A Recent "Missional" Experiment

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It's difficult to gather your thoughts after a song, I think it is. After a song sang like that, I was just thinking, Lord, lift my arms in worship to you until my arthritis kicks in and I can't lift them anymore. We've come to a time, school holidays, where—I'm thinking of Christmas holidays already—school holidays, where we're in a sort of a gap between doing books of the Bible, integrated studies, and for the next couple of weeks we're going to look at different aspects of Scripture. And today I'm going to be having a look at discipleship, a life that leads others to the gospel. I'm going to be doing it out of Colossians 3. So if you want to get your Bibles ready, or you want to get your phones or appliances ready, whatever you use, I might get you to do that, but we'll read from there in a moment. I've been watching with interest recently of a missional experiment, and this missional experiment was the NFL. And from America, the National Football League, a multi-billion-dollar industry. Sport is a huge thing in America. This is the number one sport, and they've decided to take their gospel to the other sides of the world. Now they've played in London the last few years, and that's only a few hours across the pond. But this year they've decided, and for the next four years actually, they've got a commitment with the Victorian government to go to Melbourne. And of course they picked the MCG, the biggest sporting venue around. I think it's bigger than the SCG and holds 100,000 people. And they sent their scouts out ahead to sort of, during the winter or their summer, to find out what actually happens in Australia, what the culture's like. How can we adapt? How can we bring the message of the NFL to this heathen group of people, yet to discover it? And how can we make that message relate to them? And it sounds very biblical to me in their approach. And so the two teams came across. Now, one team came across a week and a half before the game. The other team came across 28 hours before the game. Now, believe the trip is 14 hours. I've never flown it myself on purpose. But yeah, and so there was different ways that they interacted. So the team that came across a week before, they immersed themselves in the culture. They got to know the people. They picked up the jargon, the idioms, the slang words of Australia. And they had the game at 10:30 on a Friday, and there was 103,000 people there. And they were astounded that people would take a sickie, as one of them said. He was quite proud of himself, had a Paul Hogan head wobble when he said that. He said, Yeah, so many people took sickies today. And that team won 27 to 7. The other team that came across late, they were the seven, and they struggled the whole time. They didn't get to know the culture. They didn't find out what the words were that were important to them. See, what they wanted to do, and that's why I call it a missional experiment, they wanted to reach that community, but they didn't want to water down the rules of their game or change that, but they wanted to know how to relate to people. Bible tells us that, doesn't it? We have a message in the gospel that's so awesome. It's so life-changing, it's so transforming. And so we're taking that into our community, and that's why I've been thinking and praying about what it means to be a disciple that lives a life that leads others to the gospel. Because we don't want to be just disciple by name; we want to be disciples by deed as well. That's what Jesus has called us to be. The wash-up of it was interesting, because all the good work that was done was almost undone. The coach that got beaten 27-7, he was filthy, and his team showed up glaringly underprepared. When he got back to America, he said, We're never going to Australia again. My team is never going there again. And so we thought, Oh well, this just put the Australians off, you know, if you're interested in that sort of thing. But sport's an interesting metaphor, isn't it? Australia's part of our culture, so that's why you can see why they use that as a place to go, sort of like, I suppose, a spiritual home of sport in Australia. And sometimes Jesus spoke in parables to make it relevant to those who were around. He still had the truth of the gospel, but he couched it in such a way that you could grasp on what he was talking about. The other thing, I suppose, that stood out to me was I'm not sure how far their research went back, but Billy Graham spoke in 1959 at the MCG, and 130,000 people turned up in 1959. Anyone there for that? He also spoke around Australia, but there's a great image of him there, of him reaching. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, that when we look at your Word, it's quite clear to us that you love us. First of all, you sent your Son to die for us on the cross, to be risen again. And therefore, Lord, we have eternal life through Him when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour. And Father, in His mission, He called us to be disciples that go out into the world and preach the gospel. Father, as we look at your Word today, look at this letter to the church at Colossae, Lord, just help us to understand it through our spirit. Lord, to apply it in our lives. Father, to make it meaningful and relatable, so that we can share the truth with others, that they may be saved. And we thank you for that privilege. Lord, we ask these things, Lord, in your name. Amen. So let's have a quick look at the start of—go to the next slide, please. Yeah, so just going to read chapter 3, verse 1 and 2, just to start things off, please. Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Interesting, he starts off there. He wants to let the church know that there is a hierarchy of looking at things. There's a way of seeing things, but first of all, set your mind on God. Don't worry about what you're physically about. Don't worry about what you can bring to the table. Set your minds on God. So a disciple who's going to live a life that draws people to the cross is one that lives their life in heaven first. They're not about works. They're about that faith connection. We have a list then of examples. Our life is an example. And if we read now, we'll read verse 12 through to 17. Certainly, can I ask you to encourage you to read the section in between and deal with God in your own time in that one. But this is what he says in verse 12. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, generosity, kindness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive each other. If any of you has any grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. And all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Since a member of one body, you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, songs and the Spirit singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in deed or in word, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him. It's a bit of a handbook about discipleship living, isn't it? It's about getting your heart right with God, but also it's about leaning into these qualities. One of the commentaries listed these as virtues. You can imagine Paul when he was writing this, he was sitting down writing on his scroll and he's sending this letter off. And I was reading a commentary one time that these were so rare when they arrived at churches that people would all come together, even if you weren't a church person, in inverted commas, you would come just to hear what the news was from the world. And as they rolled out the parchment, everyone sat there in awe. Are you in awe of God's word? Or are you going, Oh, I don't know what this is about. So we have this list of examples of life as an example in these so-called virtues, the characteristics for your new life. It starts off in verse 3 because he wants to lay it down quite clearly for us as disciples today that we are God's chosen and dearly loved. That doesn't mean we have a privilege to look down on others. It doesn't mean that we can get in first in line for the hamburgers when we go out at lunchtime, we have our picnic. Yeah, I agree. Thank you, brother preacher. Yet it does mean, though, that we have that intimate relationship with God which we need to cherish and value deeply. Scriptures tell us we're saved through grace. In Ephesians 2:8, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and it's not from yourselves; it is a gift from God. It's nothing we've done. We have this wonderful gift from God that says we're saved because of Jesus, and we have faith in Him. Bible also teaches us that we are bought for a price. So when we're keeping our eyes towards Jesus and say, Thank you, Lord, for what you've done, these are the facts that are true. And when you're sharing the gospel with folk and you're sharing your life with them, these are the things that are close to your heart, I pray. So in 1 Corinthians 6:20 it says, You were bought at a price; therefore honor God with your bodies. Wow. So you want to use what you have for the kingdom of heaven. Yesterday we came to church to show a couple around the church who were sort of wondering what church is about and what baptism for little ones is like, and they're an unchurched couple. And as we're here, we came across the sweatshop out the back doing the chairs, and— I came in unexpectedly, unannounced, to Colette's, or the whip, just got heads are down, and I was, oh. And that, so obviously it wasn't that, because we all know Colette, she's a prodder. But everyone was in such joy. This young couple going, What's going on here? I said, Oh, they're recovering the church chairs, and I told her the story. And they were going, This is amazing, you know, so many people here, and they're so happy. And yeah, they have to be. But one of the great things about it was that every morning tea, Colette said, Would you come and just, you know, have a short word of encouragement and pray? It was a great honour to do that. And what we talked about was that even though we're putting clothing chairs, I'm talking about, when we're covering chairs, the chairs are a part of the kingdom of heaven in the regard that we use them for the gospel. We use what God has given us, the talents, to contribute to the kingdom of heaven. And the question I have for you, while we're on that point, is what special thing has God given you that can contribute to the kingdom of heaven that maybe no one knows about? Something special that God has laid in your life that you can contribute to the kingdom of heaven, a skill that He has called you to use. So when we do that, when we understand that, the words used in the next word is clothe yourself. And when I was looking into that, what the meaning of that in the context of this part of the culture is you actually put on. So clothe yourself is you get into it. Arms go in the sleeves, and it comes on your back and you do it up. That's what the inference is in the Greek. Clothe yourself is put on these things. Clothe yourself in humility. Clothe yourself in compassion. Clothe yourself. I had a go at doing AI, and because Dave's really good at it and giving me some encouragement, so I had a crack at it. So I typed into this Copilot on my thing—I can't say the name because I'm not sponsored by it—typed in the thing, and I put, set in a trench coat. So I came up with a trench coat. What else would you like to add? Oh, I'd like to add compassion. So I said, put it on the sleeve, on the lapel, and on the collar. And so when it came back up the screen, I had all the words on one arm, all the words on this arm, but all the words down here and all the words across here. So I wanted, like, one with compassion, one with humility. And so I was going to use it today, but I must have deleted it out of embarrassment. I've got to say this: that is not my skill for the kingdom of heaven. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a go at it. I'll keep working on it, but I'll see how we go. So we have this life of example, living our life as a disciple as an example. We also then have a life that characterizes Jesus, and that is what the next section is about. It's interactions with each other that genuinely reflect Christ. So what the idea is, is that when we are doing something for the kingdom of heaven, we're doing a mission field, or we're out shopping, or we're driving, whatever we're doing as disciples, that we reflect and characterize Jesus. And that catches us off guard sometimes because our humanity rises up. Paul's encouraging the church here. He says, Look, just have a look at it this way. You've been given these things called the fruit of the Spirit. They come when you give your life to Jesus. They come in different measures, and they're built up and encouraged over the years. And this part of the list is in here. In Galatians 5, 22 and 20, it talks about the fruit of the Spirit. And that's the fruit that you show not only to each other, but also to the world. Because if you're a disciple living a life that leads to the gospel, the people you confront in every day Australia in the street need to see that. They need to have some glimpse of it, need some glimpse of hope. Young couple in question are searching out what it means. They're not religious themselves, but they know there's value in community. They've got some connection through the church from the mum being in youth group way back in the old days. And so she can see the value there, and it's a starting point for them. People are looking all the time for the gospel. Talking to the husband, he's a tippy, works in a gang, and he said, You know, need to say that, Pastor Doug. He said, There are a lot of my friends who go to church. I said, Why don't you go to church? Oh, I've got a baby, busy and all this, have all the things you usually say as a young parent, which is fine. But he does know more people, he said, and people are actually searching. So the question is, why aren't you searching? We are the ones that God has entrusted with his message. So you're going on camp, girls, and going on camp, you get to talk to young people who are searching. They sometimes want to get out the heck out of the house for five days, but while they're there, they're in a temporary community, and encourage you to live your life that others would want to know the gospel through you. So our life characterizes Jesus, and the words that Paul has written there in this list is compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. Those are the ones he starts off with. They're the gifts from God. There's no excuses. There's no alternatives. That is what the list is. A disciple who lives their life to lead others to Christ, to know that them know the gospel needs these things in their life. If you're lacking in these, I ask you to pray about it and ask God to show you a way forward. They come authentically from the heart. In Ephesians 4:5, it says, Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. If your gentleness is evident to all, your humility can be evident to all. Your compassion can be to all. Your patience can be noticed by all, because God is near. He's right there beside you. He doesn't take it away. He doesn't reduce it. He just says, No, I'm here, and he said, This is where it's got to come from, the heart. And the most important thing, I suppose, is, have I believe it is saying is that the inner becomes the outer. Those who are disciples of Jesus, the inner becomes the outer. Your personal faith becomes how you interact with people. They see it written on you, almost like the jacket that I was trying to find and work out. So we have a life characterized by Jesus. Then we go on to the next part. There's a life as an example. So disciples are people who live a life that leads others to the gospel live a life as an example. This goes beyond society and secular expectations and understanding. And that was interesting about the NFL mission experiment. is they bought this message that they had, trying to get people to embrace it, and as a spectacle it was fun, but there was no substance to it, because in Melbourne people are sports nuts. They'll go to anything. They'll go to two flies racing up a wall. They just love their sport down there. But we have substance to what we have because we live our life as an example. And this is the part that I suppose that the world watches so carefully, is that it says in Scripture here, in verse 13, Bear with one another and forgive one another. The words we say in public come from the heart. If we're struggling with someone in our life, we need to be careful who we share that with and how we share that. And the big question is, does our sharing honor God? We have a discipline of reconciliation in Ephesians 4:26 and 27. In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you're still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. If you're bearing with each other and you're willing to put things aside, you want to talk about it and get things sorted out, that is far, far better than taking that hurt with you into the public arena or outside of the relationship, letting everyone else know about it, not dealing with it, and then the evil one goes, Beauty, I've got them where I want them. There goes the message. I encourage you, if that is something that you're dealing with, bring it to God. Be honest with Him. Say, Look, I'm struggling with this, Lord. I mean, one of the pastors, myself, and the other guys here will have a chat to you if you want to. Please reach out to us. We're happy to help you navigate that as best we can. And to dig into your first encounter with Jesus. I say this quite often when I'm talking to leadership teams. What was it like the first time you found Christ as Lord and Savior? Can you remember that far back, Peter? It was a long time ago, wouldn't it? But if we remember what that was like, then we can see through the eyes of those folk who are seeking and coming in contact with us in every way, shape, and form. In John 13, it says these words: A new commandment I give you: love one another as I have loved you. So you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. If the world sees everyone in the church family getting along, bearing with each other, overcoming the obstacles of relationships and conflicts healthily, then they go, Well, this is a place that I might be able to help me as well. I encourage you to reach out for that. And then the passage goes in verse 14, and it says, And on these add love. Over these add love. Love, one version I was looking at, was the crown that adorns the rest. Having compassion, having humility, having all those things as disciples. If you've got love, then that just is the crown that sits on top. And you love those around you. You love the people who are seeking. You love those who are looking out for Jesus. And the last one of this section was that the peace we receive, we now employ. In verse 15, the peace we have now is that's what we employ. We can't employ it if we don't have it. And sometimes, you know, as a person in Christ, we struggle with that inner peace. We've been given it by Jesus freely as a gift, and he asks us to walk in that way. And I encourage you to seek that out if that's a struggle you have, because, you know, God's called you to a great purpose. He's called you something effective. He's called you something awesome, to be his disciples and have that impact in the community as we live our lives for him. The end of the passage talks about living life in the Word. As to our heart, as Baptist churches, we're people of the Word. Let the message of Christ dwell in you richly, richly, not just mediocrely, not just a bit of pâté on a cracker, but actually richly, and embrace that so wholeheartedly. The gospel is a message learnt and lived and shared. I wondered about this, and one of the questions I have about discipleship for us and anyone who loves Jesus is, how do you articulate the gospel? If someone says to me, Tell me about Jesus, I go, Okay, and here we go. And so it's always great to get your head around that. If you want some insight into that or want a few little tips, come and see me afterwards. I've got a little program that I've put together that helps to just take the words of Christianity and adapt them to our cultural language, and also gives just a bit of an overview to what that's like. But first and foremost, it doesn't deny the gospel, because the gospel is a message learnt, lived and shared. In 2 Timothy 3:16, we are told that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servants of God may have a day off one day a week and rest. So the servants of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Having the Bible in your hand, having it on your device and reading it helps us to understand it and apply it, and it's never too far away. We were sitting in home group, and one of the guys in home group said, They're amazed that I can remember where verses are in the passages of Scripture, and I really appreciate that encouragement. The man's been a long rope putting them in this thick skull, but it can be done. And you just try as hard as you can and trust God that he'll bring them up at the right time. So we live what we understand, we've learnt and we've shared. When we share the gospel, as Jesus did, we share it with grace and compassion. When we share with compassion and grace, we're not saying you're a vile, foul sinner. We're saying, This is what God has in store for you. This is his message for you. Worship that reflects the genuine relationship. In verse 16, the worship that reflects genuine relationship. I mean, coming up here to preach after that last song was really difficult, because I'm standing there singing it, and I'm thinking this is actually like, you know, a message in itself, that we worship differently. Some people have a different way of worshipping. Some people will get through half a song and then shut off because they've sung the first part and that's all it means to them. Some people will go outside into nature and they'll sit under a tree and just praise God. So it's not always the same for others, but it does call us to worship in some way, shape or form. And we can do that together corporately, of course. And most importantly, worship is sought by God. It's not what we think is important. It's not how we understand worship. This is how worship looks like at our church. Our first and foremost challenge is to worship as God would want to be worshipped. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. It doesn't matter how the songs are played. It doesn't matter what tempo they're in or how loud they are. The bottom line is we worship the living God. And we worship Him wholeheartedly and put Him first. My prayer is you're here today not because the barbecue trailer's out the back. My prayer is you're not here so you can nurse your grandson. You're allowed to do that, though. My prayer is that you're here to worship God. And the byproduct of that is fellowship, is relationship, and community we have here, and that's what our values are all about. The last part of this passage, and I'll just read it again. And whatever you do, whether in deed or within the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, give thanks to the Father through Him. So the question is, do you see what I see? Ever thought of asking a person you know who doesn't go to church, Do you see what I see? Do you see me as a Christian? Do you see me as anything like, you know, I don't know how you'd word it. Think about how you'd word it, but do you see what I see? We've got this ritual in our household. That I cut my own hair. You can tell. And I've got two types of clippers. I've got these round swirly ones that I do my head with, and I've got the straight ones that I do my beard with. And the ritual is not the hair cutting. The ritual happens afterwards, because I walk out, I look at the mirror and go, Well done. I walk out to Cherie and I say, How did I go? Do you see what I see? And she said, Turn around. Then she says, Go back. Okay, you've missed a bit here. And she's being cheeky, and I think she's done this on purpose. She lets me go out in public with a little bit of a fan tail at the back. And then two days later, Did you know your hair's sticking up at the back? How we perceive ourselves is not sometimes how the world perceives us. But if we are in God, we pray that they will perceive—that's what they will see. They will see something different. And that is the important part about being a disciple. You're living for God. You're loving God. You're committed to God. You're keeping short accounts with God. But also, is that they see a little bit of you in Jesus, or the other way around. So I encourage you about that. Ask yourself the question, Do you see what I see? Disciples live a life that brings others to life-changing experience of a relationship with Jesus. Did you know that's what you do? You don't live a life to go, I'm going to heaven. You don't live a life to say, Thank goodness morning tea is going to be yummy. You don't live a life saying, Oh, I've got so many good friends at church. You live a life that is going to bring life-changing of Jesus to people's lives. In the name of Jesus, we honour him in all things, and our actions are contributing to the kingdom of heaven. So, disciples, an encouragement for you: live a life that leads others to the gospel. That's your challenge for the week. Whatever ministry or mission you do, whatever job you have, no matter how comfortable you are in retirement, live a life that leads others to the gospel. Just as the worship team comes up, I'm going to read to you a little anecdote of a guy named Edward Kimball. You may have heard this before, but it's an encouragement to you how a disciple can impact other people's lives. Edward Kimball was concerned about one of his Sunday school students who worked at a shoe store in town. One day, Kimball visited him at the store, found the student in the back stocking shoes, and led him to Christ then and there. The student's name was Dwight L. Moody. He eventually left the shoe store, became one of the greatest preachers and evangelists of his time. Moody, whose international speaking took him to the British Isles, preached in a little chapel pastored by a young man with an imposing name, Frederick Brotherton Meyer, or Meyer. In his sermon, Moody told an emotional, charged story about the Sunday school teacher who had known in Chicago, who personally went to every student in his class and led every one of them to Christ, a committed disciple, no doubt. That message changed Pastor Meyer entirely, inspiring him to become an evangelist like Moody. Over years, Meyer came to America several times to preach, once in a Northfield, Massachusetts. A confused young preacher sitting in the back row heard Meyer say, If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing? Let me just read that sentence again. Very good for disciple to understand. If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing? That led J. Wilbur Chapman to respond to the call of God in his life. Chapman went on to become one of the most influential evangelists of his time. A volunteer by the name of Billy Sunday helped set up his crusades and learned how to preach by watching Chapman. Sunday eventually took over Chapman's ministry, becoming the most dynamic evangelist of the 20th century. In the great arenas of the nation, Billy Sunday preached and led thousands of people to Christ. Inspired by Billy Sunday, by a 1924 Billy Sunday message in Charlotte, North Carolina. You still with me? It's a long story. Hang in there. You might know the end. Yeah. A committee of Christians dedicated themselves to reaching the city for Christ. The committee invited the evangelist Mordecai Ham to hold a series of evangelistic meetings. A lanky 16-year-old sat in a huge crowd one evening, spellbound by the message of the white-haired preacher, who seemed to be shouting and waving his lone finger at him. Night after night, the teenager attended and finally went forward to give his life to Christ. The teenager's name was Billy Graham, the man who had undoubtedly communicated the gospel to thousands and thousands in the name of Jesus Christ. When we're disciples and we lead others to Christ, we don't know where the story ends. It's a story that encourages us to say, Okay, we've got Sunday school class. We've been praying over them. We don't know how many of those kids are going to grow up and just have a great ministry that way, or how many are going to go and contribute to the kingdom of heaven in any way, shape, or form. I want to encourage you, never underestimate the power of God. If you're a disciple, He's wired you to lead others to Christ. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, as we read through this book in Colossians, that, Father, it paints a picture for us, Lord, that none would perish, but all would come to know you. Lord, it gives us an understanding, Lord, of those values and virtues you set upon our hearts so we may be effective for the kingdom of heaven. And Lord, just like those list of men we read out, Father, we know we're in a long line of people who have preached the gospel and have brought the truth to our lives. Father, we want to put our hand up today and say, Lord, use me. Help me to be willing to be willing to walk forward for you, to be a disciple, Lord, that lives a life with those wonderful virtues, those attributes, those characteristics, Lord, that let other people know that Jesus is alive and well and He's ready for a relationship with them. Lord, I thank you for each person here today. Lord, I pray a blessing on this week as they go out into the community. Lord, there'll be a time, Father, where they will have an opportunity to share the gospel, Lord, to encourage people to share their life in a real way. Father, we thank you for the fruit of your kingdom. In your name, amen.