Inreach - Vision for 2026

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The slides are already up there. If you haven't figured it out already, this morning we're continuing on in our unpacking of the vision for 2026 and beyond. If you haven't been here for the last couple of weeks, we're in week three, so I'll give you a very quick recap of the last two weeks. It actually started a lot longer before the last two weeks. See, the Church Council had a retreat earlier this year, and even before the retreat, there were four weeks, if not more, of prayerful seeking of the Lord. Four weeks where the prayer was, Lord, what is your will for us as a Church Council? What is your will for us as Cabulcha Baptist Church? What is your will for what we are to do in this community of Cabulcha? What is the work that you are doing? What is the work that you are inviting us to participate in? Four weeks of prayer, one Church Council retreat, and then an ongoing process after that, the Church Council retreat, we had conversations, we brought together what the Lord had been saying, and after that was a distilling process, and the fruit of that time has been, you've seen it for the last two weeks, one goal, that we as Cabulcha Baptist Church would be an intergenerational Church. That goal has two commands. Very truly, we are commanded to be committed to growing in Christ and committed to going for Christ. That works out in four values, which we've been unpacking over the four weeks. There's two to go, one today. And these four values make up our missional statement as a Church. In the underpinning, the focus, as we move into 2026, the focus verse is John 15 verse 8, this is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. In the last two weeks, Pastor Doug and Pastor Dave have unpacked the first of these two values, the first being informed. We need to be informed by Scripture, and then the second being transformed. As we're informed by the Bible, we need to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. If you want a more thorough recap, go back, all the sermons are online, please do go back and watch those two sermons. But this morning, we find ourselves with value number three, the value of in reach. But before we dive in this morning, would you join me as we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, for Scripture. Thank you that you call us together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you that you invite us into the work that you are doing in this world. Lord, we just pray that as we look at this value of in reach this morning, Lord, that you would speak to each and every one of us by your Holy Spirit, and that you would prompt us to respond in some way. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. If you've got your Bibles there, I'll invite you to open up to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. This morning, we're going to be reading from verse 12 to 27 as we try to unpack this value of in reach. 1 Corinthians 12, 12 says, for just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, Jew or Greek, slaves or free, and we're all made to drink of one spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts yet one body that I cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ, individually members of it. Imagine for me that you have never been to church. You know not the slightest part of Christian jargon. And imagine if I said to you, our goal as a church is to be an intergenerational church. What does that mean? The reality is most of us would have some concepts, some idea, because we have grown up in churches. But I think it's important as we dive into this third value, that we actually unpack, that we clarify what is meant when we say we want to be at Caboche Baptist, an intergenerational church. I put myself in that position. I went, well, if I had never grown up in a church, if I didn't know what this meant, I'd do what it seems everyone does now. I'd Google it. And in Google, I went to the Cambridge dictionary just because that was one of the first ones that popped up. But I checked the others. All the dictionaries had very similar definitions. An intergenerational from the Cambridge dictionary means involving different generations. Seems a little bit silly to have the same word in the definition, but that's okay. We'll move past that. And church is defined as a building for Christian religious activities. So then, according to the dictionary, to be an intergenerational church is to be a building for Christian religious activities involving different generations. The Dylan translation of that is to be a building where Christian activities happen for all ages. Isn't it weird then that I came up this morning, said good morning church, and everyone replied? Because according to this definition, I was talking to the brick and mortar, but that's not the case. Okay, you know it because you replied, that's encouraging. We already have the foundation set for this value. Very truly, we know that scripture reveals a very different definition. In fact, church is a translation from the Greek ecclesia, meaning an assembly or called out ones. Rather than a building, we know and would agree that the church is a body of believers in Jesus Christ. That's why when I come up before pretty well every sermon and say good morning church, you guys, the body of Christ respond. We are the church. If we're struggling for a definition of helpful one that I found, that I quite like, comes from Mark Deva in his book, What is a Healthy Church? And he poses a good question before he gives us his definition, a question for us to ponder. Maybe it's your first time here, maybe you're looking for a church. He writes, friend, what are you looking for in a church? Good music, a happening atmosphere, a traditional order of service. I'm going to pause here because if we're being honest, they're usually some of the highest things at our priority list if we're looking. But he continues, how about a group of pardoned rebels whom God wants to use to display his glory before all the heavenly hosts because they tell the truth about him and look increasingly just like him, holy, loving, united. That seems like a much better definition of church. And so using that, we can say that an intergenerational church is a group of pardoned rebels represented by all ages whom God wants to use to display his glory before all the heavenly hosts because they tell the truth about him and look increasingly just like him, holy, loving, and united. Very simply when we look at this value of in reach, what we're talking about is growing together in community. It fills out the next part of our missional statement, which says, akhabautya baptis, we want to be an intergenerational church that aspires to honor our heavenly father by living as disciples informed by the Bible, transformed by the spirit growing together in community. Simple enough, we want to be a church that grows in a community that's filled with all ages. Just this morning, we've celebrated some of the year sixes, the year twelves. We've celebrated Brucker Marshall, these young adults now moving in marriage. As I look around this morning, we've got seniors, we've got all ages, we had infants go out to Christ. It's exciting, but in reach means to grow in community. See, our two commands to grow in Christ and go in Christ, very truly they're in that order because before we can go for Christ, we need to grow deeply in him. We need to know the hope that we have before we can share it. And so the question for us church is in the year to come, in the years to come, how do we ensure that we grow as an intergenerational community? How do we grow together in community? Hebrews 10, 24 to 25 says, let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. Very truly, it seems simple, but it's profound. Very truly, if we want to grow in community with one another, we have to meet regularly. It's just the reality of how we are created. If I see someone once a month, I've got a once a month relationship there, there's a lot that happens in between, there's a lot that doesn't get filled out. If I see someone every week, the span that needs to be covered is a lot shorter. And this is the way that God's designed the church to be. Church isn't just something that we as humans made up, it's something that God commanded, meet together regularly. The sad thing is church, statistically, there's been a decline in regular church attendance. Not only here, worldwide, there's what used to be weekly attendance. They now classify, I would reject it, they classify regular church attendances once a month. But if you meet with someone 12 times a year, do you really know them? If you have no other contact, do you really know them? Is there community there? I would argue not. Very truly, we need to meet together, not giving up meeting as some are in the habit of doing. But there's a second challenge here, because just being in the same room as someone doesn't mean that there's community there. When we do meet, whether it's on a Sunday together, whether it's throughout the week at a discipleship group, wherever it may be, when we meet together, if we want to be intentional about in-reaching, if we want to be intentional about building community, then we need to consciously make sure that when we meet, we're not just talking about things that don't really matter. We're encouraging one another to grow deep in faith. If the purpose of our in-reach is to encourage, spur one another one in faith, we need to be making sure we do that. Checking in, hey, how's your walk with Jesus going? What can I be praying for you for this next week? We need to be intentional. And it's encouraging church, we've got a range of ways that we can be in-reaching. Sunday services are a great way. Midweek discipleship groups, ministry involvement for age-appropriate things, we've got creche playtime, kids church, kids club, youth, young adults, seniors, men's events, women's events. There's so many opportunities to connect, but it requires intentional effort for it to be in-reach. Rather than a hang, it's got to be intentional. We need to make the most of the opportunities that we have to build community. And so I ask you, you're here this morning, how many people in the room do you feel you could have a raw and honest conversation with? How many people, when they asked you how your week's been, would you feel comfortable to say, actually, this week's kind of sucked because no one has a good week all the time. That's a measure of community. Here's the challenge, church. Community with one another requires intentional participation. I did a little bit of research over the week just because, you know, it interests me. And it was crazy to find out that the latest data suggests that in Australia, just Australians, in this last year, there were over 7.4 million Australians who supported the NRL. During the season, 7.4 million Australians were supporting a team of some sort, were tuning in to watch at least some of the games. That's a lot of people, church. 7.4 supporting fans in football. I then did another search, and here's the thing that blows my mind. There's 7.4 people who feel connected to this. But on any given game, there are only ever 17 active players on each team. Only ever 17 active players, and by that, I mean there's the 13 on the field and the four subs. It seems absurd, right? If you were walking in the street and someone came up to you and said, hey, I won the grand final because their team won, you'd look at them a little bit funny, right? They're claiming something that's not there. If I came up to you and said, hey, I won the NRL grand final, you'd go, no, I watched that. You weren't on the team. Church, we need to realise that in NRL, there's a big difference between watching a game, which takes minimal effort. Turn on the TV, grab your favourite snacks. Maybe if you got a little bit more effort, go on the train, go to the stadium. But even then, there's a huge difference between watching a game of NRL and playing in the NRL grand final. See, the players on the field, they put in the months of training. They put on the game after game after game. They exert the energy during those 80 minutes to ensure that at the end of it, if they win, they very truly can claim the fact that, hey, I was a part of the team that won the grand final. It's reserved for 17 active players. But here's the thing, church, there's no spectating in the kingdom of God. There's no biblical provision for spectators. It doesn't work that way. We need to realise that in the same way, there's a massive difference between attending a church service, between attending a church service and being a part of the church. It would seem absurd if all we did was come in on a Sunday, sit at the back, leave straight away, and said, oh yeah, I'm a part of this church. Are you? Because here's the thing, if you believe in Jesus Christ, if our definition of a church is a body, a community of people who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, if you believe in Jesus Christ, if you have chosen Kabuchah Baptist to be your local church, the place where you will gather with other brothers and sisters in Christ, the place where you will worship God and grow deeply in your faith, if that's you, then you're a part of the church and spectating isn't an option. The only spectating option is for those who don't yet know Jesus to come experience to see the hope that we have. But if we profess Jesus as Lord and Savior, there's no spectating option. Very truly, you are the church. And if you are the church, if I am the church, if we collectively are the church, then each of us have a role to play. Now there may be genuine reasons, there are genuine reasons that could inhibit you from coming to church in person. There's medical reasons, as Dave mentioned, we've got the live stream for those who have these reasons. And we're so thankful that you're able to join us online. But church, we can't use this as a copy, we can't go, oh, I'm just feeling too lazy to be at church, because by doing that, we've changed the definition of church back to a building, back to a service. We are the church. And so very truly, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you've chosen Kabuchah Baptist Church to be the place that you will worship, grow in your faith, then if you're not here on a Sunday when we meet together, our church is incomplete, we're missing someone. Because each and every one of us have a role to play in gathering together, in encouraging one another, in stewarding the gifts that God has given us for the benefit of our brothers and sisters in Christ, for the glory of God and for our own good and growth. With this primer, let's read again the words of 1st Corinthians 12, 12 to 27. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit, they were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. Let me pause here for a Dillon translation. If you are a Christian here this morning, you are a part of this body. You are a part of the church. And so to say, well, I am not a pastor, so I do not have to be there every Sunday that I can be, that does not make you any less a part of the church. To say, I am not a leader or a ministry coordinator, so I do not need to attend this or that, that does not make you any less a part of the church. It is absurd. Verse 17, if the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as He chose. If it were a single member, where would be the body? As it is, there are many parts yet one body. Church, I have never met anyone exactly the same as me. I am sure that you have never met anyone exactly the same as you. We are all different. We all have been gifted differently. And that is the way that God has created us. Because what I cannot do, someone else can. And what they can do, I cannot. But together, when we steward our gifts according to the will of God for His glory, amazing things can happen. We can encourage one another, we can grow each other in faith. That I cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, if I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with more modesty. With our presentable parts, they do not require it. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body. But that the members may have the same care for one another, regardless of gifting, regardless of the role that God has called you to play. This is His desire for us as a church, as a body of Christ, that there would be no division. But that we would have the same care for one another. If one of the members suffers, all suffer together. If one of the members is honored, like with our graduation, like with our wedding prayer, all rejoice together. Now then, you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. See, community church only works if everyone fulfills their role, their responsibility, the part that God has given them. God is good and mighty or powerful, and He can cover for where we lack. But His desire for us as followers of Jesus is to grow together, to spur one another on, to encourage one another, to make sure that no one goes lukewarm, to make sure we continue to push each other closer and closer to Jesus. Within our church, we have a wide range of generations. It's so encouraging. We've got seniors, empty nesters, midlife legends, parents, young adults, youth, children, toddlers, and infants. I may have even forgotten some, but I thought I got them all. Each generation has a role to play. Each one is just as valuable as the other. Each one is called to encourage each other, to serve in the way that God has gifted them, to play the role that they have for the greater good of the body. And so as a church in 2026, in the years to come, it's our responsibility to enrich, to genuinely and intentionally foster community, to invite participation with others, to spur one another on, to encourage deep growth in each other's walk with Jesus, to genuinely walk side by side. We need to commit to meeting regularly. We need to use the gifts that God has given us. We need to hold each other accountable. I don't know how many will be counting, but today marks a three-week mark, since I gave you a three-week challenge. Three weeks ago I stood up here and I challenged you all to find someone before you left the service to keep you accountable, to ask you three questions, to check in on how your walk with Jesus is going. I'm not going to ask for a shower of hands, but within yourself I'm going to ask you, did you take up that challenge? If you have, I hope that it's been beneficial. I hope that it's been fruitful. To have a growing community that checks in, that makes sure that we are moving closer to Jesus, that walks along when things are tough. I want to encourage you, if you did take on that challenge, have a conversation with whoever you ask to keep you accountable. Have a conversation and say, can you continue to check in with me periodically? Will you come alongside me and continue to help me to grow in this way? And if you didn't, what stopped you? Why didn't you take on the challenge to ask someone to keep you accountable? Was it a pride thing? Oh, no one else is as good as me. I don't need help following Jesus. I've done this for a long time. I don't need that. Was it a fear thing? What if they judge me? Remember, we're all pardoned rebels. Whatever it is, I'm going to challenge you again this morning. If we're building community, if we're intentionally in reaching, we need accountability. We need someone to come alongside us. Ask someone to keep you accountable, to keep their finger on the spiritual pulse in your life. Practically, we've got a couple of things that we're aiming to do in 2026 and in the years to come. The first of these is we're wanting to hold three intergenerational events in addition to Christmas and Easter. We want to focus on the fact that the church isn't just for a select age group. It's for everyone. We want to hold three intergenerational events. We want to cross-connect intentionally and coordinate the ministry teams as one body. That means there's going to be intentional effort to make sure that playtime and craft plus, the sound team and youth group, the music team and kids club, all these ministries are interconnected, building each other up. We're going to make sure that there's nothing that slips through the cracks. We're going to incorporate four family services throughout the years. Why? Because we value our families. Our aim is to provide parent support programs to increase the number of discipleship groups. Here's the thing, church. Remember, community only works if we're all fulfilling our role. We already have a massive need to multiply discipleship groups. We have so many people who have come into the church going, hey, I want to get connected in. At the moment, we don't have enough discipleship groups to feed them into. I want you to pray. If you're a part of a discipleship group, if we're going to be intentional about in reaching in the years to come, we need to multiply. Have the conversation with your discipleship group this week. Who has God raised up as a leader? How can we multiply to make sure that people don't come in with this desire for community and get turned away because there's nowhere for them to connect in? And finally, we aim to upgrade our facilities to foster community and growth. Church, the reality is you can see it all around, Kibbutch is getting busier. There's people coming in, which means there's work to do. There's people who need to hear the good news of Jesus. And so we as a church need to in reach. We need to build ourselves spiritually, spur each other on. We need to upgrade our facilities so that when they come, we have a place for them. We need to foster our community so that when they come, they are welcomed. If they have a faith in Jesus, they are incorporated. And if they don't, we're able to share the good news of Jesus with them. Value number three, in reach. Growing and going for Christ. Why? So that as Kibbutch a Baptist, we can be an intergenerational church that honors God and grows deeper in relationship with Jesus. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you. That as part of your design, you didn't call us to be lone Christians. In fact, you told us that it's for your glory, your Father's glory, that we would grow together, bearing much fruit, proving ourselves to be your disciples. Plural, in collaboration with one another, and you. Lord, we thank you for the gift that it is. Lord, we thank you that here in Australia, we don't have persecution that seriously hinders us. Lord, we don't have to take our life in our hands to come to church and to worship you, our God. Lord, help us not to take this for granted. Lord, help us in the weeks, months, years to come, to in reach intentionally, to growing community, to support all generations that you, our God, would be honored and glorified. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.