1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,760 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church Henley and thanks so much for tuning 2 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,000 into our podcast. 3 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,680 Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 4 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,800 change your life. 5 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,400 And now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team. 6 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:38,440 Simon, Lisa, we collectively lead a church in Albaton, a uniting church where you had 7 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,960 for the core team, you had your pre-launch in our building, one of your worship times 8 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:43,960 together. 9 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:49,440 So some of you know where that even is, just tucked away in the suburbs. 10 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,480 And it's a real mix of ministry. 11 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:54,800 This is just like a little snapshot of who we are. 12 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,760 So top left is us meeting in a more intergenerational setting. 13 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:04,600 If you look really closely, you can see some quite grey-haired people in there, as well 14 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,840 as some like two and three year olds right up the front dancing around and singing and 15 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,680 worshiping together, as well as some other people of other generations in there. 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:20,600 That one is the playgroup, one session out of two of the playgroup, and there's more 17 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,440 than 80 people in that room. 18 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,120 So they're all from our local community. 19 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,960 And then there's another session that happens straight after that. 20 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:31,120 So that's a little bit crazy. 21 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,280 This is just us hanging out at Christmas with our local community, about a thousand people 22 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:41,600 rocked up to just to hang out for Christmas and have some fun. 23 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:47,280 And this is the more kind of chapel-y formal space that some of you came into. 24 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:53,920 So it's a real mix of like knowing God, loving God and finding community within the church 25 00:01:53,920 --> 00:02:00,360 and then going out and just exploring the bounds of what might be possible in your local 26 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:01,360 community. 27 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:07,800 And I think that's why Tim got me here, because we've been doing a bit in that space. 28 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,520 And I'm going to share a little bit about that. 29 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:16,480 In our local church setting, we're building a community of care and trust with our local 30 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:17,480 community. 31 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:26,560 And we make every effort to make sure people feel at home, known, loved, welcomed, remembered, 32 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:32,520 cared for, significant, valued, supported. 33 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,480 And that's not the, I mean, hopefully the Sunday people feel that. 34 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,480 This is the local community. 35 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:43,240 The people on the streets, the people connecting in with our, we run a cafe as well, connecting 36 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,080 with our cafe, connecting with our project. 37 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:51,040 This is the intent we have with every single person, regardless of where they're at in 38 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,200 life, as they enter our property. 39 00:02:55,200 --> 00:03:00,760 As a church, at the moment, you are at the early stages of kind of forming. 40 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,760 You're still a baby, really. 41 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,040 I mean, I don't say that disrespectfully. 42 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:10,760 It's just you're still finding out who you are. 43 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:16,520 And part of that growing phase is to identify, well, what does that mean for you in this 44 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:22,440 location as you are at the moment, in this local context? 45 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,880 How will the local community know you as the local church? 46 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,000 That's a really important question over the next six months to start identifying, well, 47 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,680 how do we connect with the people out there? 48 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:36,720 Like, that person just there, like, how do we get to know them? 49 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,680 I mean, you're not necessarily going to go, hey, come over to church here. 50 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,440 But you need mechanisms and ways to do that. 51 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,480 And I think, hopefully, I'm going to give you some, just some thoughts and some tips 52 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,480 on some of that. 53 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:59,000 Now Tim, last week set up a mission quite broadly to start with quoting David Walsh. 54 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,680 Mission is alerting people to the universal reign of God through Christ. 55 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:10,200 And this is done in both word and deed, in both proclamation and action, in both explaining 56 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,520 and demonstrating. 57 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:20,800 And without both, we're in danger of either being hypocrites, of not walking the talk, 58 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:26,800 or of doing really nice things and at meaning absolutely nothing. 59 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,440 And we don't want to be either of those people. 60 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,560 But if I'm honest, this definition stage all sounds a bit big picture to me. 61 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:40,440 What does it mean for the way I live as a follower of Jesus? 62 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,400 And how might I need to live in practical, real world ways? 63 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:50,080 What changes might I need to make in real world ways so that God might use my life to 64 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,040 the fullest for His good works? 65 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:58,640 Thankfully, Tim did touch on some of this last week and he talked about friendship and future 66 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:04,320 friends and how he might seek to use the very ordinary, everyday run-of-the-mill lives that 67 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:10,960 we have to bring strangers to become neighbours and neighbours to become the family of God. 68 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,680 And this journey is a journey that has to be in genuine relationship. 69 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:22,360 Without genuine relationship, without trust, we haven't earned or established any real 70 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,840 ability to speak into someone's life. 71 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:29,520 They're likely to ignore us. 72 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:34,560 So for more on that, jump on the podcast, the Henley podcast and catch up on week two. 73 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:39,560 So this week we're going to broaden our focus from friends to local community. 74 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:44,080 The community around us, that might be for you, that might be your local community. 75 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,160 I want you to think in two ways because you're on site here sometimes and you have a local 76 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,680 community here and a church identity that wants to begin to connect with local community, 77 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:57,440 but you also have all of your own local communities. 78 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,200 And specifically I guess today I do want you to think a bit about how the local church 79 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,600 connects with the local people around it. 80 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,240 Because it's also highly relational. 81 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,120 It has to be. 82 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:17,600 Like with friends, I believe we need to have established trust for there to be an authentic 83 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:24,680 opportunity to point people to Jesus, especially in an increasingly secular age. 84 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:32,000 So what might it look like in the local church to be in relationship with your local community 85 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,520 and how might we be encouraged to embrace this? 86 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,560 Well, glad you asked. 87 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:38,000 I know you were thinking it. 88 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,040 Well I have some good news and some bad news. 89 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:41,880 Would you like the good news first or the bad news? 90 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:42,880 The bad. 91 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,040 Okay, let's get right into it. 92 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:50,640 I have nothing specific to offer you for the Henley context. 93 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:51,920 I don't live here. 94 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:53,120 This is not my local community. 95 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,240 I have no idea who is around you. 96 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,240 I have nothing specific to offer. 97 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,600 But the good news is I have many reflections from our own experience and I believe you 98 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:07,960 can take some of what we've learned and begin to journey with that in your local context. 99 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,320 So let's dive into mission in community. 100 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:17,400 Participating in mission in the local community, both individually and as a local church, I 101 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,600 believe requires us to think through some structure. 102 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:25,160 We don't just like go out the door as I said and talk to that guy necessarily. 103 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,920 We need some structure around what we do. 104 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:35,320 And I'm going to call this heart, head and hands. 105 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:40,760 And each stage of these is critical and the order of how we do things is critical. 106 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,480 Let's start with the head because that's the heart because that's at the top. 107 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:51,200 To start with, we need to understand God's heart for our local community. 108 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:55,320 And I believe the word hospitality, which Tim mentioned last week, gives us a really 109 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:59,360 helpful lens to actually consider this. 110 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:06,000 Now, I've been spending a whole month talking and unpacking the fullness of hospitality 111 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,040 in our local church context and I'm about to try and summarise that for you in five 112 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:11,040 minutes. 113 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,720 So bear with me and see what you can take away. 114 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,840 There's a couple of books that Tim mentioned last week that are great books. 115 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,240 Another book is Extraordinary Hospitality Brackets for Ordinary People. 116 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:27,840 It's only about that thin, it has seven chapters, really practical and three quarters of the 117 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:28,840 way through it. 118 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,920 And it's really good. 119 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:37,680 Now the initial problem with the word hospitality in the Western culture is that it is tightly 120 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:39,800 linked to food. 121 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,520 And that's not helped by the naming of the hospitality industry. 122 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:47,520 So we connect hospitality with food. 123 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:54,560 But yet even the dictionary, the Oxford dictionary, let's say, doesn't link hospitality to food. 124 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:59,840 So let's just see what the...this is what the Oxford dictionary says. 125 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:05,000 The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors and strangers. 126 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,240 That's a pretty good starting point that takes us away from food. 127 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:15,400 hospitality is not food. But Holy Hospitality, as I've been titling at this month in our 128 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:20,480 local church context, takes us one step further. 129 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:28,120 When we offer a friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors and 130 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:34,480 strangers, it is often, at least in part, a way to impress others. 131 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,200 With that first definition, we're looking to impress others. 132 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,080 We're inviting them around, hey, check out my house. 133 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,160 Check out this delicious food I've cooked for you. 134 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,840 How good is...the car I've got sitting at the front. 135 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:48,920 We're just inviting people in. 136 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:49,920 Maybe that's not the case. 137 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,120 It's not the case for me, I'll do that. 138 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:53,120 Which... 139 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:58,320 A lot of hospitality in our secular world is around impressing people with what we have 140 00:09:58,320 --> 00:09:59,760 or with what we can do. 141 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,480 So let me represent you with my working definition of Holy Hospitality. 142 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:11,280 That is, extending God's generous and gracious welcome to those around us. 143 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:13,160 It's actually not about us. 144 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:18,480 And if the Holy Hospitality God is calling us to share with others is not about impressing 145 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,800 others, sometimes it might look really ordinary. 146 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,280 And we might need to be okay with this. 147 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:26,360 We might need to swallow our pride in saying, reaching out and offering hospitality doesn't 148 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,000 need to look shiny and glamorous. 149 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:30,520 It doesn't need to impress. 150 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,120 We might need to swallow our pride. 151 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:37,520 And the beauty of ordinary hospitality to ordinary people in ordinary situations is 152 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:39,480 that it takes a lot of pressure off. 153 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,960 You're no longer trying to impress. 154 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:48,120 But it also might surprise people for new and more important reasons. 155 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:56,360 You see when people experience warmth, the warmth of caring, generous, gracious, thoughtful 156 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:05,480 hospitality that is done to extend God's welcome to those around us, it catches people's 157 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:06,560 attention. 158 00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:11,680 It might not be shiny or elaborate, but it's real. 159 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:12,680 It's personal. 160 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:15,400 It's heartfelt. 161 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:20,560 It might even change someone's life as the Holy Spirit interprets, is the interpreter and 162 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:26,240 interprets what we're doing and offering for that person and points it towards the love 163 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,480 of God. 164 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:34,120 And what might be the motivator to offer this kind of welcome? 165 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:40,640 Well, it's the kind of welcome, the personal, undeserved, gracious, generous welcome that 166 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:46,800 we've received from God, each of us welcomed into God's family. 167 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:55,560 And God wants us to extend this same incredible welcome that he has offered us to all of humanity. 168 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:59,400 And he wants us to partner with him as kind of welcomeers like you might have out the 169 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:00,400 front. 170 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:07,800 They're the kind of people God wants us to be in real, hospitable, generous and gracious 171 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:09,200 ways. 172 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:16,160 To go beyond the Sunday service and the Bible study, to welcome strangers, to become neighbours, 173 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,680 and neighbours to become part of the family of God. 174 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:25,640 And God has been extending this kind of hospitality to humanity for all time. 175 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:32,880 And the scriptures are absolutely full of examples of God's hospitality to humanity. 176 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:38,600 Here's just a one minute summary of a few in the Bible. 177 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:39,600 Genesis. 178 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,680 I don't need to tell you too much about Genesis. 179 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:48,520 If you can picture Eden and the abundance of things that God gave Adam and Eve, like 180 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,120 all I'm asking is, just don't touch that tree. 181 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,120 But the rest of it, I've given you freely. 182 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:54,960 I've been so hospitable to you. 183 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,160 I've welcomed you. 184 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:00,160 Incredible. 185 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:05,560 God's hospitality in Isaiah 55 to a covenant people who had done just about everything 186 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:09,680 they could to divorce themselves of God. 187 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:11,200 And we're living in exile as a result. 188 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,880 And God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, calling them back to himself. 189 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:21,560 And he says, come all who are thirsty, come to the water, come all who have no money, 190 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:31,040 come buy and eat, come buy wine and milk without no money and without cost. 191 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:37,720 Why spend money on what is not bread and labour on what does not satisfy? 192 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:38,920 Listen to me. 193 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,040 Eat what is good and you will delight in the richest of fare. 194 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,800 These are the words of God through the prophet Isaiah, calling his people back, offering 195 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:51,720 them not just like bread and water, but wine and milk, which was only available to kind 196 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:53,560 of the fancy people. 197 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:56,160 This was a step above the bare minimum. 198 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,520 What about Jesus' words in Matthew 11? 199 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:04,760 Are you tired, worn out, burnt out with religion? 200 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:05,760 Come to me. 201 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,720 Get away with me and you will recover your life. 202 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,560 I'll show you how to take real rest. 203 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:16,920 Walk with me and work with me. 204 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:18,360 Watch how I do it. 205 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,000 Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. 206 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,680 I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 207 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:29,880 Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live lightly and freely. 208 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:36,000 These are the words of Jesus, the invitation to come, partner with Jesus. 209 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,360 Incredible. 210 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,960 The good Samaritan, the prodigal son. 211 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:48,240 These different stories that just show God's love and welcome beyond what we can kind of 212 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:52,920 even grasp in our own lives. 213 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:57,360 So part one, if I should be so bold to give you two parts of Henley homework, because 214 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:05,440 I've heard it's a thing, this week is just to investigate, take some stories of Jesus 215 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,840 and just think about it through a lens of hospitality. 216 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:10,640 What is Jesus offering in here? 217 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,680 And sometimes that hospitality is going both ways. 218 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,520 Jesus is actually stepping out and someone else is offering hospitality and Jesus is 219 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:18,520 accepting hospitality. 220 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,800 This is a really incredible picture of hospitality in the life of Jesus. 221 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,840 So part one, have a little look at some of that this week. 222 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:33,360 We've also got the exhortations of Paul to the early church to live at peace with one 223 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:34,360 another. 224 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,480 He's also very self-compassion as we heard, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. 225 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:46,400 And in fact, in the list of qualifications that 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 for church leaders, 226 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:51,680 it specifically lists hospitality as something that should be a quality of a church leader. 227 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:53,640 It's not just like a tack on at the end. 228 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,600 This is what God is calling us to in the church. 229 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:04,520 All of these and so many more point to the rich hospitality of God. 230 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:10,760 Jesus has been extending a generous and gracious welcome to us for all time. 231 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:17,400 So if mission doesn't start with your heart, if it doesn't start there, forget it. 232 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:19,960 Like you may as well not go out the door. 233 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:25,480 If that you don't have a heart, if your heart doesn't break for your local community, if 234 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:32,640 you don't see people struggling and go, oh, I really, not only do I want to find a way 235 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,240 to support their physical need, but I really want them to come to know Jesus. 236 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,840 If that's not part of your heart, then what's the point doing mission and community? 237 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:46,240 And we can't run ahead and skip to stage two, the head. 238 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,400 We can't before we've caught the heart. 239 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,960 The strategic planning for mission in our local community. 240 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,000 We can't rush ahead to the strategic planning and mission in our local community if we don't 241 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,600 first deeply care about the people we want to connect with. 242 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:08,680 And by a genuine relationship, Tina from Evangelism Australia, who I heard speak during the week. 243 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:15,040 She speaks of just ways to talk about your faith in everyday circumstances. 244 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:20,240 And she says a genuine relationship she describes as someone who you would commit to and keep 245 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,200 praying for even if they never turn to Jesus. 246 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,160 That's a genuine relationship because it's not got an agenda where, you know, I just 247 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,160 want to get this person to know Jesus and then who cares about the relationship from 248 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:33,160 there. 249 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,920 That's that, you know, like it's not, this is a person I'm committed to and I want to 250 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:39,080 see their life changed. 251 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:43,920 And if that never happens, I'm still committed to this person. 252 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,640 So it starts with the heart. 253 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,720 It has to. 254 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:54,200 Mission in community is most effective when the hospitality is both part of the culture 255 00:17:54,200 --> 00:18:01,280 and the DNA of this community and is very strategic. 256 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,800 So let's move to the head. 257 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:10,000 In our context, Lisa is our chief strategist. 258 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:16,000 She not only has a huge heart for people, but she is committed to excellence. 259 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:21,200 She is an excellent planner, a researcher, a brilliant thinker with a huge capacity 260 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,360 and a huge memory. 261 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:27,440 And memory is a wonderful thing when offering hospitality. 262 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,680 But Lisa will tell you that's partly Holy Spirit inspired. 263 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,280 It's not just all her. 264 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:39,400 When the local church seeks to connect with the local community in relational and genuine 265 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,080 ways, it needs to engage the head. 266 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,080 You can't just be heartfelt. 267 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,960 You really need to think through these things. 268 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:51,120 And so I'm going to run through some of the categories of questions you might think of. 269 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:56,200 I'm going to flick these to Tim as well so that he's going to have all of the questions. 270 00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:01,680 But what I encourage you to do is as I go through some of this head stuff, listen for 271 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:02,760 something that stands out. 272 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,600 A couple of questions that you think, yeah, that really resonates. 273 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,840 I want to be thinking about that in this context. 274 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:13,800 Whether you're here, you've a third week here or you've been here in the core team, just 275 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,920 give it some thought about what does it look like in this space? 276 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,760 So practical assessment. 277 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,320 This is really practical. 278 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:30,640 You've got to ask questions before you go out the door of where are we? 279 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,440 Who are we? 280 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,120 Who are they? 281 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,640 Who are demographic of people around us? 282 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:37,640 Who are we? 283 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,760 What is our demographic as a church community? 284 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:42,760 And what do we have? 285 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:44,560 What do we physically have? 286 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:49,960 What do we have as gifts and skills amongst this church community? 287 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:54,720 What needs exist around us? 288 00:19:54,720 --> 00:20:01,600 And what gaps are there in the existing nature of community around us? 289 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:06,760 So in our local context, three and a half years ago, we were starting to think through 290 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,800 some of these questions and we identified there was a lot of young families in that 291 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:17,280 area and there was no place where you could just come and hang out with your kids and 292 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:22,040 meet with another family and it would be safe and you weren't worried about knocking over 293 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:28,240 the hipster like cafe thing in the corner that was all pretty and had some plants with 294 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:29,240 the leaves. 295 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:30,240 Not that one. 296 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,600 The leaves just going up and around and the kids were going to pull them off and then the 297 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:35,960 person was going to tell them off. 298 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,920 Not that kind of cafe but not a play cafe because that would just, it costs too much 299 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:41,920 and they're like $15 to get your kid in. 300 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:42,920 That's ridiculous. 301 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,360 You'll get it when you have had kids if you haven't had kids in the room. 302 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:49,640 It's just, and then they see it and they're like, take me here. 303 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:55,560 We need something that fills a gap that also cares. 304 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,800 And so a cafe isn't the answer for everybody but for us it was. 305 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:05,280 It was creating a space and transforming our building what we had into a space that would 306 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:09,560 just welcome our community into the building. 307 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,040 Come onto the site. 308 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:20,160 All of a sudden we've got like 300 or 400 people, some big, some very small, a week coming 309 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,560 through our building familiar with our property, familiar with the local church. 310 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:26,560 That doesn't scare them coming into the local church. 311 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:30,560 They're in the local church every week and they've begun to get to know a whole bunch 312 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:37,360 of the local church people who either serve or work in the cafe or just have their coffees 313 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:41,600 in the cafe or come and catch up with some friends or invite some friends to the cafe. 314 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:47,040 So all of a sudden we have identified a specific area. 315 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:48,160 There's a gap. 316 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,960 There's a potential to connect with our community in a way that no one else is doing at the 317 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:53,960 moment. 318 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,200 So that's an initial question like what is around us? 319 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,360 What is the need? 320 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:04,840 What is the gap in the sense of community in my area? 321 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:09,160 That's a question for this church but it also might be in a smaller scale, your own question 322 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:15,520 for your own like little neighbourhood, your couple of streets that you live in. 323 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,520 I've titled all these couple of questions identity and self-reflection. 324 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:23,400 What do you want to be known for in the local community? 325 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:29,840 Like as a church, what do you want to be known for? 326 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,240 Would people notice if you closed? 327 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,080 Which is a slightly strange question given you're fairly young. 328 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:40,680 But in the same sense, you know, in time as people get to know you, would it even matter 329 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,560 if you disappeared? 330 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:46,760 And that's a good long-term question. 331 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:51,560 Because if it doesn't matter, you're probably having no connection with the local community. 332 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,600 No one really knows. 333 00:22:55,600 --> 00:23:01,680 Where is there an opportunity to meet a need that community can be formed around? 334 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:10,600 So for us, the cafe creates this perfect thing on our site that actually has people, the 335 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:16,240 average person would probably stay on our site for an hour, an hour and a half, through 336 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,680 playgroup or through the cafe. 337 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,360 We've set up an environment where they actually don't just come and grab a coffee, most of 338 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:29,040 them because their kids can play, just stay on our site for an hour and have conversations 339 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:30,240 that whole time. 340 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:36,880 So all of a sudden, there's building community around something where it's not just a drop-in 341 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:44,720 service like I can offer you something, but you're building that sense of local community. 342 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:45,720 How... 343 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:46,720 Yeah. 344 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,560 With an idea. 345 00:23:48,560 --> 00:24:00,760 And so it's going to take time for some of these ideas to pop up, like, oh, maybe we 346 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:02,880 could do this, but how would we gather community around that? 347 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,400 Maybe we could do this, but how would that work? 348 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,840 And there's a lot of practical things like, you know, how would that continue? 349 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:15,760 Do we have the people to do whatever this idea is? 350 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:22,000 And specifically, how would people gather on the local church site or nearby to build 351 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,720 community? 352 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:25,760 Some questions for a specific idea. 353 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,400 How do you create the best community around? 354 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,960 Not just like average community. 355 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:37,200 Some churches, unfortunately, put on something well-meaning because they think they need... 356 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,520 We must have, like, a couple of programs, so we'll just put some stuff on. 357 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:45,080 And it's like, it's okay, but it's a bit average. 358 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:46,520 How might you... 359 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,320 There's no attack on anyone. 360 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,120 It's just saying. 361 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:56,160 How might you, as the church, aspire and actually create the best community around? 362 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:57,720 Better than down at Henley Square? 363 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,240 Like, how might this place... 364 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,440 It's a big question that how might you create the best community? 365 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:09,680 Because in our little area, if you're a preschool family, we arguably have the... 366 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:11,320 I'm not trying to be proud. 367 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:12,600 We arguably have the best community. 368 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:17,960 If you're a young...if you're a parent of preschool kids, you know about this café, 369 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:23,480 and you're probably hanging out there a few times, and people gush about the community, 370 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,800 the sense of community and the sense of it being, feeling like home. 371 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,000 How could you create that? 372 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:32,000 I don't know. 373 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:37,640 But that's a key question to ask and something to be working towards and something to be 374 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,400 thinking about. 375 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,880 How does the environment facilitate community? 376 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:49,000 So that is a question about how might this space, the practical space be inviting to 377 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,000 people? 378 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,200 Like, how do we welcome people in? 379 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:57,000 How do we set up something that we're doing so that from the very moment someone's on 380 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,080 the footpath, they're welcomed in. 381 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:06,920 They're like, this feels like I'm meant to be here. 382 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,640 What is...what does the space feel like? 383 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:19,240 How might there be a sense of comfort, belonging and a desire to linger in that space? 384 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,840 How might you create high quality community? 385 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,600 A place that people love? 386 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,240 And I'm not talking about Sunday worship. 387 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:33,800 I'm talking about like midweek or something, something that is actually the very first 388 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,680 step to connecting with your community. 389 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,720 How can that, whatever that is, be a place that people love? 390 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:47,280 And finally, when you have an idea and you've got it through those things, there's questions 391 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,280 about relationship building. 392 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:55,800 What specific ways will people experience God's generous and gracious welcome through 393 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:57,480 what we do here? 394 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:02,400 Like, you've actually got to ask that question and go, whoa, what could we do? 395 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,920 How could people come into this site and go, wow. 396 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,760 I just feel like people love and care about me. 397 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,080 They don't have an agenda specifically. 398 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:20,480 They just actually want to have a genuine conversation with me and get to know me. 399 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:25,120 How will it feel to experience the kind of community you might create? 400 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:30,200 If you're on the other side and you invite someone in, what would it feel like? 401 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:40,480 And how will people feel loved, cared for, known, seen, heard, safe at home? 402 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,480 And finally, how will this idea be sustainable? 403 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:53,800 Because that's a really important question for connecting with your community. 404 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,800 Ideas that are both missional and self-funding are great. 405 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:05,280 So like a cafe, if you do it well, can actually fund itself and be highly missional. 406 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,400 But that's a fairly rare option. 407 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:19,520 But how might you build into what you're offering some way of recoupings and funds, but also 408 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,600 offering wonderful community? 409 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:26,800 Lisa came up with this idea when we first started of BabyTunos, of making Adelaide's 410 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,560 best, not just some average ones, but Adelaide's best BabyTunos. 411 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:32,920 And we've been awarded that twice. 412 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,560 So it's true. 413 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:44,360 But it's genius because it's this little commercial factor to the mission that we offer as a church 414 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,360 that makes it sustainable. 415 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,680 It means that we as a church are not getting sucked dry through the cafe that's running 416 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:54,360 on site, but it's actually running a small profit which is invested back into the church 417 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:55,480 community. 418 00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:00,360 And so if we were a bit low on customers one month, the next month we just do a slightly 419 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,680 better BabyTino, and people start rolling in. 420 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:13,080 So it's become this tool that actually literally creates an up and down waves of our missional 421 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,600 engagement with the local community. 422 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:22,040 Now you can't have BabyTino, or you could, but your answer to that is going to be something 423 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,080 completely different. 424 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,360 But what is your BabyTino is my question. 425 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:33,320 What is the thing that connects with people on a secular level, every parent wants to 426 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:39,400 be able to go to a cafe and buy an amazing BabyTino for their two year old. 427 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:40,760 Trust me if you don't have two year olds. 428 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,720 That is like, you want to be able to do that and then a lot of society wants to put it 429 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:49,640 on Insta and show off how good a mum or dad they are with their kids having these amazing 430 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:50,640 BabyTinos. 431 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:56,920 But all of a sudden there's this opportunity to connect, to build relationship inside the 432 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,480 local church. 433 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:03,520 So what is your BabyTino? 434 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:09,160 Evangelism is a word that some people like and some people don't like. 435 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:16,480 But in this current time, it's really a long game. 436 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,120 In many cases, there's a lot of value in the long game evangelism. 437 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:25,040 And finding ways to build relationships with people in a way that's genuine, that doesn't 438 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,480 have that feel of like I'm just wanting to get to know you so that I can bring you to 439 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:30,480 church. 440 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,040 But actually, you've got to really stick at it. 441 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:35,840 It takes a long time. 442 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:40,000 We've been running a cafe for a couple of years now. 443 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,480 And this year has been an incredible year of starting to see some fruit from the relationships. 444 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,240 And some of those relationships have been two or three years old. 445 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:54,040 And or some, a mum recently had joined us for Playgroup for a few years. 446 00:30:54,040 --> 00:31:00,480 She'd experienced that sense of care, of genuine love and being at home. 447 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:01,480 She'd gone away for a bit. 448 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,320 Her daughter now goes to a Catholic school and her daughter's saying, mum, I want to 449 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,520 go to church. 450 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:12,320 And so she reaches out and goes, well, the only church I know of that I would feel comfortable 451 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:16,600 going is the one I connected with when I was in taking my daughter to Playgroup. 452 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,680 I know Lisa, old Senator of Text. 453 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,240 Do you think maybe I can come to church one week as my daughter wants to? 454 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:24,760 Of course you can. 455 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:25,760 That's awesome. 456 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:30,360 But that was from a relationship formed three years ago. 457 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:35,280 It's going to take time. 458 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:36,920 Some people will just walk in your door. 459 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:41,720 But the vast majority are going to need to get to know you and trust you. 460 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:46,960 And in that circumstance, you're going to be able to share stories and share how God 461 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:52,760 has been at work at different moments, offer to pray for people and get to know how to 462 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:56,240 love people well. 463 00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:00,440 After all that thinking, let's get a little less practical. 464 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:04,680 With our head, we need to use it. 465 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,680 But we're going to look at the hands. 466 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:12,760 When a heart is prepared and a head is fully engaged in thinking through our approach, 467 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:17,600 we might just be ready to turn to our hands or our mouths. 468 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,800 Starting something new is hard work, like it really is. 469 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:29,640 Lisa and I spent some really long hours getting the cafe off the ground. 470 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:31,600 But it's been amazing. 471 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,400 But it is hard work. 472 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:41,280 In the church, on a limited budget, it usually involves lots of volunteer hours. 473 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:46,160 It often involves the tension between being good stewards of what we have with our property 474 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:51,600 and our finances, but also avoiding the trap of getting into a scarcity mindset where we 475 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:55,960 hold on to everything we have and make sure we don't overspend. 476 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,440 And there's this tension we sit in when we want to do something new, when we want to 477 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:04,360 reach out, when we want to be generous. 478 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:10,320 After all, if we're going to create community that people love to offer generous welcome, 479 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,600 it's going to cost. 480 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:21,320 It'll cost the local church initially, and depending on your model, it might cost ongoing, 481 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,000 depending on what you're doing. 482 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,120 It costs with staff and volunteers. 483 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:29,240 It's going to take up some of your time that you might want to do the perfectly crafted 484 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:36,880 sermon on a Sunday or the perfectly crafted worship set time, and suddenly you might be 485 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:41,400 throwing a few hours of that interconnecting with your community. 486 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,120 It has practical implications of wear and tear on your property. 487 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:48,760 You invite people in, you know, inevitably, things get a bit more tired and a bit more 488 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:49,760 worn down. 489 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:57,760 But it also offers incredible opportunities. 490 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:04,960 Because of the positive work and reputation within our local community, in our case, 491 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:10,040 we've had amazing support from local councils, our local councils, because we've actually 492 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:15,360 built relationship with our local council and they can see the immense community engagement 493 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:16,360 that's happening there. 494 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:17,360 And they're all about that. 495 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,280 We just take out the God when we talk to them. 496 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,320 We talk about how we connect with the community, and then we bring God back in after that conversation 497 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,200 and we get their grant funding. 498 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:33,720 And it's wonderful, but you need that relationship to actually get the support. 499 00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:39,760 It has beautiful, as you build a network of community around you, it has wonderful security 500 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:44,720 benefits because, you know, people are your informal surveillance. 501 00:34:44,720 --> 00:34:48,440 Because you know that neighbour, you know that neighbour, you're getting to know that neighbour 502 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:49,800 and you know that neighbour. 503 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:53,720 And they might not even be Christian, but in our context, if we leave a light on, someone's 504 00:34:53,720 --> 00:34:57,080 going to give me a call and just check, you know, I don't think anyone's there anymore. 505 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,000 You left a light on. 506 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,360 People are suddenly part of your community. 507 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:10,520 And it has the opportunity as you host something, as you are running a something mission in your 508 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:15,240 property to actually upgrade the apply for grants and upgrade the property, which then 509 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:20,920 benefits your Sunday worshiping community and the ways you connect with your local community. 510 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:22,400 So there's plenty of good things. 511 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:27,920 But the blessings come when we get our hands dirty. 512 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:33,120 Opportunities to journey people with people through the hardest of times. 513 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:38,560 To offer hope, to offer purpose, to offer meaning. 514 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,040 Always looking for the people. 515 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:48,400 One way of saying it is the people who like you, listen to you and serve you. 516 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,840 Some of you may have come across the term people of peace. 517 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:55,880 People that lean in to the conversations that you're having. 518 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:56,880 That won't be everyone. 519 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:02,320 But you'll know when someone, whether they know God or not, is leaning in. 520 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,040 There's a chemistry even. 521 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:11,360 There's a natural leaning into the conversation and engaging well in the conversation. 522 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:13,880 Look for those people. 523 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:20,120 Here in here is the opportunity to respond with things like, tell me more about that. 524 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:25,640 Help me to understand that and all of a sudden you're allowing them space to share part of 525 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,640 their story. 526 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:32,360 And they're feeling loved and cared for and heard possibly for the first time in a long 527 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:33,360 time. 528 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:39,080 As you journey with them, you're earning trust, you're earning credibility and a permission 529 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:46,280 to share into their life from your own experience, from your own journeys. 530 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:51,480 It all takes energy and it all takes time, but the fruit of this long-term investment 531 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:52,480 is incredible. 532 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:59,840 I'm just going to give you a couple of quick stories to wrap up. 533 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:04,000 I have a hairdresser who's just around the corner from church. 534 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,280 So I've been going to see him, Dion. 535 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,400 Oh yeah, I put other names. 536 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:10,400 His name is not Dion. 537 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,600 His name is Dan. 538 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:15,840 Just in case he's listening. 539 00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:18,840 His name is Dan. 540 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,920 And we've been just chatting as you do with your hairdresser, but I've intentionally, 541 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:27,760 as I got employed in Alburton, finding the closest hairdresser to get to know. 542 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,400 And he goes to a Greek Orthodox church. 543 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:35,880 And so there's a lot of different stuff about the way he experiences God and some of the 544 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:37,400 practices that he participates in. 545 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,040 And we've been chatting about that for a long time. 546 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:45,120 And last month we were journeying through Lament, the process of just coming before God and 547 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:47,120 being real with God. 548 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:51,880 And I got up the courage to ask him, because I knew the year before his wife had been through 549 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:55,280 a cancer diagnosis and treatment, all of this. 550 00:37:55,280 --> 00:38:00,880 And I said, I just plucked up the courage and said, how did you get through that? 551 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:02,840 How did you trust God in that time? 552 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,120 Because I didn't really know where his faith was at. 553 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,040 He seemed to be participating in a lot of things. 554 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:09,480 But I figured, what's the worst that can happen? 555 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,640 He'll tell me, forgot God or he hated God. 556 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:22,360 But he told me that his mum died when he was two of breast cancer. 557 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,680 And so to have this diagnosis was huge in their family. 558 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:31,440 And yet he never even second guessed trusting God. 559 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:33,720 There was this amazing faith that he talked about. 560 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:43,280 But come the next haircut, which was only two days ago, he said, you're the only person 561 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:48,640 who I'd be willing to talk about faith and Christianity with and religion with in the 562 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:49,880 whole world. 563 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,880 And it's because I feel safe having a conversation with you. 564 00:38:53,880 --> 00:39:01,760 And that was just, you know, that's just come from sitting down in the chair, having GNU 565 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:07,000 and conversations, occasionally being a little bit bold to just ask, tell me about that. 566 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,440 Tell me why that's important to you. 567 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:14,520 And all of a sudden, I've got this relationship with my hairdresser that he's now promised 568 00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:18,840 he's going to come to our church one time at the risk of getting kicked out of the Greek 569 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:19,840 Orthodox Church. 570 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,440 And we actually were scheming about how I was just, because he was talking about how it 571 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:23,440 wasn't very accepting. 572 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:26,680 And I said, oh, just come on week and we'll see what we can stir up a bit of trouble. 573 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:29,240 And then he said, no, you might get me kicked out. 574 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:31,760 But he's going to come along one time. 575 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,200 Just we have a bit of fun. 576 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:40,320 But that's just one local person that I'm getting to know. 577 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:47,160 Our neighbor, a neighbor just moved in a couple of street, a couple of houses down from our 578 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:48,320 church. 579 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:53,840 And so she'd heard already that there was this reputation in this local church. 580 00:39:53,840 --> 00:40:00,920 And she just had seen what was going on and just wandered across because we were right 581 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:01,920 in our street. 582 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:05,120 And she was almost like, well, she felt like it was almost meant to be. 583 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:07,840 She hadn't been at church for a number of years. 584 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:12,320 She'd been through a divorce and she has a one year old child and it's really messy. 585 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:14,840 But she thought, well, I've moved here. 586 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:16,720 I may as well give it a chance. 587 00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:20,560 And she has been the last four weeks because it's just across the road. 588 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:29,200 And because we're in the community and there's people know that there's people finding a 589 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,080 home here, people feeling welcomed here. 590 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:37,680 Brett, no, Ben, my neighbor, I'm not doing very good at this. 591 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:42,200 My neighbor across the road, he's a plumber. 592 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:48,440 And I was talking, I just mentioned to him that we're talking about hospitality in the 593 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:49,440 church anyway. 594 00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:53,880 He comes back to me the next day and he's like, I was thinking about it. 595 00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:58,040 After you've had a long day at the cafe and you've packed up, do you reckon I could just 596 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:01,920 wheel the barbecue across into your car park and we'll just share a meal together and we'll 597 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:05,680 invite the other neighbors who are just the other young family who are just nearby and 598 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:07,680 we'll just hang out. 599 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:10,520 Yes, what a wonderful idea. 600 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:15,400 All of a sudden, like the things I'm talking to about with my church community, this guy 601 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:21,120 who doesn't even know God, but we have got to know over three years really intentionally 602 00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:25,600 from across the road, wants to just bring his barbecue round and shout us dinner after 603 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:31,160 a long day at the cafe. 604 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:34,840 How many more of these shall I share? 605 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:38,720 I'll stop sharing stories, but you can ask me a few afterwards if you want, if you want 606 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:39,720 to hear some more. 607 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:45,320 But there is story after story after story of just God lining things up as we, as the 608 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:49,600 local church, are being willing to just like look for every opportunity. 609 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:52,920 There wasn't actually a guy at there last time, but if there was, look for, you know, 610 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:55,600 what is happening with that guy walking past? 611 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:57,920 He's not there, Jordan, don't look. 612 00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:03,320 Like is he struggling with a trolley that he shouldn't have walking down the street? 613 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:04,320 Can I help him out? 614 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:08,280 Like what is the opportunity to strike up the very first conversation with that neighbor? 615 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:11,280 Are they putting their bins out and they're trying to bring two in at once and it's really 616 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:17,520 awkward and you go, oh, can I just help you with that and we'll start a conversation? 617 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:24,120 That may be in your local context, but every time you were on site here, every one of you 618 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:28,400 who calls this place home, I encourage you to begin to think about what does it mean 619 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:33,120 to, for this church to become a local hub of community? 620 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:36,840 What does it mean to get to know all of the neighbors around here? 621 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:39,960 Whether it's just like they're going out to check the letterbox and you just want to say 622 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:41,120 hi. 623 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:45,000 And you just keep doing that until you get the first conversation. 624 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,440 This is mum, she had a couple of weeks ago in our church service about a lady she knew 625 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:55,280 who would intentionally do this and walked past this same man for 10 years, giving him 626 00:42:55,280 --> 00:43:00,720 a smile and a wave and saying good morning because that was part of her walk. 627 00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:06,000 And after 10 years, she got a hello and a smile back. 628 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,240 That is persistence, my friends. 629 00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:10,400 10 years. 630 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:18,480 What would it take to actually like connecting with community and building relationships 631 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:19,760 takes effort? 632 00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:21,240 It takes intentionality. 633 00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:23,680 It takes constantly surveying your ongoing. 634 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:25,520 How can I have a conversation with people? 635 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:28,920 And let me tell you, as Tim shared last week, he's not a big people person. 636 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:31,640 Like he feels a bit socially awkward at times. 637 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:37,400 That was me probably 10 years ago and the Lord has delivered me. 638 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:41,760 You know, the Lord has given me a heart for people. 639 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:42,760 I still don't get energy. 640 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:47,480 I'm going to need to go crash tonight and just recharge by myself. 641 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:51,520 But the Lord has given me a heart for just getting to know people, just stepping out 642 00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:57,680 and having a silly conversation that might actually lead to a relationship with someone. 643 00:43:57,680 --> 00:43:58,680 Who knows? 644 00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:00,560 What's the worst that's going to happen? 645 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:02,680 They'll just ignore you. 646 00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:08,880 It's about just beginning to be comfortable with just taking every opportunity to connect 647 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:10,480 with every person around here. 648 00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:11,600 And you might be down at Hanley Square. 649 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:15,240 You might be at the Grainge Jetty and you do the same thing there. 650 00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:18,240 And then that person happens to be walking the dog back past here and you're like, oh, 651 00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:20,320 and they're like, oh, you're part of the local church. 652 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:24,680 That happens to me all the time because I meet them at the shops and I have a conversation 653 00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:25,680 with them there. 654 00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,760 But then I'm out doing some gardening or just out in the car park and we have a lot of people 655 00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:31,320 that walk their dogs around their area. 656 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:35,360 So they come walk past the fence and they're like, oh, I've met you before. 657 00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:36,760 We caught up in the shops. 658 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:40,840 And that begins another relationship in the community. 659 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:45,040 I don't know what that looks like for you, but you've got to get a heart for it. 660 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:48,520 You've got to then think through it and then you've got to go and get your hands dirty 661 00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:55,680 and take every opportunity up to have a conversation with someone, to love people. 662 00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:59,800 And yeah, that's probably about it. 663 00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:02,800 That's probably enough for tonight. 664 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:07,080 I will just say that the head, the heart, the head and the hands, there was a lot of 665 00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:12,480 stuff there tonight, but the head, the heart, but starting with the heart, the heart, the 666 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:17,680 head and the hands, all you need to do is remember those three and you'll begin to remember 667 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:22,000 what is it that I need about my heart before I go out and connect with my community? 668 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:24,120 What is it that Simon said about the head? 669 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:26,000 Oh, that's probably a thinking thing. 670 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:27,840 So it was some of the things we think through. 671 00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:28,840 What is it about the hands? 672 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:30,560 What are they going to get dirty? 673 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:34,280 It's just going to be hard work at times and you're going to have to put yourself out there 674 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:41,760 a bit, but building community is so beautiful and so rewarding and all of a sudden we see 675 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:48,240 people coming to know Jesus. 676 00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:51,120 Thanks so much for tuning into this week's message. 677 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:57,440 If you felt challenged or need prayer, would love to hear from you on Instagram at encounterhennie. 678 00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:05,640 If you're interested in how you can support this ministry, please go to our website, encounteradelaide.com.au. 679 00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:07,160 Thanks again for listening. 680 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:28,640 God bless you.