You Don't Need a Platform to Share Jesus
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Many of you would know and I've shared this a few times, that when I was at university, I studied science. Environmental science, actually, if we're gonna be specific. I probably may not have shared with you the reason why, and that was partially because I was thinking of picking a career that would take me into a lab or maybe a national park so that I would not have to deal with people.
I, Now, those of you that don't know me, and I'm sitting here with a mic, you're thinking that is a little bit odd, a little bit surprising." But I'm actually an introvert, and I would go so far as to say that when I was younger, I wasn't really even a people person. I I loved the natural world. I loved natural, and I still do, and I just wasn't a people person.
But I remember about two years into my university degree, and I'd opened up, and I was doing my devotions, and I opened up to the Book of Romans, and I read a passage that... And maybe some of you have experienced this before. You've read it before, but for whatever reason, as you're reading it, it's like it just hits you in the chest, and it's like you're reading it for the very first time.
It was like a revel- a revelation moment. And it was this passage in Romans 10:13-15. It says, "Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And then Paul goes on to say, though, "But how can they call on the one that they haven't believed in?
And how can they believe in one of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without somebody preaching to them?" And those questions that Paul wrote just hit me like a ton of bricks. And I remember just being so struck by this thought that people matter to God, like really matter. And I know that seems ridiculously obvious, but in that moment, something shifted in my heart.
And as incredible as the natural world is, the love that God has for people was far beyond anything that I could comprehend. Because God isn't just a God who loves. God is love, and we read that time and time again. John, who was one of Jesus' closest disciples, he actually wrote those exact words in a letter to the church.
He says, "God is love, and this is how God showed His love among us, that He would send His one and only Son into the world that we might live for Him and through Him." And this is the same John that wrote these words who also said that famous verse that we all know, isn't it? That, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life."
Not just a select few God so loved the world. And so here I was, this nature-loving student that was hoping to begin a career where I would never have to interact with people, and I began to see people differently. Because if people matter that much to God, how could they not matter that much to me? I didn't suddenly become an extrovert overnight, but God began to do something in my heart and change my heart with a love for people.
Because when we begin to understand God's heart for people, it changes our heart towards people. And ultimately, as a result of that, it changes the way that we choose to live, and that is what I want to explore this morning. 'Cause I think that for most of us who have experienced, genuinely experienced the love of God, we want other people to experience it, too.
Would you agree? Absolutely. We want our friends, we want our families, we want our neighbors and our coworkers to know Jesus and to experience the same love and joy and peace and the forgiveness that we found in him. And actually, it should be what we want because it's actually more than that. It's actually something that Jesus has called us to do.
And I was just talking with Jeff this morning about yesterday's GLS, and he reminded me about a a story that was shared there. And it's a famous story about President Kennedy. Am I getting it right, Jeff? Who visited NASA when during the space race, and he asked a janitor there, "What's your job?"
And the janitor said, "I'm helping put a man on the moon." He understood that his ordinary, everyday work was part of a bigger mission, and it's exactly the same for us. We have been given a mission, too, to carry the love of Jesus to people who don't know him yet, to carry the love of Jesus to the world around us.
But sometimes, maybe you would agree, there's a gap between what we believe and how we intentionally live that out. Because our days fill up quickly, don't they? I know how easy it is to get up in-- to get caught up in what I need to get done during the day. I remember one day at work, and it was a few months ago now, and Pastor Kev might remember this, but I felt like I was getting interrupted all day long.
Just a constant stream of people that were coming in and it was beautiful. These people were searching. Some of them were going through really heavy things, and I had the opportunity to encourage them, to talk to them about Jesus, to pray with some of them. And yet somehow, I got to the end of the day, and I turned to Pastor Kev, and I said, "I got nothing done today."
Because I was more concerned with what I had to do on my list than the people that God had put right in front of me. And maybe you could say the same. Maybe there are moments in your day-to-day life where you are so focused on what you need to get done that maybe you're missing what God is doing right in front of you.
Sometimes we don't need a different schedule, we just need a different lens And then you add to that this whole idea of sharing our faith. And for some people, that can seem a little bit nerve-wracking, a little bit scary even, maybe a little bit uncomfortable. But isn't it interesting how comfortable and how naturally we can share good news in other areas of our life?
Have you ever been to a really good restaurant and had the best meal of your life, and afterwards you find yourself telling everyone about it, right? "You have to go to this place. You've got to try the steak. It's the most tender steak I've ever eaten. It was incredible." You've just experienced something so good that you want others to experience it, too.
And obviously, the good news of Jesus is infinitely more important than a good steak. But I wonder if sometimes we've just made this whole idea of sharing our faith more complicated or more intimidating than it actually needs to be. Because if we have encountered the love of God, if we have experienced his goodness, if we have tasted his faithfulness, we have experienced his grace, and we have hope in Jesus, then isn't that good news worth sharing?
Absolutely. And so here's the question that I want you guys to consider today. What might change in your ordinary, everyday life if we start to see the people around us through the same eyes of a God who loves them beyond measure? What would change in your ordinary life? So I wanna explore that. And to do that, I wanna take us back to the early church, to the earliest followers of Jesus, and to a promise that Jesus made them that would change absolutely everything.
For those of you that are following along with our daily devotions that we're doing as a church, as we do our soap, we've just finished reading through the Book of Acts. And I don't know about you, but I love the Book of Acts. I love the story of the early church. I find it absolutely inspiring. And so what I wanna do this morning is take us on a little journey.
It's gonna be pretty high-end, because I wanna get through eight chapters. Buckle up, people. I wanna get through eight chapters of Acts this morning. And to set the scene, where we're at is that Jesus has been crucified, and He has risen three days later. He's risen from the dead. And now, for 40 days, He's been appearing to His disciples in Jerusalem, and He's been teaching them about the Kingdom of God.
So that's where we're gonna pick it up. Now, just for a minute, though, imagine being one of those disciples. You have walked with your teacher. You've watched not just your teacher, but your friend be crucified on a cross. You have experienced all of the grief that comes with that, the confusion, the fear, and now suddenly He's alive.
And so surely at this point, everything is about to change, right? It's got to, especially after everything that He's been telling them. In fact, the Jesus asked the disciples specifically asked Jesus that. They say, "Are you now going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" And instead of answering that question, Jesus actually redirects His answer, and He answers with this incredibly Extraordinary commission and promise, I would even say.
Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Now, there's a couple of things in here that I would love for you to notice. Firstly, He promises them power in the Holy Spirit.
They aren't being sent to do anything in their own strength, and that's really what we've been exploring across these last five weeks as we've journeyed through this series, Irresistible, being Spirit-led, not just trying harder on our own, and certainly not relying on our own abilities. The Holy Spirit doesn't just transform us internally, He also empowers us to live out the mission that God has for us and to participate in that.
Secondly, He says, "You will be my witnesses." You will be my witnesses People who testify to what they've seen, what they've heard, and what they've experienced. And for those first disciples, they were bystanders to, to witnessing all of this. They saw it all, didn't they? And now they get to testify to it. As followers of Jesus today, we still get to testify to what Jesus has done in our lives and through us.
And the other thing that I want us to notice in this verse is the geography. And I've Chris actually did a awesome little map up for us so that we can have a look, but let's have a look here. Jerusalem is where they were, so that's where it was all happening. That was where their immediate community was.
That's where Jesus was with them. Judea here, was the wider region around that, and the Jewish people that lived there, they shared much of the similar or culture and religious heritage. But then if you go north, you find Samaria. Now, it was, or there was a long history of tension. I'm trying to think of the word.
Megs has helped me out. Tension. I would even say hostility. Religious, cultural. And so when Jesus says "You're gonna be my witnesses there," he's not just talking about a geographical border. There's s- it's more than just distance. There's actual hostility that's been going on. And then he says, "And to the ends of the earth."
So this good news was going to spread beyond their community beyond their immediate gatherings, if you like, beyond their familiar surroundings, across cultural boundaries, and ultimately to the ends of the earth. And the followers, his followers, were the ones that were going to be the messengers empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Jerusalem was the starting point. It was never meant to be the end point The good news of Jesus was never meant to be kept amongst themselves. It was always going to go. And so acress- across the next few chapters, as we continue to make our way through Acts, we watch this story unfold. So Jesus, he's been there for 40 days.
He ascends back to heaven, and the disciples wait in Jerusalem, which is what Jesus had asked them to do for the Helper, right? And then the day of Pentecost arrives, and this is all described in chapter two of Acts, and it is extraordinary. And I would encourage you, if you haven't read it, to go ahead and read that.
But basically, they're all together in one place, and a sound like a violent wind comes, and then there seems to be like tongues of fire that comes and rests on people. And it says that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. People from different nations were hearing them declare the wonders of God in their own native tongue.
And then Peter, he stands up, and he proclaims Jesus. And in verse 41 of Acts chapter two, it says 3,000 people were added to their number that day. So the Church is growing. People are telling, they're declaring, they're proclaiming Jesus, and people are joining this community. It's a beautiful new community that forms.
It was like what Pastor Kev was unpacking for us last week. They were devoted to one another. They were devoted to the teaching. They were praying together. They were sharing meals together. They cared for one another, and they would share with others in need as, as people had need. And that command to really love one another was super evident in the way that they were living.
And the Church kept growing. It was all happening. By the sixth book in Acts, verse seven of chapter six, we read, "So the word of God spread, and the number of disciples in," where? "Jerusalem increased rapidly." It's extraordinary. The Church is growing. But remember Jesus' command. Jerusalem Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
And but the church is growing, and it's vibrant, and it's happening in Jerusalem. But as you keep reading through Acts, you discover that comes at a price, and persecution starts ramping up. And in Acts chapter six and seven we're introduced to a man named Stephen. And Stephen is described in such a beautiful way.
He's described as a man full of God's grace and power. Wouldn't that be a great way to be described by someone? And so he's chosen to be one of the, I think there were seven men chosen to help care for the widows, 'cause there was some problems, like some actual teething problems in this church that was growing so rapidly.
And Stephen is bold, man. He starts just proclaiming Jesus. He's speaking boldly, and opposition continues to arise. And eventually, he's brought before the Jewish council, and he confronts the religious leaders there. And he says basically, "Why are you resisting God?" They don't like that very much, and things escalate very quickly, and he's actually dragged outside the city s- city gates, and he is stoned to death.
And it's a pretty tragic moment, to be honest, in the early church. But it's also a pivotal moment, because at that point, The escalation of the, the violence, and the persecution just ramps up even more. The other interesting thing that I found when I was rereading this was at that moment where also Luke introduces another man.
He says just this really short verse where he says a man, there was a man named Saul there, and that Saul approved of Stephen's killing. And what I found fascinating as I was preparing for this was that very Saul, is the very same man who would later encounter Jesus, be absolutely transformed by the power of Jesus in his life, be known as Paul, and would later write those words in Romans that we just read at the start about how the whole world can be saved.
That anyone that calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And the very verse that I think changed the trajectory of my life was written by old mate, who is standing by and approving of the murder of Stephen. But at this point, he's not Paul, he's still Saul, and he's very much still opposing the church.
So then we arrive at Acts chapter eight. Sorry, I know it's quick. Are you following with me? We're through eight chapters of Acts already. It's good. Chris did an awesome graphic, by the way. I don't know if it-- The timeline, isn't that cool? You can see all the... Hopefully, I've hit all of the high points. But here we are.
We're in Acts chapter eight, and Stephen has just been killed. He's just been stoned, and it says this: "On that day," so you know, stuff's happening, "a great persecution broke out against the church" in where? Jerusalem. "And all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria." So the apostles were like the inner circle, like Jesus' close ones.
They stayed, but all of the other disciples, all of the other followers, there was such persecution that they were scattered. They were driven. It's not a missions trip, guys. It's not something that they planned for and saved for and looked forward to. It's persecution, and it happened suddenly, and they are being driven from their homes, and they are being driven from their communities because of persecution.
And imagine if you were there. There would have-- I, I think I would have been fearful. I'd like to say that I wouldn't, but I would have, I'm sure. There would have been fear. There was loss. There would have been uncertainty. Their lives have been absolutely and completely disrupted. But look where Luke tells us that they scattered to, Judea and Samaria.
Hang on a minute. Does that sound familiar? Let's just pop that map back up . Isn't that fascinating? The witnesses that Jesus said would go beyond Jerusalem is now happening. They're now moving into those very regions. And then we come to chapter eight, verse four, and it says that, "Those who were scattered preached the word wherever they went."
Those who were scattered. Who were scattered? Not the apostles. They stayed where they were in Jerusalem. It was the followers of Jesus. It was the ordinary followers of Jesus. I love this verse. I absolutely love it Ordinary followers of Jesus. The Greek word, which I haven't put up there, but if you were to look at the Greek word that Luke uses here for preached, the word preached, it actually comes from the word family where we get our word evangelism from.
It doesn't mean necessarily that they were all standing behind pulpits with microphones delivering messages. What it means is that they were ordinary followers of Jesus who were sharing the good news wherever they went. Persecution had driven them from their homes, but they carried the good news of Jesus with them wherever they went.
They had encountered the love of God. They had been empowered by the Holy Spirit, and now, even in the midst of incredibly difficult circumstances, they continue sharing the good news. How incredible is that? The love of God didn't stop with them. It flowed through them And then Acts 8:5 gives us a really specific example of seeing this worked out.
Philip, he goes to a city in Samaria and he proclaims the Messiah, and people listen, and there are incredible healings, and there's God's power on display. And then it says this in verse eight, "There was great joy in that city." Great joy. I love that they even included that detail in this record. A story that began with persecution and scattering now includes a community experiencing the joy of the gospel, because the people that went carried the message with them.
And here's what I love. The believers didn't stop being the church when they scattered. The church doesn't cease to be the church when this gathering finishes. You and I are the church, and when we scatter into the Gold Coast or wherever you are watching online, where you scatter into your world, into the places that God has positioned you, you carry the good news of Jesus with you.
These gatherings absolutely matter. We are strengthened, we are encouraged, we are equipped, but the good news of Jesus was never meant to remain in this gathering. It was meant to go out from here. And when we gather and then we scatter, and we take that good news with us into the places that God has positioned us, we take his presence with us, and we give people the opportunity for what?
Great joy. That's what living mission looks like. That's what it looks like to live every single day on mission and take that into the rhythms and the routines of your ordinary life And if we wanna see what that looks like, just taking that with us in our ordinary lives, we don't actually have to look further than Jesus.
And there's a cool story that I wanna very briefly touch on where we see this outworked in such a I'm gonna say supernaturally natural way, 'cause we can be inspired by this, and it's probably a story that you're all familiar with, and it's when it's in John chapter four, and Jesus is traveling to Samaria.
And what do we know about Samaria? There's tension, there's conflict. The Jewish Jesus is probably not super welcome there. But he ends up at a well at lunchtime, it even says. How specific is that? He's sitting at a well at lunchtime, and he's thirsty 'cause he's been traveling, and a Samarian woman comes up, and Jesus says to her, "Will you give me a drink?"
What an ordinary opening. So ordinary. But it actually resulted in quite an incredibly unusual conversation that followed. Of course, I've already just said J- Jesus being a Jewish man speaking with a Samarian woman, there was some hostility there, so it's, But what I love is that Jesus didn't let those barriers stop him from having an interaction with someone that needed to know the Messiah.
And so they speak about water, and then Jesus introduces the topic of living water, and ultimately he reveals himself as the Messiah. And then she, the Samaritan woman, goes back to her town, and she tells people about Jesus, about the Messiah who she has just encountered. And John records that many Samaritans believed because of her testimony, and it all started with a simple request: "Can I please have some water?"
An ordinary conversation becomes an extraordinary opportunity for a whole community to hear about Jesus. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're like, "Great story, but that was Jesus." He had a bit of an advantage in that he is all-knowing, and he knew what the lady was thinking, right? But it starts ordinary.
That's the point I'm trying to make. It can start just in the ordinary rhythms of your day. And I think that what we have to wrestle with and what we have to understand is that our love for people and our willingness and our desire to share the good news of Jesus, they're not separate things, nor do they have to compete with each other.
They actually belong together. And so what does this look like for you and I, Monday to Saturday, when we're out and about on the rhythms of our ordinary day? Peter gives us some pretty awesome encouragement that I wanted to share with you this morning. He wrote a letter to the believers at the time who were facing incredible hardship and opposition, and this is what he said to them: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
And do it how? With gentleness and respect. That's the blueprint that we have in sharing our lives. Be prepared to explain the hope that you have, not because you have every answer, I certainly don't, not because you've been, you're an extrovert, not because you have a theological degree, but because you've encountered Jesus.
And I think that it actually begins with something pretty simple: their story. It starts with listening. It starts with a question, "What's happening in your world at the moment?" What are they celebrating? What are they struggling with? Because when we genuinely listen, not listen to respond, but when we genuinely listen, we begin to discover points of connection in our lives.
And I've found this to be particularly true over the last few years. I have had some beautiful conversations with people who are Finding joy in seasons of waiting. Finding joy in seasons of waiting for healing or what- whatever it might look like, waiting for answers, waiting for circumstances to change.
And sometimes, as I listen to people share their story, there's a connection point for me to share a little bit about what God has been speaking to me about as well, and that's where our story can become a part of the conversation. So we start with their story, and then at a point of connection, perhaps we're invited to share a little bit of our story.
And because of Jesus, you have a story worth sharing. Your story is worth sharing. Some of you might have a dramatic story of transformation. Maybe like me, your story is more a quieter story of God's continued faithfulness in your life. Or maybe it's about how He's sustaining you right now in the middle of whatever hardship it is that you are facing.
If I had to sum up my testimony in 30 seconds, it would be this: That there was a time in my life where I felt insecure and afraid, and then I met Jesus, and now I have confidence and joy and life to the full. That's as simple as it can be, even when life is hard and even whilst I'm still waiting. And then there's His story.
So we have their story, we have our story, and then there's the most important story, which is His story, the good news of Jesus, the world's brokenness, our own brokenness, His Son willingly coming to us His death, His resurrection, and an invitation to surrender to Him and find in Him forgiveness and life.
Because ultimately, we want people to understand the reason for the hope that we have is Jesus Just as a side note, by the way, if you didn't know this, on our website we have incredible resources, and one of the pages, the tabs on our website, is called Living Mission. And on that there's a whole bunch of training.
It's called 411 Training, and it's super simple, and it's videos about how you can articulate your story and how you can share the three circles. You'll see it on the whiteboard over there. We refer to it a lot of time. The three circles is the gospel presentation. It's just a tool, and the tool isn't the point.
The person that you are connecting with is the point. But there's some great resources that you can have there as a practical way to become more confident in sharing your story and God's story. Because being Spirit-led doesn't mean that we should be unprepared, does it? We can still be prepared. We can know our story.
We can become familiar with sharing our Jesus story. But ultimately, what we need to do is rely on the Holy Spirit and trust that at the right time, he's gonna nudge us into an opening and into an opportunity to speak. Because sometimes the most extraordinary opportunities happen in the most ordinary places, in the rhythms and the routines of your life.
So I want to introduce you to someone who has been living this out across the last season and discovering exactly that. Would you make Portia welcome? She's she's stepping out of her comfort zone this morning to do this and I did
Speaker 2: make me.
Speaker: We were having lunch a few weeks ago, and we were having this conversation just about adulting, as you do.
And we ended up talking about building new friendships and connecting with people. And then about a week later I realized, man, this is actually what I wanna share about. And so I said to Portia would she mind coming and sharing a little bit. For those of you that don't know Portia, she's married to Taylor, and they have a beautiful one-year-old called Poppy who is-
Speaker 2: Napping
Speaker: fa- napping. She's napping. Having a
Speaker 2: sleep.
Speaker: And what I love about what we were chatting about that day was just how ordinary- ... it was, and that's kinda the point of this whole message, is that the supernatural, the ability to connect with people, it c- it happens in the ordinary parts of the rhythms and routines of our world.
So can you... You're a new mum. Yes. Your rhythm looks very different to what it did- Yes ... 12 months ago. What... Tell me about a time where you met someone just in a mum rhythm.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So I was telling Ruthie that Poppy and I go for a walk along the river nearly every day. We try to just get out. And it's like a circuit, so you'd walk and then you turn around and you walk back.
So I saw this other mum with a pram with a little girl. I said, "Oh, hi." And then Poppy and I keep walking. We come back and we pass her again, and this time she says, "Oh, I like your pram." And then we pull over to the side and we keep talking about the pram, but then we keep talking about other things like, "Oh, have you returned to work?
How old's your daughter? Do you live locally?" All those things. And yeah, it was just a moment for me to think, "Oh, I really have to get home. I have to really... I have to cook dinner. I have to get ready for work tomorrow," et cetera. But I just stopped, and I just gave her a little bit more time because I just felt the Holy Spirit tell me- she asked you a question.
She wanted to engage with you. Just take the time and talk to her. And that happens frequently, being a mum. A lot of mums in this room probably know. You'll be at the park and you see another mum and you have a little chat.
Speaker: Or a dog owner.
Speaker 2: Dogs, yep.
Speaker: Not that I'm saying they're the same thing, but like-
sometimes.
Speaker 2: A, a commonality. Yeah, a commonality. Yeah, and I just thought, "Just stop and talk to her." So we did, and then one thing that Ruth and I were talking about, she asked me, "So then what happened?" And actually, this mum gave me her number. She said, "Oh, we should get together, take the girls to the park."
And in the moment I was like, "Oh, okay. Yep. Stranger, she could be a new friend. I don't know." Anyway, so from that we've caught up and our girls are not too s- like distant in age, and we have lots of common interests. So yeah, I'm yet to share my story, but I was very encouraged to just stop because often, we have our agenda and we're doing stuff and we're busy and we have things that are on our mind, but we really have to listen to the Holy Spirit to stop, what I do anyways, to stop myself because, like you shared about your story, I didn't get anything done today.
But like what is on God's agenda? And I think I'm learning to listen to that more.
Speaker: Yeah. That's so good. And that's what's gonna be my next question was like what are you learning about being available even while juggling work, baby, marriage, like all the things. What does that look like?
What are you- what's God speaking to you about that?
Speaker 2: I think He is teaching me, and not just this season, probably across my whole life, that I have to build margin into my life for Him to move because if I'm too busy and I have my own agenda, where do I have room for Him to do these amazing things?
And I think when I'm only sharing today, one, 'cause Ruth asked me, but also two, because I get inspired when you guys share your ordinary lives. I get inspired when other people tell me, and I'm like, "I want cool stories like that in my life." I wanna be able to tell my daughter, "Oh yeah, I met this lady 20 years ago," and et cetera, et cetera.
But I have to make room for that. So that's what God's telling me.
Speaker: And lastly, what would you say to someone who's maybe not feeling confident about- sharing because it's a big step to go f- we were even laughing about as an adult, it's kinda weird to make new friends sometimes. Yeah.
Like that whole "Do you want my number?" Yeah ... is kinda putting yourself out there. Don't go there. So what would you say to someone who loves Jesus but is just feeling like maybe that boldness is not there?
Speaker 2: Brutally honest, just get over yourself. That's what I have to tell myself all the time.
What have I got to lose? Yeah. That person is God's child. Yeah. W- who am I to stop what God's doing? Yeah. And then secondly I'm an introvert too, and I'm not a super confident person. You probably think I am sitting here, but I'm so nervous right now.
Speaker: You're doing
Speaker 2: great. But ... Thank you.
But oh, now I lost my train of thought. What was the question?
Speaker: The boldness. Get over your- get
Speaker 2: over- Yeah, get over yourself. Yeah, just do it. What do you have to lose? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and it's, I think I would rather do it, and maybe it's awkward, maybe it doesn't turn into anything.
I'd rather do that and have that feeling like, "Oh, that's all right. Next time," than, "Oh, man, I wish I had did that. Oh, I regret that. That was a missed opportunity." 100%. I'd rather learn from that lesson-
Speaker: Yeah ...
Speaker 2: yeah, instead of regret.
Speaker: And the little times that you do it, like you've only gotta do it once and then suddenly you feel like you've got a bit- Yeah
more confidence to- Yeah ... go round two. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well done. And also, sorry. Oh,
Speaker: yeah.
Speaker 2: That train of thought has come back. Oh, it's come
Speaker: back.
Speaker 2: Yes. Train's come back. I think sometimes I, maybe this is true for a lot of people here, I always think, "What am I gonna say?" What do I have to say? And I think what you said, Ruthie, was first we just listen.
A lot of people just wanna be heard, and it's actually pretty simple. Like this mum just asked me about a pram. Super easy to talk about a pram. No pressure to talk about a pram. And now I just get to listen to her story, and then I can share if the moment is right. So yeah, one, get over yourself, what do you got to lose?
And just listen. It's pretty simple.
Speaker: So good. Thank you, Port. That's okay. That was great. I love that. Naturally supernatural, that's what it looks like to live mission. So here's where we get to you and the question that I wanna ask you. Where has God placed you? Think about the daily rhythms and routines that you have in your natural, ordinary week.
The gym, the cafe, the school pick-up line, your workplace, your home even. What might change if you begin to see the people that you encounter on that regular ordinary rhythm the way that Jesus does, with the love that God has for them? What would happen if you just started every single day with a super simple prayer, "Lord, help me to see people the way that you see them today.
Help me to recognize where you are at work, and give me the courage and the boldness to step into it"? Because living mission isn't about adding an obligation or something else to your week. It's about inviting God into the week that you are already living. So here's my challenge: have a conversation with someone this week.
Listen. Start with just listening and if the Holy Spirit brings the opening, share a bit of your story and a little bit of God's story. But just take the time to notice someone and ask a question and listen. You don't have to go somewhere amazing to be used by God. He can show up and be used. He can use you in the ordinary rhythms of your every week.
So over the last few weeks, we have been exploring what it means to become people of the Way, people who are irresistible, people that don't just follow a religion, but who follow Jesus, people who are led by His Spirit, people who love one another as He has loved us, and a people who are willing to carry that love into their worlds.
I began this morning by telling you about a uni student who was not a people person and hoped to spend her career never seeing or having to talk to people, and instead living my life in a lab or a national park. I am so grateful that God opened the eyes of my heart that day and began a work to transform the way that I saw people.
I'm still learning. I haven't arrived, but I'm learning what it looks like to live with that lens, with that perspective. Because every single pe- person that we encounter across the- our day-to-day lives is a person that God loves dearly, and we have this extraordinary privilege of carrying His love and His presence and His hope into the places that He has positioned each and every one of us.
'Cause the love of God doesn't stop with us. It flows through us. Would you pray with me? Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your amazing love, and I thank you that you see us and that you know us and that you love us beyond what we could ever comprehend or ever even imagine. Would you help us to be a people who see the people in our world like you do?
Holy Spirit, would you make us attentive to your promptings in the ordinary moments, in the daily rhythms of our life? And would you give us hearts that love and ears that listen and the courage to share the hope that we have found in you? Help us to live your mission, Lord God, and may our love, your love, not stop with us, but flow through us into the world around us.
Amen.