There was an impactful video which drove home what we at newfrontiers are already doing evangelistically around the world, and it was very motivational to both act ourselves to make a difference where we are, and to give to support the work going on in other less wealthy nations, bringing both the Gospel and practical help.
On the video one of the speakers said, “It is time for Jesus to become famous in the UK again.” I am convinced that newfrontiers can play a significant part in seeing just that transformation of this nation happen again – we thank God that we already have hundreds of increasingly vibrant and grace-filled UK churches in our family and a vision from God to dare to believe Him for 1000 churches in this nation and also churches of 1000’s. In our nation of 60 million people, how can we ask God for anything less?
Terry opened his message by reading Hebrews 11:23-26 – I think he even read it in the ESV rather than his customary NASB. Men and women of faith are paraded before us in this chapter. Terry immediately addressed the so-called “faith movement” where people associate faith with obtaining or claiming things from God. He made the point that the goal here was reaching heaven, not accumulating things in this world! Terry said that the idea of getting more and more from God is, in fact, not the key in this chapter. “This chapter is not simply about getting, claiming, and receiving; it’s about making huge decisions rooted in things you know.”
The first act of faith was Moses refusing by faith – he didn’t GET anything at that point! He REFUSED something instead! In that difficult decision, he laid a foundation in his life that led to a whole community being built. “Biblical leadership is to be called, tested, and then given a sphere on the basis of what they have proved.” The making of a leader is, said Terry, “making secret decisions that are often very costly.” We have to allow God time in order to do a work in our soul before He will use us in leadership.
Moses is not a young radical who hasn’t thought things through – he made a decision that was based on faith. Some people think that Christianity is a set of rules to follow, but in fact it is a matter of faith! Giving up Egypt wasn’t a duty or sacrifice to Moses – instead he had a different perspective that faith had given him. Terry said, “Moses was a man who had seen something better than Egypt could offer.” We need this awareness to build a counter-cultural church. It is not just about stopping doing certain things that we secretly still really want to do! We have to by FAITH refuse because we have seen something vastly better and different!
Paul put it this way: “The world is crucified to me and I to the world.” 1 Timothy 6:17 tells us to put our hope in God, not the riches of this passing world. The independent choices that riches give us can stop us from needing to rely on God. We have to abandon ourselves, to fix our gaze on a future pleasure that is to come that will empower us not to be drawn aside by the fleeting pleasures the world can offer. God invests lots of lives into the care of leaders – what a terrible thing for that trust to be betrayed by a tragic fall of a leader. We have to see that God is calling us to live a better life!
What was Moses called to do? He was called first of all to be identified with the people of God. We are to be part of a community, not just a free spirit – we have to give up our independence. Sometimes the church seems so strange and out of step with the prevailing culture. We are now outside the culture with our beliefs – we believe in a creator, in Jesus being the only way, in sex as between one man and one woman in marriage for life, in not aborting babies in their mother’s wounds. This makes us aliens and strangers – outsiders. We don’t belong in this culture – we are passing through. But we do not step out of society and withdraw either! Instead of stepping away, we step in and start a church! Let’s turn the world upside down and as we do it, we will upset it! Terry said, “We are called to be out of step – God is saying to us, ‘Come alive.'”
We need to look for the reward. We must believe God’s promises. A great future is coming for the world. World history is dependent upon US. We mustn’t forget who we are. We mustn’t try and adapt and make ourselves acceptable to the modern culture. We must listen to people like Matthew Paris, a well-known unbeliever who ridicules the church’s changing its morality and says, quite rightly, that if Jesus stood for anything it was to be different and culturally uncomfortable! We must wake up and sound the trumpet. Let the voice be heard! We carry world history. We have the answer. We are not called to be reasonable.
Terry ended his sermon by saying, “We have to have seen the unseen. Are you persuaded that Christ is the king of the ages? . . . live for God in this generation . . . by faith Moses refused, because he had seen something more . . . it makes sense to go into what Jesus has called us to – the reproach of Christ . . . Let’s live consistent with what we have seen . . . the answer lies not in using faith to receive things . . . is it not something far more radical than that? By faith we refuse . . . God is looking for courageous people who are clear about the issues . . . God wants us free. God wants us pressing in to what will last forever.”
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