Now, clearly God has provided us a wind to keep
you awake, so if things move around, we'll just
have to deal with it as we go along. Also, thank
you so much for having me here. I have to say,
Far North Queensland is one of my favourite places
on the planet and so it was a great privilege
to come here. I've been praying for you as a
church for some time. I know Brendan and I had
lunch actually when you were having the conversation
about whether you'd come up here. Yeah, it's
been great to hear how things are going and I'd
love to hear a bit more about how you see things
are going and how church is going and I'm glad
that I get a chance to speak here. I know it's
the first time you've had a Bible talk on a Saturday
morning here so this will be the best Bible talk
you've ever heard on a Saturday morning here
so I'm glad that I can set the standard. Let
me pray. Father, thank you for your Word. We
thank you for the clarity that you have spoken
to us in, but we pray now that you will open
our eyes to lift our hearts to see the work that
you are doing. Father, I pray that you'll help
me to speak your words faithfully and truthfully,
so that we might know you better and love you
more, that we might know and understand what
you are doing and give you great glory. And we
pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. I want to start
by a couple of questions, three questions really.
The first question is, let me give you three
people, and I want you to ask the question, why
are they coming to church? First person is a
lady called Karen. Karen's got two young kids,
both under the age of three. They're a handful,
they do a lot. It's just an effort to get them
in the car on a Sunday morning. They get there,
it's just... crazy she tries to come to church
but at least one of them has a problem so she's
got to go out to kids church and look after them
and then she has morning tea and while she's
having morning tea the whole conversations are
usually just half conversations with people with
half sentences while one of them is dragging
her off because they need her attention they
want to play with her and and then she she puts
them back in the car goes home and goes well
what was the point why why did I even come to
church Kai is a guy who he's a Vietnamese background.
He's got a he's very smart got a Degree in software
engineering comes to church English is not great
for him, but he's learned he's worked out something
on his phone So he actually gets a translation
of what's going on from the songs and the prayers
and the Bible reading in the sermon So he understands
that But morning tea is hard for him Morning
tea he he's there. He just doesn't get the jokes
uh he doesn't quite uh people talk too fast he
can't quite keep up and honestly he kind of thinks
this would be easier if i just stayed at home
and watched the sermon on youtube with subtitles
that would make things easier why does kai come
to church let me give you one more kyle kyle's
a tradie uh tradie uh kyle is good at doing things
he's not good with words He struggles to sit
through church. In fact, sitting down in church
is the longest he sits still ever in his week.
And so he really struggles with that, struggles
to keep his attention. He's happy to serve and
all three of these people love Jesus. But the
question is why should they keep coming to church?
Each of them find it hard and what they get out
of it is limited. So why do Karen, Kai and Kyle
keep coming to church? That's the first question.
And that may be the question that you have. Maybe
you identify with one of them or maybe you have
that kind of question of, I'm finding it hard
to get to church. I feel like I don't get a lot
out of it. Why am I coming? That's one question.
Let me get my clicker. Here's my question. Towards
the end of Ephesians chapters one to three, and
I'll explain why we're doing one to three in
a moment, there's a thing that goes, to him be
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout
all generations forever and ever. Why is it in?
That doesn't feel right, does it? Shouldn't it
be glory from the church, glory through the church?
I mean, why aren't we supposed to be glorifying
God? To say glory in the church, it feels like
Paul made a mistake there. He didn't quite get
his words right. Or maybe there was a mistranslation.
But it's not. Paul is very intentional. So why
does he say glory in the church? That's my question.
So why Karen, Kyle and Kai turning up to church?
Why is it glory in the church? And the third
question is, how do those two questions answer
each other? So they're my three questions. Now
as I said we're going to be working through Ephesians.
If you've got the Bible you will find it helpful.
I know I don't really have a lot of outline in
the outline but you'll just have to go with me
on that. But Ephesians is a great book. It's
got a lot of different layers to it and if you
can imagine there's a sort of a thread running
through it. It is about church and it runs all
the way through. We'll look at chapters one to
three. I'm only looking at the first three because
apparently I'm not allowed to speak for five
hours. So we go to chapters four and five. There's
a lot about how do you live as church. But Paul
just keeps coming back to it. He goes, how do
I explain to you what marriage is like? Chapter
five? It's like Christ in the church. That's
what it is. Even chapter six. Now some of you
who will know your Bibles well, you remember
chapter six. Chapter six is famous for the spiritual
armour, isn't it? Right, I remember talking to
a guy, he and I were speaking on a thing and
we had some time where it was just him and I
talking and he was a professor of ancient history
and I was there to talk about theology at church,
he was there to talk about the history of church
and we were talking about Ephesians, how much
we love Ephesians. He goes, yeah, yeah, it's
great and church is all the way through it. I
said, yeah, yeah, he goes, yeah and he goes,
the one thing I find frustrating about Ephesians
is when people write books about it, When they
come to the spiritual armour of God, there's
a picture. And the picture is always this picture
of a soldier and he's standing there with a breastplate
and a belt and a sword. And I'm kind of going,
yeah, that's all the stuff that's in the passage.
And he goes, oh, I find that really frustrating.
And I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it
must be frustrating, yeah. Yeah, why is that
again? And he said, because in the ancient world,
a soldier never stands by himself. They always
work as a unit. In fact, their shield never protects
them, it protects the person on their left. And
that person on your right protects you. He goes,
the spiritual armour of God is all about church.
It's not about you versus the devil, it's all
of us versus the devil. But I'm jumping ahead
and I've got to restrict myself to chapters one
to three. Let me give you a quick tour of Chapter
one. Chapter one begins and it's the picture
of the church planned. This is the big, Paul
is standing back and he goes, let me just give
you a picture of all of history and the cosmos
and where God, what God is doing. And it starts
off. with this phrase, praise be to God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in
the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing
in Christ. And then he rambles for 11 verses
without a break. In the Greek text, that is all
one sentence, no punctuation. Fortunately, our
English translators went, that is nuts. So we're
gonna add in some full stops and some sentences
to make it a bit more make sense. But here's
where it all ends up. He goes through and he
talks about history, he talks about adoption,
he talks about redemption and grace, but all
of this to be put into effect when the times
have reached their fulfillment, to bring unity
to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Now let me ask you a question, what do you think
God is doing in the world? it is important that
you understand how to answer that question because
if you don't answer that question correctly you
will always be frustrated with God because he
doesn't fit with your plan and I think what happens
is that we sometimes think that God's plan for
the world is that he's like a government department
whose job it is to keep the universe running
so that I can be comfortable and if you think
that's his plan you will always be frustrated
because all of a sudden you have to suffer and
you things get uncomfortable and you're going
God what are you doing you're not doing your
job but this explains what God is doing is actually
bringing everything under the lordship of Jesus
that he might be our King great King wise good
loving runs our lives better than we can how
good is that that is what he is doing And sometimes
that will involve suffering and hardship to make
us more like Jesus. Sometimes it is because we
follow Jesus and we are called to hardship. So
I want you to just keep in mind, can you clearly
understand what God is doing in the world? But
Paul goes on. He then goes on, he prays for them.
and he prays that God placed all things under
his feet, that is Jesus, and appointed him to
be the head over everything for the church, which
is his body, the fullness of him who works, fullness
of him who feels everything in every way. The
message of Christianity is that Jesus is the
King, and we need to acknowledge him as the King.
It's a great, and this is a message, it goes
out. throughout Cairns and throughout all of
Far North Queensland and throughout all of Australia.
But it's a message and our job is to take the
message. We are like God's ambassadors, Paul
kind of says that. And if we are God's ambassadors
what does that make the church? His embassy.
The embassy of the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Now the church does a lot of things and we're
going to come back to this tomorrow but church
does a lot of things. We care for each other.
We do a lot of things that other organisations
will do. Like just watch today. I mean, the kids
will have fun. There are other places where kids
have fun. These aren't bad things. I mean, we're
gonna have some food. I'm having some food together.
Yeah, yeah. And so we're gonna have a potluck.
Yeah and other organizations will do that and
we're going to have pizza and other organizations
do that. What is unique about the church though
is that it is the only place where you'll hear
the good news of Jesus. And so if we lose that
then we're just like everybody else. And to put
it, if I can put it bluntly, everybody else could
probably do that better than us. But the one
place The one thing that we must never lose sight
of is that our role as the embassy of the kingdom
to proclaim his message. And so that's what Paul
is praying for. That the church might be the
place that happens. That's why the church is
such an important part of God's plan. Now that
leads us to chapter 2, which was read for us.
Here we see the church actually, that's God's
plan, but what does it actually look like? Well,
we start with chapter 2 and chapter 2, Paul goes
completely undiplomatic at this point of time,
doesn't he? He goes, let me just, hey Ephesians,
let me remind you who you were. You were dead
in your sins and transgressions. You are objects
of God's wrath. Not exactly the most diplomatic,
not exactly a hallmark card moment, is it? And
yet he comes along and says, this is what you're
like. And he goes, and you are dead to Christ's
rule. You're not sick. You're not weak. You're
not ignorant. You're not confused. And you can't
just work harder. You just can't get better.
It's like a dead body. You can't walk into a
dead body and go, come on, let's go. Let's go
for a run. You know what your problem is? You're
just a bit too lazy. Let's go. Yeah, exactly.
Good luck with that. That's what Paul's saying,
yeah good luck with that, it is not going to
work. And then throughout the New Testament you
see one of the most amazing beautiful words ever,
the word but. Because so often the New Testament
explains this is what you are like, but, but
now, but God, but something in this case, but
because of His great love for us. Before us through
His great love rose, God who was rich in mercy
made us alive. We were dead. But even when we
were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you
have been saved. Jesus came to save sinners.
I was a sinner. I am a sinner. And Jesus came
to save me. And He came to save you. Now I, sorry,
I don't know you. So let me just be clear. If
you are someone who's still exploring Christianity,
you haven't worked this out. Today is a good
day to go, God... Save me, I am a sinner. But
I also want to say, if you are here today, and
you may have been coming to church for decades,
and you think that you are a Christian because
you deserve God's mercy, because you've turned
up for decades, because you've served, because
you've been on rosters, because you've been...
No. You're still dead in your transgressions.
It is only through God and through Christ that
you have been saved. You don't deserve it. But
what a great day. Why not go from being lost
to being found, from being dead to being alive?
I haven't read the book about that one, about
John Newton, but John Newton's story is just
an incredible story of someone who was lost and
is found. So when he writes Amazing Grace, he's
not just going, well, here's an idea that I've
been looking at in the Bible. He goes, no, that
was me. That's my story. I was lost. Now I am
found. But that's something you need to respond
to. You need to hold on to this. Someone can't
do it for you. Your spouse can't do it for you.
Your parents can't do it for you. Your kids can't
do it for you. Brendan can't do it for you. You
need to do this. It's between you and God at
this point of time. Have you done that? But what
has this then got to do with church? Doesn't
that make Christianity an individual sport, so
to speak? No, because chapter two goes on. If
you've got your Bibles open there, you'll see
that what I've summarized is chapters two, one
to ten, but it goes on. Because the cross doesn't
merely reconcile sinners to God, it reconciles
sinners to each other. And I think sometimes,
particularly those of us who come from a Western
background, we miss this bit. That's why I'm
going to spend a little bit more time on it.
We're not just saved, we're given a new people,
a new family. Now keeping in mind, up to this
point in the Bible, things have been divided.
God has made a division. It is between those
who are Jewish and those who are not Jewish.
I don't know why they use the word Gentile, I
still can't work that out, but that's just a
little... Hobby horse of mine. I'm just gonna
let it go. Let it go Pete. Yeah, but you see
the word Gentile there But it's just someone
anyone who's not Jewish and Jewish That's the
division and God created that division and he
worked through the Jewish people to bring about
Jesus But now that Jesus has come he goes right.
That's it. You don't need that Because now you
are if you are saved by grace It doesn't matter
who you are where you've come from what your
race is what you've done in your background How
old you are none of that matters only one thing
matters. Do you trust Jesus? And so he says this,
he goes, if you do, oh sorry, I've gone back,
let me go back a bit, if you do, then keep this
in mind. Therefore, remember that you, formerly
who were Gentiles by birth, called uncircumcision,
by those who call themselves the circumcision,
which is done by, in the body by human hands,
remember at one time you were separate from Christ,
you were excluded from citizenship in Israel
and foreigners to the covenants of the Pyramids.
You're without hope. You're without God in the
world. And then we have the word again. But now,
in Christ, you who were once have been brought
near in the blood of Christ. Because He created
the division. And you know how there's, divisions
always are tricky aren't they? There's, everyone
feels, there's always a, you always feel like
there's a division. There's always those who
are in and those who are out. And you know how
we always feel like we're on the out? No matter
what the division is. I've got a friend, he lives
across the road. I've been trying to get him
to come to church. He is 78 years old, right?
He's an older guy. Loves my daughters. He's been
there. He's the guy in the street who's just
watching everything, makes sure everyone's okay.
But he is fit, right? I went and saw him the
other day. I said, how you going? He goes, ah,
yeah, I'm all right. I only did 50 Ks on the
bike today. I'm going, dude, I did not drive
that far. Just 78 and you're riding and he goes
that was a that was a short ride Yeah, and then
he you know he'll go out for a you know 15k walk
You are so fit right you are just he makes me
feel like he's the in and I'm the out cuz I'm
the old I'm like I'm the young but unfit kind
of slightly overweight guy like I'm there going
man you're the in and I'm the out and I mentioned
this to him he goes oh no no no mate so because
he knows I like reading he's come over in there
and he sees I do I love books I love reading
he goes mate you've got it all up here yes I
don't I don't have all these ideas you make me
feel like I'm the out and you're the in but won't
we all feel like that at some point there everyone
else is in except for us whereas and and like
I said there is that division that was there
and then God has broken it down and he talks
about it in terms of a temple but let me explain
how clear that division is. The left -hand side
is a brick that was from the temple. And what
happens is there was a gate where if you were
Jewish you're allowed to walk through the gate
and if you were not Jewish you weren't allowed
to walk through the gate. It's in Greek, I know
how well you guys all know Greek, right? Let
me read the translation to you. Let no foreigner,
that is no non -Jewish person, enter within the
parapet or the partition which surrounds the
temple precincts. Anyone caught violating this
will be held accountable for his ensuing death.
That is... trespasses will be executed not persecuted
we will kill you you cross that line because
that's the line that God made and we're going
to take that seriously but now God because of
his grace has broken that wall down so when he
says about the wall of hostility every Jewish
person knows exactly what wall he is talking
about he goes no no no That's not it and and
no longer is it due over here and non -dual over
here. I'm gonna create one new person It's not
like you guys all come and join him or you guys
all come and join them. He goes I've got a new
people His purpose was to create in himself one
new humanity out of the two Thus making peace
and in one body to reconcile both of them to
God through the cross by which He put to death
their hostility. He goes, that division, it doesn't
belong there anymore. There's a new community.
I'm creating a new people. It's not going to
be Jewish and non -Jewish. All that stuff about
that particular idea from the Old Testament,
that's not on play anymore because grace has
come and it doesn't matter whether you're circumcised
or you obey the law or you do the food things.
He goes, no, no. now it matters what you make
of Jesus, because that was all leading up to
that point. And in fact, he goes on, I'm not
going to look at it, but verses 19 to 22 he talks
about, actually you are the new temple. The temple
doesn't divide you anymore, you're the temple.
But he says to put aside the hostilities that
we might have. I want to take a moment, who's
writing this? Remember who's writing this? Paul.
What was Paul's previous career before he started
following Jesus? Pharisee. What did a Pharisee
do? The Pharisee's career was to make sure that
wall of hostility was there. I still find it
intriguing that Jesus sends a Pharisee whose
job it is to put Gentiles down, put non -Jews
down, call them dogs. He says that guy is going
to be the Apostle too. the non -Jews to the nations.
Isn't that incredible? In chapter 3, he kind
of, he starts by explaining that. He goes, I'm
an apostle to the Gentiles. Isn't that great?
He, a Pharisee who does, but it is hard. It's
not easy to be this one person. We're messy people
and we're in a room with messy people and it
does get messy, which is why we have the Spirit
of God to help us. and why we have the instructions
of chapters four to six to help us. For example,
it doesn't say, bear with one another in love
because it's easy. Let me give you another one.
Later on in Ephesians chapter four it says, be
kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving
each other just as Christ forgave you. Forgive
as Christ forgave you. Here's the mistake we
make. We think because Christ has forgiven us
so freely and that grace has come to us so readily
that it should be easy to forgive people. Actually
it's not. As Christ, what was it, how easy was
it for God to forgive us? It cost him the life
of his one and only son whom he loved. That was
a high price. It is not easy to forgive. And
if you think, oh, everyone should just forgive
each other and move on, I'm sorry, you haven't
understood the cross. You haven't understood
the cost that was paid for you. I know we get
it freely. It's great. I love that. I'm happy
about that. But what it costs, God is enormous.
And yet that's what we are called to do. Forgive
as God has forgiven us. It's in the Lord's prayer,
isn't it? It's not easy because we are messy,
but it is hard and it is possible and it is necessary.
And if you are looking for miracles, that's the
miracle. You know how we sometimes look at miracles
and we go, oh, it's for that person who was sick
and they were... Actually, this is the miracle
that you are choosing to sit here. that you are
choosing to be in community with people, that
you, would you choose to be here if it wasn't
for Jesus? One of the privileges I have is I
do what's called planting assessments. So what
happens is we sit down with a potential planter
and we go through whether they know what they're
doing, basically, is what we're trying to do.
Don't tell them that, but yeah. Ah, this is being
recorded. Anyway, they'll find out. We had this
guy who came to us, a guy called Prosper. Prosper
was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He had to flee the DRC because of persecution.
He was a pastor actually in the DRC and he had
to leave because of persecution. He ended up
in Norway actually of all places. In Norway he
heard about the Gospel of Grace which he had
not heard even though he was a pastor. pay for
our sins, we're free. That's amazing. So he then
came back and he started planting churches in
Uganda, in UN refugee camps in Uganda. And I
said, how was that? And he goes, well, all the
pastors around me told everyone I was a heretic
because I kept talking about grace. He said,
don't listen to that guy. No, no, you have to
tithe, you have to come, you have to do this.
And he goes, no, no, Jesus did that for us. Anyway,
he's now come to Australia, he's found himself
in Australia and he's about to plant a church
for displaced people in Adelaide who've come
from Africa. And there are several different
tribes, they're all around the sort of the Great
Lakes where DRC and Rwanda and that sort of thing
is, and they've all come and so he is there to
plant that church. And I said, what are some
of the things, the pastoral things that you think
you're going to have to address? And he said,
well, We are going to be sitting in a room where
there are people from different tribes and everyone
Will know someone from that tribe who has been
killed by somebody else from another tribe sitting
across the way and It will be there will be generational
trauma They're used to shooting each other and
I have to teach them that their identity is not
in their tribe, but in Jesus Jesus is their new
people. He is they are his new tribe And that
is not going to be easy. It's not. But that's
what God is doing. He's creating a new people.
If you want to know what is God doing, He's creating
a new people. And it matters that we come together,
that this is the miracle. Because let me move
to chapter 3. In chapter 3 we see the church
displayed. Let me give you this. It was His intent
now. that through the church the manifold wisdom
of God should be made known to rulers and authorities
in the heavenly realms according to His eternal
purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus
our Lord. The rulers and authorities in the heavenly
realms was the way that the Ephesian city, they
understood what we would say angels and demons.
So that's how I want you to think about it. We
are physically sitting here, it's a beautiful
day, it's a wonderful thing, we're sitting here,
we've got the wind blowing, and that's what we're
seeing physically. But I want you to step back
and look, what are we seeing in that spiritual
dimension, in that spiritual realm? They are
watching and they are sitting there and they
are currently watching us as God's eternal plan
is being displayed as He gathers people by grace.
as He takes people who are sinners, who were
dead, and now sitting under the Lordship of Jesus,
and now they are a new people. And angels, yes,
yes. And demons are watching this going, no.
And you're just sitting there. as the wind blows
trying to kick -track what this guy at the front
is saying. You see, that, this is the evidence
that the Gospel works. They're not watching,
I don't think they're really watching what to,
I think we sometimes make the mistake because
the way we put chairs out is that church happens
up here, so is what I'm doing and what the ladies
are doing with the music and there's, but that,
no, no, no, they're not watching that, they're
watching this, this is the miracle, this displays
God's glory, this is the amazing thing. This
is the main event. And just, I mean, have a look
around. There are people here, you've got people
from different ages, different backgrounds, different
personalities, different incomes, different stories.
We all have sin affecting us in different ways.
And for some of us, it's other people's sin that
has affected us. Some of it is the sin that we've
been struggling with for some time. messy. Yeah,
I get it. It is messy. But that's the whole point,
isn't it? That God, if God, if it was easy, and
we weren't messy, it'd be easy for us all to
come together, wouldn't it? But the fact that
God brings messy people together, that's incredible.
That is glorious. Some of us might not have even
liked each other. But here we are. We're singing.
We're choosing to spend today together. That's
incredible. Again, this is where the angels are
going, yes, praise God! And demons are going,
no, let me stop this from happening. And this
is how God shows off. You ever stop to think,
how does God display His greatness? I mean, I
love far North Queensland and I see God display
His greatness in all sorts of, like, in creation
up here. I remember I was on a tour up here,
I went to Cape Tribulation, I was there with
a guy, we didn't know each other before the tour,
but we got to know each other over the tour,
and we got to Cape Tribulation. Man, this is
amazing! And then we were going to go for a swim,
and then we were told... you are not coming out
of the water if you go for a swim. Sorry, just
a side thing, it was an interesting moment of
me understanding, that's what sin is like, isn't
it? It looks so enticing, but it's there to kill
you. And I went, that is what Cape Tribulation
is. But it is, it's beautiful. But how does God
display His grace? Is it creating galaxies, parting
sea, raising the dead? Yeah, yeah, He does that.
But actually what He does is this. And we look
at this and go, well, you know, I mean, how often
do you sit there and you go, well, you know coffee
wasn't that great today and I didn't really like
the chairs and I've got to set this thing up
every week and you know that person I don't like
the music the music isn't that great I mean you
can I watched a guy and he listed like the things
to complain about in church and he had like about
50 different things there you I mean you could
add to that it's easy to find things to complain
about in church but At this point in time, you
need to take off your glasses of seeing it as
we see it and see it as angels and demons see
it and go, whoa, this is incredible. This is
amazing. I'm not saying those other things don't
matter, they matter and we need to keep working
on them. But here's the thing, church is not
just merely something that, it's not just something
that we get something out of, like a service.
Like it's not the place where you go and I just
get my spiritual kind of shot in the arm to get
me through the week. There are things, I'm going
to talk a little bit about that tomorrow, but
there are some things that help us. We need to
be building each other up. But before we do this,
there are some things where we need to remember
that just turning up matters. I heard this story,
I can't tell whether it's a urban myth or not,
but it's such a great story, I'm going to tell
you anyway. There was this little old country
town and they had this church and people would
turn up but there was this old, I don't know
why, he was an archdeacon and he was an Anglican
person and he would turn up but he was kind of
blind, couldn't quite see anything and he was
very deaf. And you know those people, I'm sorry
if I'm insulting you, I don't know you, but there
was these, he was the kind of guy who got there
and people would start singing and he'd kind
of work out what the song was, but he would finish
half a line after everybody else, because he
couldn't hear what was going on, but he was going,
I'm gonna sing anyway, and he couldn't quite
see the Bible, he couldn't quite hear the sermon,
and so someone tried to go, why do you keep coming
to church? Of course because he was deaf it took
him a while to get that across and they couldn't
write a thing out but they finally got the question
across to him and they go, why do you keep coming
to church? And his answer was so incredibly profound
because I want everyone to know whose side I'm
on. When you come to church on Sunday and you
get out of the car and some of you might have
been Karens and you've got your kids and you've
got the thing and I want you to just take, before
you open the door, just take a moment and set
your eyes on what angels or demons are doing
right now just because you made it to the car
park. I know you found it hard, I know you found
it difficult, but just take a moment to see this
as an amazing moment and then if you're like
me drag the kids in and try to get them. But
keep that in mind as you see others so when you
see Karen and she's struggling with the kids
and there's a Go and play with the kids so that
she can have more than just one or two half conversations
with people Help her to realize. Yes. It's important
that you are here because you are displaying
God's glory When you see Kai and you can see
these struggling to understand what's going on
Just pull him aside try to explain to him why
it's funny for Australians to put each other
down I still haven't worked that out myself,
but try and explain to him what the humor is
and why people find that funny. When you see
Kyle and he's struggling to kind of sit, go and
stand with him at the back of church and go,
mate, it's okay. As long as you're in the room,
doesn't matter whether you're sitting down or
standing up, I'll stand with you, make you feel
comfortable. Because being here matters. It matters.
And wherever you can do that to help others to
realize, hey, us being here matters and I'll
do whatever I can to help you be here. In our
church we have a number of people with different
kind of things that they're carrying. Eliza is
a girl who comes along, she comes along quite
regularly, she's got an intellectual disability,
she just really struggles to keep up and there
was a moment not my best moment, there was a
moment where we're in church, they were reading
the Bible and she was visibly upset going, she's
just struggling to keep up with the Bible reading.
And look, I was tired and grumpy and so I'm sitting
there going and I saw the staff came over and
they tried to give her an outline of the sermon
so she could follow along and that sort of thing
and I went, someone's got to go and sit with
her and I'm going, righto. Okay, Hughes, get
up, let's go. And so, but before I did, I watched,
sorry, I get emotional about this. I watched
this girl called Taylor and Taylor, she loves,
she's a beautiful, bright, bubbly girl. And one
of her highlights of her week is that she comes
from a non -Christian family and she loves sitting
with her young adult friends in church. That's
like the highlight of her week. And I know that.
And I watch Taylor get up, leave her friends,
and go and sit with Eliza, and she just patiently,
far more patiently than me, thank God, but patiently,
she goes through the service and helps Eliza
through it, because the fact that Eliza there
matters, and Taylor understood that. And there
was a moment in church where I'm watching all
of this happen. And I wanted to stand up and
go to everyone. See that? That's church. That's
God's glory. That's what happens. I didn't because
it would have been odd and embarrassing and Taylor
would have died a thousand deaths if I hadn't
done that to her. But that's it. This is the
glory of God. Don't ever lose sight of the fact
turning up matters. And if you feel, if you're
like me and you go, I don't feel like going to
church today, I want you to just take a moment
and go, that's what a demon would want me to
do. So I'm a contrarian person, I'm going anyway
just because he doesn't want me to. But give
angels something to rejoice about. Because God
is glorified in the church. Because in the church
is where His plan is fulfilled. in the church
is where his wisdom is. And so now to him who
is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or
imagine, according to his power which is at work
within us, to him be glory in the church and
in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever
and ever. Amen. Let me pray. Lord, it is such
a great privilege for us to be a part of the
Bride of Christ the Church. Father, we confess
that sometimes we've walked into church probably
not with the right attitude. I know I haven't.
Some of us, I know we've also been people who
have sat in church and found those things to
grumble about. But father I pray that your spirit
will be at work that he will open our eyes so
that we might see What a glorious thing it is
for your saints together That we stand together
and go we are the new people that God is making
That we come together so that angels and demons
will know whose side we are on I Know some will
find that harder than others For those of us
who find it a little easier, help us to have
the strength and courage to help those who need
a bit more help. Father, please help us to display
your incredible glory by being the Church. Let
me pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.