Elijah really was a man just like us. Despite seeming like a superman in much of the Scripture, in 1 Kings 19 we see a man who is burnt-out and yet somehow clings onto God. Regular readers of my blog will remember a fantastic sermon preached by Terry Virgo on Elijah’s prayer. It was one of the most popular things I linked to this year.

The sermon below is the next in Terry’s long-running series from when he preaches at CCK. Terry has several decades of experience of leading a growing family of churches. As a result he has encountered many people who’s experience mirrored that of Elijah when he ran into the dessert. His pastoral wisdom and unmatched ability to preach inI such a way that a biblical character leaps of the page with lessons for us today make this an unmissable sermon. I am pleased to be able to share the video here (click to the second part when the first part is done to watch the whole sermon.) Audio and other messages in the series are available at the CCK site.

Crossway have shared a brief extract of my forthcoming book over on their blog. Somehow it seems strange to see these words I have spent more than two years working on available for others to read. I guess I better get used to it! So, here it is, your first sight of what is coming:

Jesus’ resurrection really did change everything. It changed the cross from a tragedy into a triumph, and it changed the Roman Empire into a Christian state. This was the most powerful divine event in the history of creation, and it ushered in a new age of the Holy Spirit’s activity and power in saving and transforming lives.
When considering if Christianity is true, it all boils down to whether Jesus rose from the dead. The lives of Christians today demonstrate that the resurrection is still changing people… (Raised With Christ, pp 15)

While on the subject of the book, this is the final week for me to get my edits done. So it really is almost the end of the long but rewarding job writing it has been. Don’t expect much blogging from me, however!

Every leader needs a Nigel. I first met him and his wife many years ago as he will mention in todays guest post about how he has helped in the work of Newfrontiers:

At the recent Newfrontiers TOAM Conference I felt God prompt me to testify at the end of Joel Virgo’s talk about being armour bearers to leaders. Several have generously said this was helpful so I will fill in a bit of the history Terry and I have had together.

We first met in 1968. My wife and I wanted to start a Bible Study group in our village with another young couple and this couple knew of a good visiting speaker to open our first meeting – a certain Terry Virgo! Subsequently we asked him about the Baptism of the Spirit (a ‘new discovery’ in those days) and what the Bible taught about healing.

In May 1973 Terry became a regular visitor to our group, visiting us every two weeks. Janita and I invited him to arrive early for a meal recognising the hand of God on him and that we would probably only have this close access to him for a short period – but God had other plans!

In 1977 Terry planted our house group as a church – the first church plant he made. From small beginnings (including a young Adrian Warnock in my wife’s Sunday School class) this church in Haywards Heath has since sent out several groups to plant into the surrounding towns and villages.

At the age of 9 yrs and again in 1974 I felt God call me to full time ministry – but I did not know when that would come about. In 1978 I mentioned this to Terry. So, when he first formed an apostolic team in September 1980 he asked me if I still felt this call. If so, would I become his administrator – he didn’t know what an administrator did but knew he needed one. My response was that I did not know either – but ‘yes’! (By then I had in fact helped organise the Downs Bible Week for several thousand so I guess he felt I had at least something to offer.)

What does the Bible say about administration? There is much I have learnt and am regularly sharing on my blog (www.nigelring.org). But one of the key passages for me is Acts 6:1-7. A welfare-dispute among the widows threatened to distract the apostles from their main calling – prayer and ministry of the word. I felt that God was saying to me that my calling was to relieve Terry of all that might distract him. In Acts 6 the immediate effect was rapid growth of the church. My heart was for us to see the same as an emerging family of churches.

In the last 3 decades it has been my joy and privilege to work closely with Terry as a friend. I have learnt much from him – his tenacity to the word, his wisdom, his commitment to prayer, his humility and so on. Personally, I have developed the philosophy for administration that once spiritual leadership has set the direction my role is to implement it and to ensure that the administration is inconspicuous. Like the oil in a vehicle, it will not be noticed if it is fulfilling its function to make the vehicle run smoothly. Administration in the Kingdom is about providing contexts for people to meet God – if they are distracted by poor administration it has failed.

God has been very gracious to us since the early days. Newfrontiers is now a family of over 700 churches in nearly 60 nations. Most of these churches have been planted from within Newfrontiers, founded on an apostolic and prophetic foundation. The administration has, of course, grown and Newfrontiers now has many skilled and gifted people working on a substantially church-based decentralised model. But my personal commitment to Terry remains. We both believe that it is a ‘till death us do part’ relationship and look forward to further years of service together.

Terry is currently in the USA with Mark Driscoll’s home church. He has actually been in the USA for most of the time since Together On A Mission. He was there when a sudden explosion of interest in his sermon on prayer happened. By the way, if you watched that video but never made it to the second part, you can see both parts easily on vimeo.

He has found time to post his own perceptions of the conference and videos of the first and second of his talk on his blog. The videos each include a brief extra introduction filmed in his study. I am sure he will post talk 3 soon.

Joe Day, one of the Mars Hill’s worship pastors has posted two tweets about Terry’s talks while in Mars Hill:

Terry Virgo is awesome. Preaching justification and righteousness and continuing in the deep love of Christ. And…he bounces up & down like Gordon Ramsey when he gets fired up.

I have a lot more posts about Terry Virgo elsewhere on the blog and have interviewed him previously.

Just yesterday, John Piper posted a tweet about Terry Virgo’s sermon on prayer. This sermon had been available online for a couple of weeks and had been well received. But I don’t think I was ready for what would happen next. Over the next day around 1400 more people had watched the video. Imagine the impact of just some of them putting into practice what they learned and pursuing God more vigorously in prayer!

In that same day, a twitter search for Terry Virgo or the shortened URL Piper used revealed the list of tweets I share below some of which have great quotes from the sermon, and show that people really felt they had benefited from watching it. If you want to find our more about Terry Virgo, do visit his personal website.

Personally, I am more and more convinced that somehow watching high definition videos of sermons is more impacting than listening to audio. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it right now! And if you like it, why not tweet about it too, and perhaps share your favorite quote.

I might even do a follow up post and include your tweet here.

Real-time results for http://ow.ly/hB55 OR “terry virgo”

1. simonholley RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 4 hours ago from HootSuite
2. hmfsli RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 7 hours ago from TwitterFon
3. hosannanoelle “Prayer is a vital prerequisite for the release of God’s power.” -Terry Virgoabout 12 hours ago from web
4. akershus7 Ditto John Piper – “I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it!” http://ow.ly/hB55about 12 hours ago from web
5. mrepucci RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 13 hours ago from web
6. aphaneuf I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55 (via @JohnPiper)about 14 hours ago from Tweetie
7. danielmayernik RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 15 hours ago from TwitterFon
8. mediaphish RT@JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year, I recommend ithttp://ow.ly/hB55about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck
9. shaver80 RT: @johnpiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 18 hours ago from web
10. DanielCWilson I have just watched a sermon on prayer byTerry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55 (via @JohnPiper)about 19 hours ago from Tweetie
11. johnlanferman RT@JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year, I recommend it http://ow.ly/hB55about 19 hours ago from web
12. OneThing27 http://ow.ly/hB55 Astounding sermon! This will change the way you think about prayer! Praise God for such a gift!about 19 hours ago from web
13. DrewHaninger RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 20 hours ago from TwitterFon
14. NationsBeGlad RT @JohnPiper – I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 20 hours ago from HootSuite
15. slguzman RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55 (powerful!)about 20 hours ago from web
16. Reagantrose Watch this! RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 20 hours ago from web
17. chrisbowditch RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 20 hours ago from twibble
18. purduekenny RT: @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 20 hours ago from TwitterFox
19. novashep Spurgeon: “1 hour of prayer in the morning better than 2 hours at night.” (per great prayer sermon by terry virgo here: http://ow.ly/hB55)about 20 hours ago from TweetDeck
20. yohaanphilip RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 21 hours ago from TwitterFon
21. Phfig RT johnpiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 21 hours ago from web
22. joanakennington Excelent sermon on the power of prayer. Let us pray!!! http://ow.ly/hB55about 21 hours ago from web
23. taylormatthews RT johnpiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 21 hours ago from web
24. simonredmill John Piper writes: “I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it”. http://ow.ly/hB55about 21 hours ago from web
25. notdull RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 21 hours ago from TweetDeck
26. NathanGernetzky RT johnpiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 21 hours ago from web
27. marshillbible RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 22 hours ago from web
28. james_disciple RT @JohnPiper:I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 22 hours ago from Nambu
29. TopeKoleoso Pipers quote on Terry Virgo’s sermon on PRAYER is not insignificant. Prayer matters. Period. Watch the video. It challenges and encouragesabout 22 hours ago from TwitterFon
30. CarolinaCaw Just finished watching the Terry Virgovideo…inspiring!about 22 hours ago from web
31. Tigger1964 RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 22 hours ago from TwitterFon
32. rockstarkevin RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 22 hours ago from TweetDeck
33. cvanderford RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 22 hours ago from TweetDeck
34. cwharrison I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo – great points ! I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55(heard about it from John Piper)about 22 hours ago from web
35. bjstockman loved that @johnpiper recommended a Terry Virgo sermon on prayer, which Piper says “will alter my year”http://ow.ly/hB55about 22 hours ago from web
36. tsebold RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
37. citlau RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from web
38. justdjgarcia RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from TinyTwitter
39. bryanmowrey RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from web
40. stanuel RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from twidroid
41. TopeKoleoso @PastorTimSmith : Thanks . Check out Terry Virgo’s sermon on prayer which @JohnPiper just recommended to make u look forward even more.about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
42. amiloizides RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from TwitterFon
43. jonpietrowski RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
44. jennwhitmer RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
45. ianjukes RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from Tweetie
46. lexloiz RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from Tweetie
47. IanAshby I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55 (via @JohnPiper)about 23 hours ago from Tweetie
48. sabocortez JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from txt
49. Joe_Tobias RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from TwitterBerry
50. matt1057 RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from TwitterFon
51. brucem76 RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 23 hours ago from Yatca
52. danwadams RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck
53. PeterPollock RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck
54. God_Hasnt4got RT @JohnPiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 24 hours ago from web
55. tomf80 RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 24 hours ago from Seesmic
56. GoEDstudyabroad RT @JohnPiper: I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it. http://ow.ly/hB55about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck
57. johnpiper I have just watched a sermon on prayer by Terry Virgo that will alter my year. I recommend it.http://ow.ly/hB55about 24 hours ago from HootSuite

We are a family of churches. Its not a Bible phrase as such, but it is something we value highly. It comes from the very heart of God. We don’t want to abandon the idea of a community. The people related to one another.

Denominations tend to be static, associated with rules and regulations. They have headquaters. Don’t tend to be charismatic even if they started that. We resist being called a denomination. We have called ourselves an apostolic sphere. Why?

1. Its to do with the gift of the apostle
2. Its to do with the relationships surrounding that gift

It’s a biblical concept. Apostle is based on a Greek word which means to send with authority, commissioning, representing someone. Its an ambassador, someone apprehended and sent. There are different categories. Hebrews 3 describes Jesus as THE Apostle. He was the ultimate sent one. In John’s gospel he kept saying he had a task, he had been sent. Moses was a different man before and after being sent. Moses was trying to help and met hindrances and then left. Then when he was sent, it was almost as though he was bullied into it! God imposed his will on him. He still has difficulties. But he is confident in his call.

Jesus was unique. But he also gathered the 12 and called them Apostles. They are unique. They have a peculiar standing. They are foundational.

Thirdly in Ephesians 4 it says Jesus ascended on high and then gives gifts. These are a different category. Paul was one of these, although he is almost in a category of his own. He was unlike the 12 apprehended after the ascension. Barnabus, and others in the Scriptures are also listed as apostles. In Ephesians 4 we see diverse gifts with different tasks all given from heaven. They have different roles. A pastor is not the same as an evangelist.

What then did Apostles do?

They provided the foundation of the church.
The early Christians were not just converted but added to a community founded on the foundation of these Apostles. God made his home in the church. Never known a whole people before who could say God lives in us. Jesus says I am the true vine and you will be like branches in me. We are in the Messiah, and the messiah is in us. When people were saved, some of them would have been rejected by their families. They found a new sense of belonging in the community of the church.

They gave identity to the church
The people were built on the apostles and their teachings. Jesus replaced the temple, now we are the temple. Some Evangelicals will say that Apostles were simply Bible writers, and when the Bible is written that’s the end of the deal. Of the 12 only 3 who wrote any of the Bible! The person who wrote most of the New Testament, Luke, wasn’t even one! Some say now we have the epistles who needs apostles. These scholars take away this phenomenally important ministry for world mission. They rob us of an incredible thing. The reformers were anxious to reject apostolic succession in the Catholic church, and so they rejected the continuation of apostles and most commentators since have just followed them.

1 Corinthians 3, describes Paul’s work as a wise master-builder in founding churches. Obviously the completed cannon of scripture is foundational for our faith. But Paul spoke about the work he did in individual churches. He was a church builder. He was the wise architect. God gave him a blueprint and he built it.

He said to the Corinthians they were the poof of his gift, and he said “surely I am to you” He said that the fact they existed was the proof that he was an Apostle. Paul was a dynamic figure who fathered churches. Phillip the Evangelist did not father them he simply evangelized. Paul says you don’t have many fathers. He developed relationships with churches. He brought them to birth and he continued to have a link with them. Even Colossae which he had never visited personally (one of his team had done it) he stabilized his team, and were still within his sphere. He had an ongoing relationship with a number of churches. Theologians speak of the “Pauline churches.”

He spoke of his ongoing care for the churches. He prayed for them day and night. It was affectionate and dynamic. It wasn’t institutional It was life imparting. 2 Corinthians 10:13 speaks of a sphere that reached to them. In the ESV this is translated as

“But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged”

The idea actually seems to be not so much that the area or sphere grows in Corinth but that it will stretch beyond them.

We gave an apostolic sphere a name – Newfrontiers. Actually, what is important is the apostolic sphere.

The idea is that the Corinthians faith will grow, and hence he will be able to reach beyond Corinth. A spiritually unsettled state of affairs at Corinth would be a hindrance to him moving forward.

Paul is not called to be a pastor, but to press on.

In Bible days, Jesus called apostles who then planted churches, and then the whole church got caught up in their mission and the world was reached. When churches were not healthy, the apostles came back.

JB Phillips “your growing faith will mean the expansion of our sphere of action”

A healthy church can help apostolic thrusts, we are in this together.

Churches and their faith and partnership determine the growth of apostolic work. The churches are caught up dynamically on a mission. We really are together on a mission.

We are trying to recapture Biblical Christianity. We need to fight for the apostolic. We want to see the dynamic of global evangelism through the biblical way of honoring apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We want to win this battle.

We must beware of the danger of becoming too static. We might loose the edge of our New Testament origins. It could become too easy to belong to this movement. What is it we are building? We are building something radical.

Over the years there has been change within Newfrontiers. Many guys who have gone out from us, and who would have represented Terry initially, now are more and more functioning in their own gift. People have built networks of grace-filled churches that span different nations some nations where Terry has never been to. There is already a lot of pumping life out there in our movement.

When Simon Petit died, it was like a large tree had fallen, and God directed us not to replace him but to make room for the saplings that had been growing in his shade. We are now in a dozen more African nations as a result.

Adam is told fill the earth. Multiply. Sons who become fathers, who can then have sons. Newfrontiers is not just Terry’s apostolic sphere any more. He is coaching others who are themselves doing apostolic work.

We are coming to the end of the beginning of this movement. When this was one apostolic context. Its already more than one apostolic context. There are details to be worked out. But the principle is established. Jesus did not hand over to a successor, Peter was not the pope. When Peter stood with the eleven, Peter was the spokesman. But it was Peter’s moment, not Peter’s movement. Later James stood up and spoke at a controversial council, and it was his moment. Paul said he went to those of reputation, not that I went to the new leader. He spoke of those reputed to be leaders. There was not a stagnant nature.

What we are looking for is gifts that multiply, grow and develop. Paul did not come from the Jerusalem stable. He wasn’t trained by Peter. He grasped the gospel, he founded churches, he fathered churches, and he was recognized for his gift. He did not want to be alone. He wanted to be in step with what is there before me. He wanted unity with the existing. He wanted recognition and affirmation from those who were before him, though he was absolutely confident in the gospel. Later on, Paul is able to confront Peter “to his face” when he saw him drifting on grace. Why? Because he wanted the church to be one. There is confronting, and challenging each other. They were a fellowship of apostles, a band of brothers. They held together and kept relationship. They could have chosen their own way. They could have said “I’m off”. In fact, if some people want to leave Newfrontiers and go their own way then they are free to do that. Its not that Newfrontiers has authority. This is a name we gave to an apostolic sphere, that’s all.

There is a mutual support that is going on. We have relationships that have bonded us together. We believe that these relationships will continue. We are looking for the emergence of more apostles. Its God’s church. Its not our institution. Its HIM that gives the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Apostles are not an appointment of the church, they are a gift of Jesus. Terry can’t make more apostles.

You can encourage and train those with developing ministries, but it is GOD who gives the gift. The day we make it our thing is the day we drift towards and institution. We need the divine call and the divine equipment.

Apostle is not a name given to the church’s leadership, it is a gift given by the ascended Christ. Give us laborers for the harvest! Give us more of these gifts. Lets see more spheres opened. Let the criss-crossing happen. Not a case of little visits, but apostolic thrust. Paul did not have a big religious event. He probably had a meeting in a house somewhere where Peter just said – hey we are with you, we recognize God is with you.

Paul says “We were gentle, as apostles” in a letter written by Silas and Timothy. There is some confusion there about whether these two were apostles or not. We need to be careful to see who are the real apostles, recognizing they don’t have to look the same, but neither should we call a room full of pastors an apostolic team.

What is more important than Newfrontiers continuing, is that genuine apostles rise up where churches are in dynamic partnership with apostolic advance. It’s about a dynamic joining not about being on a list.

There is a generation coming up through Newday and Mobilise that are not very interested in institutional life. They are pumping and radically red hot. We have to stay vibrant for that to happen. It must be uncomfortable to stay around. What can hold the spheres together? There is fellowship to happen between different spheres knowing that we are more together than we are apart. Unity of doctrine and values. There has been great strength to us in that. There are promises God has given us to change the expression of Christianity all over the world. Not sure any one sphere can do that, but lots of spheres together can! We are going to touch nations. We need one another, we are going to still need one another.

Finally, Joseph was a dreamer who was thrown out, through youthful exuberance. Ultimately came into a place where he was a blessing to his brothers. We are seeing an opening of doors into reformed conservative evangelicalism. They are seeing “perhaps you are not as crazy as you thought”. Jonathan said, come and join the victory. We need a big heart to embrace and bless if we can the broader body of Christ.

God will take us from nation to nation. We want to see every nation touched.

If we are to be a grape vine it can stretch very far from one root. In these next few years we are coming to the end of the beginning. God will do an amazing thing.

Terry began by recommending two books by Bruce Ware. Father Son and Holy Spirit. Terry explained that this book had stirred him to contemplate the wonders of the trinity more devotionally and God’s Greater Glory

Paul was confronted by the risen one who said “I am Jesus who you are persecuting”. He could have answered but I am persecuting Christians! But Christ and the church are one, united, we are the body. Jesus even ensures that Paul has to receive the next step from one of Jesus’ members. Paul learns what it is to be integrated. Cornelius gets an angellic visitation, but the angel says “send for a man”, Pauld describes the churches as his beloved, his joy, his crown. Thats how God sees us. We must love the Church. We must know the wonder of the church. There is a passion and a delight for the Church in the heart of God. We must really love the Church and see it from God’s perspective and genuinely believe for a glorious church.

Churches are to be founded on and flooded by God’s grace.
We are aiming to build churches that are full of people who are free in the grace of God and basking in God’s acceptance of us. We are free from law, religiousness, rules and regulations. Its not a case of us having to work harder. We must live grace. Get it into every pore of your life. Enjoy it, drink it in. Many churches are heavy, heart-aching, working at it, slaving away. We want a whole church that is full of complete freedom. This was perhaps Paul’s greatest battle. We must bannish legalism. We need to build grace-filled communities.

The church is where we loose our individualism and selfish ambition.
We don’t have a private agenda. We get free from all that in community. Many of the commands of the New Testament can only be obeyed in the context of the local church. We have to loose our life. But we do that in the stuff of fellowshiping with the people you don’t initially like. Its not just a noble thought when your hands are raised and you worship. No, its when someone says “No, you are not on that list” or “No you can’t lead worship next week”

Don’t be a church hopper who never puts down their roots. The group is not about having my needs met, its about laying down my life and my preferences. We are told to be kind to one another. Not think abstract “kind” thoughts! We forgive one another when people hurt us. The fruits of the Spirit work in church not in space.

There are two warring women in Philippians. There seem to have been two reasons for writing – tell those women to stop rowing and thanks for the money! Then there is a breathtaking theological statement of the majesty of Christ who took on human form and went down to the cross. But all that was written in response to two women arguing to persuade them to stop! Its the gospel that changes us as a community. God is at work among you, there are communities of love, gentleness, and kindness.

The world is so bitter, harsh and cruel. So to come into a community of love, not grumbling and complaining we will shine like lights. People can be full of themselves, even in Christian circles. We build our sanctification, our Christlikeness in church and we can serve. People need to be close enough to tread on our feet. We must build lives together. We must relate together. Its a wonderful creation, breathtakingly different.

Through Love Serve One Another
Become one anothers slave. In the fellowship of the saints we lay down our lives. We do humbling things. There is an army behind an event like this of unsung heroes. We serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Obedience of Faith
The devil offered man the choice to be their own god and make their own choices. But, we can then try and impose God’s will on people by force, laws, and rules. We want to see an obedience that comes from the heart. The Christian witness of simply saying “We are not alllowed to go to the party” is poor. So when people at work say are you going to sleep with one woman for life are you going to say “yes, because I am not allowed to sleep with others” or are we going to be convinced by faith that it is best for us to live God’s way. Do you believe what Jesus says or not? If you ask the question, “do I have to?” then you are asking the wrong question! The lies of the enemy are penetrating us, and Jesus wants to change us from the inside so we believe it by faith.

Heaven is outworked in the church. We live by different values that we are thoroughly persuaded of. Its a community of obedience by faith.

The church is not just individually obedient but corporately obedient. We must see that we have to build the churches themselves by biblical values. This is what we mean by restoration of the church. The church wanted things to be the same. When Martin Luther nailed his thesis to the door, and Calvin joined him in teaching justification, everything had to change. Justification changed the whole church. We want churches that are corporately changed by the Spirit. People are so cynical about the Church, but its God’s church and we want to get it right. We don’t want to sprinkle unregenerate babies and we don’t want to be embarrassed by unregenerate bishops. Thats why we are on a mission around the world to plant new kinds of churches or help existing churches make the radical changes that are required.

Democracy is not the way to run a church. We have to change that. A completely new type of church, not democratic, not institutional, not independent. God tells us to be inter-dependent. We must work these things out. The Holy Spirit appoints elders. God has given us a big heart to love and fellowship with other believers and we mustnt be harsh with them. But God has given us a vision of what church should be like and we will go into all the world and plant those kind of churches.

Church is precious, wonderful and magnificent. We cannot apply sanctification and obedience to the individual only. We have to restore the church to its Biblical model.

The theme of restoring what was lost is very common in the Bible. The walls needed to be built up. We are the people of God, we must get distinctives up. But restoration is also about recovering the corporate presence of the Lord. David restored the ark to Israel. A personal relationship with the Spirit is not enough. We need churches that are full of the Spirit corporately. God wants to make the Church truly his temple. We want God to dwell in his people as a body. Church is where God is. Where God is here now. His presence is here, neither quenched nor grieved.

When pentecost came and the Spirit fell, perhaps Peter yelled “He’s back!” Terry said, “I hate doing church when Jesus is not here.” Its the presence of God that makes the church distinct. Even Moses knew that it was God’s presence that makes things different. But we must cultivate our openess to the presence of God. We don’t gather to a faint memory of what it used ot be like when Jesus was here. We want church where Jesus is here. In the midst in all his glory. Where God is encountered. Lives are transformed by such encounters. The gateway to heaven is the church. Its the dwelling place of God. We are the new temple. Its the place where God lives on our planet. Here is the place of God’s presence especially when we are gathered to worship. It is God’s own presence among us that distinguishes us from all the other people on the face of the earth.

Where are we now? Well we are planting churches. We are trying to build them biblically, loosing our individual life in order to find it, building communities of love worked out in real relationships where the prsence of God is happy to dwell. If we continue to honor and respect his word and the presence of the Spirit. We will see much growth as we follow this path. We are going to the nations. We want to be a people of word and spirit, who build church right and who welcome Jesus among us!

For some reason, even more than other years, I am finding myself wishing I could transport you all into this venue so you can just experience the worship. I don’t know how I can really portray the worship well on this blog. Lets just say I sometimes wonder about the structural integrity of this glorious building as a few thousand people all bounce up and down in unison and sing loudly! It somehow even reminded me of a verse in scripture which says of the ancient Israelites that on one occasion they were

“rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise”

During the worship time, someone brought a word based on the idea that together can also be read to-get-her.

Two books were mentioned, firstly Influential Women by Wendy Virgo which speak of the important role that women can play for good and evil in churches. This book will help in addressing the wrong perception some have of the role of women in our churches

The second book was God Knows You Are Human by Terry, this book tells us how God puts us back together again. It outlines Bible characters who experienced God’s favor and mercy.

Terry read from Ephesians 2:1-10

He explained he would be speaking this year about Newfrontiers, its past present and future. This would be different from usual as he didn’t plan to expound a particular passage. In order to help us look forward, he would today look back “The further back you look the clearer you can look forward”

His purpose was to highlight foundational values. In fact I wish I could have caught every word, so please do get the video or audio of this as it is a fantastic summary of what it is that we value in this movement.

We are fundamentally a word and spirit movement. We must value this and treasure it. We don’t want to drift either way. We are both reformed and charismatic.

Where we started: We were dead. Not a very exciting place to begin! Didn’t come together as entrepreneurial whiz kids who started something to go around the world. Terry said he is reformed because he believes the Bible tells me it was of God that I was saved. Dead people don’t search for God. They don’t contribute a lot. They need God to take action. There is a glorious “but God” He spoke, he acted

We were living according to the culture of this world. We evaluated things in the way the world does. The world doesn’t know the first thing about living as Eugene Peterson says.

This world is a short term thing, an age passing away. We used to follow that way. There was another power, another force at work. Sometimes people say “I don’t know what came over me” The devil drives us further than we would have chosen to go. We are subject to the lusts of the flesh. If there is no God, what a terrible world to live in. But while we were in that disgusting state, God loved us with a great wonderful love. He entered into that world.

God did something to us. We were raised with Christ. We were included in the resurrection of Jesus. All who are in him are raised to a newness of life. We are all given a new heart. No longer evil and deceitful heart. He has made us alive. We are saved by grace! God is the initiator. Even faith is the gift of God. He breathed life into us. God has done an amazing thing. His mercy, not your wise choice, his lavish grace not your longing. No one searches for God. If there was a bit of a search in your heart, then God had begun to work on your corpse-like person. He began to draw you to himself. We can celebrate his amazing goodness. It wasn’t my idea it was his. It wasn’t my initiative it was his. He loved me when I was so lost, so why would he stop loving me now? This God is FOR me! Its great news. We are a “but God” people. God changed our lives completely.

Verse 10 says we are created in Christ Jesus. God does things out of nothing. Not just forgiven, not patched up, we are a new creation! Its true of an individual and also the whole church. If anyone is in Christ then we are a new creation.

We are his workmanship. We are like a poem (which is the Greek word used here), a work of art. God puts us through set backs, delays, heartaches, heart breaks. Terry remembers how God broke his heart in his 20s and thanks God for that now. God wants to be able to trust you with things. He wants to know you will build straight not at an angle.

Terry then shared a recent prophetic word that someone had given. The guist of this word was that we in Newfrontiers are God’s workmanship, his work of art. We are surprisingly different, and people will be drawn in. We are not to merely copy the techniques of others. What God is creating in us is Spirit breathed, and it will attract others. We are to learn from techniques, but to realise he has built layers of diversity, textures of relationship and colours of grace in us. This word predicted that though we have been hidden away, now it is time for us to be brought out, made pubic, put on display and as a result many will be drawn.

In Christ Jesus we in Newfrontiers have been formed into a people. We have benefited massively from others coming in and have been changed and shaped. But we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared for us.

We have a sovereign God behind us. What are the works God has prepared specifically for us in Newfrontiers to walk in? God has spoken to us over the years through prophecy.

John Groves had a word where he saw a herd of elephants that were charging where there was no road. They made a road, where there is no road. Others will follow and together you can accomplish more than you could alone”

We are now in all these nations. But decades ago when we started there was no road. No one was doing this stuff. No one was saying we are church planting. The idea of going together was not often spoken of in those days. You either stayed or sent a missionary.

We realized that being personally charismatic was not enough. Its not just about a private prayer language. Its about doing things very differently. Its hard to think back to what church was like back then. It felt like we had to change church life completely. It almost felt arrogant. How can we do this together? We began to train leaders, send teams, plant churches, conferences, and raise finance. We did all these things together.

We were directed to plant churches back in the whole of the UK then to go to the ends of the earth. We are now going together to the big cities of the world.

We were told we would gather old bricks that would join our new wall. We will have seen that, and we are going to see it more. So many men are in sad independent lonely works. They need to be in a galvanized world mission movement.

We were told we would change the expression of Christianity around the world. Why does it need to be changed someone asked? Well, these are some of the changes we are looking for

From legalistic to grace-shaped. The Apostle Paul would have fought to liberate many modern churches that are driven and devoid of joy.
From independence to interdependence. Many churches today are antonymous. It was never the apostolic concept that a church would be planted and then have nothing to do with world mission. Churches to see they are part of something bigger than themselves.

From closed in to looking out
From self centered to sacrificial
From Inward looking to mission orientated
From democratic to releasing gifted anointed leadership
From cessationist to charismatic
From an old wineskin to a new wineskin

The goal of Newfrontiers is to be planting new churches or helping exiting churches to change so the radical life of God can be released. God has made us an instrument for change globally.

Ephesians 1:13 says we have been “sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” There is life available in the Spirit. We want to be truly biblical, but we want to know the explosive power of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

A seal is stamped in wax. Its something you know about. Something visible. Adds authority or authenticity. ESV Study Bible notes says “Holy Spirit certifies the authenticity” of their salvation.

This is then referred to what happens in Acts. Peter goes to Cornelius and preaches and the Spirit falls on them. Peter sees that the gentiles are authentic people of God because of the demonstration of the Spirit.

So many teach that the Baptism of the Spirit is non-experiential. But when the Spirit came upon then for Peter that was proof they had been accepted.

When Peter describes this, he says God cleansed their hearts by faith (conversion) and then that the God who knows the heart testified to this by sending the Spirit.

In John 6:27 even of Jesus its said that the seal is set on him. John the Baptist was told that when the Spirit came on someone, that would be the one. The coming of the Spirit is tangible. It is something experiential. MLJ fought to say that Spirit was experiential. Puritans believe that it was experiential, and many in previous generations did. But the Doctor was almost alone in claiming this was something clear and unmistakable to both the person and others who look on.

We mustn’t rob the church of its joy and its awareness of God. Jesus said come and drink, not just come and learn a verse. Its dynamic. In Acts it’s very experiential. It’s not automatic and when you were converted. Even Paul saw the Lord on the road, and is called brother by Ananias so he is recognized as a believer, but told that now he would receive the Spirit.

Its not a gradual thing. Its not reserved for when you are mature. Paul asks “did you receive the Spirit?” In Ephesus they said “no”. Its plain biblical truth that the spirit is real and available in a dramatic way.

The Gospels promise the Spirit. The Epistles look back to the Spirit having come
Acts tells us how it happens.

Some say don’t use the narrative for doctrine, but we are told that “All these things written down for our instruction” – all narrative sections of the Bible teach us doctrine. All Scripture is profitable for teaching.

We must rediscover the splurge of the Spirits coming. Will never understand the growth of the NT church without understanding the Spirit.

Paul’s asks a question about receiving the Spirit in Galatians, modern commentary would say “I don’t know….” We need to KNOW we have received.

Are you thirsty? Not holy, special, very mature, just is anybody thirsty….

Terry spoke about how one man recently who received the Spirit after listening to a talk. He had asked God to lay hands on him digitally, and imagined the Lord laying his hands on him.

“suddenly, without any warning received a baptism of the spirit, shouting laughing, could hardly contain myself. Laughed cried, overjoyed, flood of prophetic activity then noticed I was not speaking in English.”

You can read more of this on my blog

Coming upon of the Spirit is deeply felt and intensely experienced. MLJ says it is crying out, an extravagant word.

We don’t receive by merit, but by hearing with faith. We have been invited to come and drink. Come and receive. Not works of law. Not being a good person. By hearing with faith. It’s a gift. Promise is for everyone that the Lord will call.

The only people who were ever told to wait, were those who had to wait for Jesus to be glorified. On the day of Pentecost, Peter declares this Jesus has now been raised, now exalted. He has sent the Spirit. After that day no one was ever told to wait!

When God saw that Cornelius heart was cleansed through faith the Spirit fell. The Holy Spirit believes in justification by faith. He owns and seals people who are justified by faith.

1 Cor 14:15 Paul says he will pray with the Spirit and also with the understanding. The two things are different. Praying with tongues is like turning on a radio with a foreign language you don’t understand. It’s a form of worship. Its like an answer to Wesley’s prayer “O for a thousand tongues to sing” and God answers and says here’s one. Paul prayed more in tongues than all of them. Its biblical not to understand tongues! He doesn’t say “maybe God will” he says “I will.” You are using apparatus you have used before. You know how to speak. When you receive the Spirit, its you that speaks in tongues. Not a case of waiting. Jesus is walking on the water, and Peter says “tell me to come to you”, Jesus says “come” and Peter doesn’t wait thinking “any minute it will come” he walked to the edge of the boat and then he moved into another realm. We similarly just begin to speak and the Spirit empower tongues.

Terry concluded by reiterating that we are committed to word and spirit, reformed and charismatic. There is an essential truth that grips us, removed out guilt and shame, and the truth that has liberated us and we have been sealed with the Spirit.

If anyone is thirsty COME and drink!

Arriving the day before the conference was a great idea. Thanks mum for suggesting it to us and for looking after our five children so for the first time in years I could come with my better half. Its going to be great to show Andrée what conferences mean for me these days.

One of the real privileges of being the “official” blogger at an event like this is you get to see what goes on behind the scenes. There is of course an army of unsung heroes who make it all happen. There is no doubt that these annual Newfrontiers conferences are the best organised that I have ever attended, and that includes secular meetings I have been to through work. It is easy to forget this for someone like me who doesn’t tend to notice my environment much (Andrée asked me yesterday what I thought of the painting in our hotel room and I had to confess I hadn’t noticed it!)

But yesterday I walked around the conference centre watching it being transformed into a meeting place. I was with Nigel Ring, whose well-known meticulous eye for detail was constantly alert to anything, no matter how small, that didn’t meet his approval!

Many people rightly credit the wisdom and leadership of Terry Virgo with the phenomenal growth of this family of churches. But, we should never also forget the vital contribution of this army of practical people serving in the background who in performing tasks which are often not considered “spiritual” have turned not just the conferences but the whole of Newfrontiers into a well oiled machine. This team has always ultimately been headed by Nigel. Every Terry needs a Nigel.

If you want to understand more about what it is that Nigel has done for Terry, I strongly recommend you begin to follow Nigel’s blog which shares great insights about how to do the practical things without which churches and movements of churches simply couldn’t continue. His blog is so helpful i have today awarded him a warnie and his headlines will join the others that appear in my sidebar.

If you are coming to Brighton it will be easy for you to forget the work that has gone into the event precisely because it is done so well. Good administration blends into the background and simply creates a welcoming, organised environment, drawing attention not to the administration itself but to the One for whom we all gather. Bad administration does draw attention to itself. So, please thank that steward, or greet the person manning the bookstall or appreciate the sound engineer this year. I am sure that in heaven all these unsung heroes will receive their reward.

Elijah Prays For Rain from Adrian Warnock on Vimeo. Note that at the end of the video you will need to click on part two within the video player to watch the rest. You can also download the video in high definition from vimeo, or lower definition as well as audio from the CCK website.

In a couple of weeks time I will be at the Together On A Mission conference hosted by a man who I have been looking up to spiritually for three decades. I wanted to interrupt my blog break to share this sermon here to help those of you who will be joining us there prepare for the event.

This year’s event feels like it will be more intimate. It will be a family gathering unusually with no outside speakers. Terry and the other speakers will no doubt be wanting to deliver messages that will shape Newfrontiers at this vital stage in our development. Can I strongly urge anyone who will be there, and also our friends from many different movements who cannot, to please pray for us. So, sit back, get yourself a cup of tea and watch this sermon, then put what you learn into practice.

Terry is a leader of leaders and through his ministry God has accomplished an incredible amount, including a movement of more than 600 churches in 50 nations. One thing that is perhaps less well known about Terry is that he is a real man of prayer. This comes across in the many prayer meetings he leads, and there is a long history of personal wrestling with God in prayer that has birthed this movement.

In this video Terry Virgo preaches on the subject of prayer using the prayer of Elijah. Be inspired to put into practice lessons from this prophet who James described as “a man just like us”

Please consider sharing this message on your own blog as I believe that in it God has a message for the church as a whole. If we will wake up, and begin to be more passionate in our prayers for God to act, who can imagine what God can do. Lets urge him “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

The Full Series On Elijah By Terry Virgo

Terry Virgo blogged about how faith can lead to sudden healing, or sustain us in years of waiting:

A lady in Oregon, with a . . . mixture of tears and laughter, told me that, having been prayed for the previous evening, she was able to put her own socks on that morning for the first time for 23 years. Intense spinal pain had prevented her from touching her toes for nearly a quarter of a century. Now the pain had gone. She was completely free. Surely this is the kind of faith we are interested in – faith that gets the problem solved now, immediately.

To our surprise, the book of Hebrews tells us to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Heb. 6:12). Faith, it seems, does not operate only in the realm of the immediate, the here and now. In fact the faith that the Bible often highlights and celebrates is the faith that has to wait, yet keep believing.

Hebrews 11 tells us that by faith the walls of Jericho fell down! Amen! Bring it on! That’s the faith I am looking for! Let’s have some shouting followed by immediate wall demolition.

The fact is that the Israelites first had to patiently encircle the city for seven days in silence, and Caleb was one of the marching army. He and Joshua had waited 40 years for the fulfilment of the promises that God made them about inheriting the land. Still want to join the ‘Joshua generation?’ READ MORE

Wendy Virgo from Adrian Warnock on Vimeo.

Wendy is married to Terry Virgo, the leader of Newfrontiers. We spoke about what it’s like traveling with Terry to hear him speaking about grace many times, about conferences, her impression of New Word Alive, about the Brighton Newfrontiers Conference, about Mark Driscoll and Wayne Grudem, and about her new book, “Influential Women.” I wrote a summary of the interview for the on site paper which Terry has posted on his blog.

One of the things about a blog is that it is, by its very nature, a very personal thing. You meet not just a set of ideas, but a person. A few years ago I set about sharing the brief story of my life with you all. In some ways it feels like a strange thing to do, which is probably why I never completed it!

But, I do think that knowing a bit more about my background will help you understand my blogging better and to know where I am coming from. Therefore I have decided to repost and expand that series. I will aim to post this most Wednesdays until I have completed my story to date. I hope this whole series will be a long testimony to the grace of God. These early posts are adapted from those shared previously.

To begin at the beginning, I was fortunate enough to be born to Christian parents. In fact, the story goes back further than that since on both sides my grandparents (and I think their parents going back several generations) were all Christians. They went to solid Evangelical churches—in the case of my father’s parents the Open Brethren.

My grandfather, Edwin Millington Warnock, lost his father when he was relatively young, and later told my uncle he had been called into his father’s room to be told of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” He was encouraged to make that something of a life verse. It is a verse that has been precious to my family–it was mentioned at my uncle’s wedding and I followed that tradition, and also had the reference inscribed on the inside of my wedding ring. It is truly something you can build your life on.

My grandfather became a tent preacher and was involved in Rutherglen in lantern shows in the Evangelical church there. He drove around the Scottish countryside with a tent and set it up to preach. Then he felt called to come to pagan England and share the gospel. He came to Suffolk and preached there. In village after village he was involved in helping to establish local assemblies. These groups aimed to reflect biblical doctrine and practice. They had elders, body ministry, and believer’s baptism. He spoke of going where God called him to preach.

Sadly, by the time I was old enough to remember him, he was suffering from Parkinson’s and dementia. He would rarely say anything much, but we enjoyed playing hand games with him. I only have one vivid memory of him, which I will describe later.

My father and his brothers have all preached, some more than others. So much so that there is one church that, including my cousins and I, has had seven Warnocks preaching there over the years. My other grandfather was also a preacher and served as an elder in one church.

The extended family was a little concerned about my parents, however, as when I was very young, one day my Dad had been intrigued to see another tent erected for a Christian meeting near where they lived. He attended that meeting, which turned out to be the Capel Bible week— which was a hotbed of the dreaded “charismatics.” Later they would find a group of people who had been required to leave an Evangelical church in Haywards Heath because they spoke in tongues. Dad and Mum agreed to join this group as Nigel Ring began to form a new church with the help of visits from a man called Terry Virgo.

At the age of about four, one Good Friday I asked my dad, “Why is it called Good Friday?” Dad answered, “Because Jesus died.” I couldn’t understand that and asked how could it be good if someone died? I even asked him why it wasn’t bad Friday and good Sunday!

My father told me that God would one day punish everyone for all the wrong they had done. Some people say it will be as though a video screen plays back all those hidden things we have said, done, or even thought. The whole universe will see, nothing will be kept secret, and the Bible says that all will be made to pay for their wrongdoing.

The message my father explained simply to me that day is a radical one, cutting our respectability to the core. We all stand deserving punishment from a holy God. What do we and this perfect God have in common? Even if we would search the world for an answer to the problem of our guilt before God, we would find none that satisfactorily deals with the guilt we secretly all feel, other than the one my father went on to describe.

Jesus was perfect and did no wrong. He was punished in our place. Because of this you can know that God has forgiven you. The video can be wiped clean. You can be let off. There is a way out. And, because he rose from the dead, Jesus is real and active and wanting a relationship with us today.

I immediately knew that I wanted to become a Christian that day. But, of course, the moment I decided to follow Jesus was just the beginning of my story, and although it was almost my earliest memory, there is no doubt that it changed the rest of my life. I never regretted that choice, and thanks to God’s hand of restraint on me, I never really wandered away from that faith. God allows some people a longer leash than others. I had a very short leash, for which I am eternally grateful.

To be continued…

This was the first talk I have been able to hear at New Word Alive this year. I got my book submitted on the 1st April as planned (at least by Chicago time, which is all that really counts!) Got here around lunchtime and already have lots of video but so far no way of uploading it. But be warned, when I do get to upload it, you will see all kinds of school boy errors of filming! I may have a fancy camera, but I am just learning how to use it. Anyway, Terry spoke tonight followed by a time of worship lead by Stuart Townend and Phatfish. The worship after the meeting itself had finished was very lively with much hand clapping, arm raising and enthusiasm in evidence.

Terry began by explaining that as Jesus popularity is growing, he is being questioned by Pharisees about the kind of people who he associates with. In this chapter we see three lost things – sheep, coin, person

Jesus was much closer to the ordinary people than the Pharisees thought teachers should. He was bringing God near.

When something that is precious is lost and then found you will be joyful. There is no agony like loosing someone, like for example a little child. Dickens said the prodigal son was the finest short story ever told. The man had two sons. The younger wanted to be distant from the Father, like Adam. The son wanted it all now. Not any sense of accumulating wealth. He wanted no restraint. The money that came easily, went easily. As did his friends. He came to the end of himself. He no longer wants to run away.

When we are vulnerable, and weak it is just us. We can no longer make excuses. Not “if only things had been different…” He thinks he cannot be a son. The story is a revelation of the heart of God. He had compassion for the son, rather than rejecting him. He felt compassion for him. The father puts aside all decorum and runs, then kissing him repeatedly. The boy is scooped up into the father’s heart.

The older brother is a tragic figure. Instead of celebrating there is the heart of a Pharisee. He says “I have slaved for you” (NEB). He has no idea of sonship. It’s his religion. There is a hatred of grace, and no real idea of the love the Father had for him. The religious man is trusting that his endeavor is going to be enough. If someone is asked if they are a Christian and they answer “Yes I always, or Yes I never,” then you know they are not saved. Its not about “I” its about trusting Jesus work. The beauty of the Father’s love. Jesus is teaching the Pharisees, and giving them another chance. Jesus is saying these tax collectors are your brothers, Pharisees.

of us don’t want the restrictions of being a Christian. But the father has better parties than you could ever attend. Jesus is actually addressing the Pharisees. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, the independent. People say “I know the Bible says, but I feel…” Jesus loves sinners, he calls us back and he sets us free. He calls us to abandon religious favour-seeking and throw ourselves onto God’s mercy. Eternal life is that you might know him.