanted to ask you what about

you what's the step that

you feel God is asking of

you what's the commitment to

his church or to him in your

life that he's asking of you

today

you

me

yeah