Church Online | St Aldates Oxford | 6 March 2022

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning everyone welcome to scent old eights on this sunday morning it's great to see you here in the building great to have you with us also online my name's mark i'm one of the team here good morning everyone my name is tyler maria and it's so amazing to have each of you here whether it's your first time or you've been coming here all your life it's so amazing that you're joining us today on this sunday and we're really excited to be having the first of our spring gift days today and a little bit later on in the service we're also going to be praying for ukraine as we've been praying uh and no doubt you have over this last week but right now we're going to begin with sung worship would you like to stand as tyler maria leads us in a prayer before we begin heavenly father thank you so much for the opportunity to bring you praise this morning this is the day that you have made so let us rejoice and be glad father god may we lift a joyous shout to you father god and give you all the praise and all the glory in jesus mighty name we pray amen [Music] [Music] he has done great things [Music] and see what our savior has done see how his love overcomes he has a great thing he has he has a great [Music] grave place free every captain and break every chain oh god you have done great things we dance in your freedom oh great things [Music] [Music] you have done great things and i know you will do it again for your promises yes and amen you will do great things we believe oh god you do great things [Music] [Music] oh jesus [Music] [Music] you have done great things hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Music] you free [Music] lord jesus our savior [Music] you join in uh with uh loud prayers as we pray now for the people of ukraine and i'm going to begin with psalm 31 just the ending of it this is a psalm which is being prayed across ukraine and for ukrainian people at the moment praise be to the lord for he showed his wonderful love to me when i was a besieged city in my alarm i said i am cut off from your sight yet you heard my cry for mercy when i call to you for help love the lord all his saints the lord preserves the faithful but the proud he pays back in full be strong and take heart all you who hope in the lord father lord god we pray for ukrainian people lord in that nation today that they would be strong and take heart father that your presence your strength your comfort would be with them father would you just come to them lord on this day right where they are now lord in refuge in sellers lord as they as they dive behind walls father under attack and would they know your strong presence with them in the name of jesus we pray lord for the vulnerable we pray for the sick the very young the mentally unwell father the elderly would you be their protector would you be their provider jehovah jireh would you ensure lord that resources coming from other countries would get safely to them in the name of jesus father lord god we pray for president zielenski we pray for wisdom for him and his government father we pray for western leaders we pray for the leaders of nato father would you give them a great uh skill would you give them collaboration and complicity father as they work out the best way to proceed we pray father for generals and politicians in russia father we pray lord that your holy spirit would come upon them we pray lord for a new freedom to dissent to ask questions lord to critique in the name of jesus and we pray lord that you would still the enemy father that you would stop the enemy in his tracks we come against principalities and powers father which are behind all of this lord we ask for your strong binding in the name of jesus and would your name be lifted high lord jesus would your name be proclaimed in churches in streets in homes in ukraine today in the mighty name of jesus christ amen father god we pray for our church father god may we be a people that are strong and courageous may we be may we be a people who are willing and able to raise a hallelujah wherever we go father god in boardrooms and classrooms on buses or trains around a dining table or father god in our rooms with tears in our eyes may we be a people that shouts a hallelujah and praise and father god may that be contagious father god may that shine your light into people who don't know you for to people who have fallen away from you father god may our praise be your welcome father god into this church and into the lives of many father god may we be a church who who puts your fingerprints on people's hearts father god may you use us father god to be the light to be the salt father god wherever we go father god may we be a courageous people father god with hearts that are sold out for you father god use us father god to be ambassadors for your kingdom and give us the courage to walk steadfast in your gospel in your promises to the rest of oxford and father god we pray for this nation father god in light of the cost of living and in light of all of the things that have probably weighed us down father god and have given us anxiety father god as we trust in you father god may we continue to have hope may we continue to have a future in you father god may we rest and trust in you father god and may that inspire newfound generosity newfound ways to use our time talent and treasury father god without restraint or without constrained father god we pray these things in your mighty name amen oh man great well would you like to take a seat thanks so much tyler maria and children and youth you're going to be going to your groups in just a moment but before that just a couple of things you may have been wondering um how we are responding as a church practically to events in ukraine and uh we just want to announce today that we are making two immediate contributions of five thousand pounds to two organizations one the disaster emergencies committee which has appealed for humanitarian relief and as a result of this medical supplies and warm clothes and food will be going to people in great need in ukraine and then another grant which will go to a christian charity called innovista which supports trusted pastors across ukraine we would just love to ensure that again the right resources are getting through to pastors on the ground who are seeking to promote the hope of jesus in their communities at this time we've chosen two organizations which have got really strong relationships with people on the ground in ukraine who are best placed to know how to get the resources to the right places speedily and of course we can each continue to pray as we go forward and to respond to other need as it emerges now let's give a big whoop for our kids pastor emily as she comes to join us on the stage hello good morning everyone it's good to see you everyone that's here everyone joining us online i hope we're doing well this morning now to put your memory to the test because it's been a couple of weeks since we've been looking at fruits of the spirit who you can remember the last fruit of the spirit we were looking at shout it out to me oh it's been too long i see i think i can hear it maybe was it goodness maybe it was goodness but that's okay because it's been a couple of weeks been half time being very excited this morning we are looking at the fruit of faithfulness now put your hand up if you think you're someone who's good at keeping promises oh we've got a few hands that's good well we're going to put that to the test this morning i see big hands up from grace harris that's wonderful and join us at home as well you can wave and put your hands up we're going to be looking at how we can keep our promises to god how god keeps his promises to us and we get really excited about that together so parents carers when we when you come and pick your kids up this morning let's talk about that today let's talk about god's faithfulness let's talk about how we can be faithful to god faithful to each other and maybe let's spend some time praying together as well because that'd be awesome and younger youth this morning you are carrying on with your youth alpha series which is super exciting so without further ado let's all jump up with excitement and joy and let's head over to our groups and those of you who are joining at home this morning why don't you chat to more about the fruit of faithfulness thanks mark so [Music] [Applause] [Music] no matter what because i'll bring my thanks and praise [Music] [Music] standing on your promises trusting in your faithfulness once again i'm here to say i love you once again i'm here [Music] and your loving yours for all my days forever [Music] [Music] trusting in your faithfulness once again i'm here say i love you once again i'm here to bring you praise [Music] praise the lord o my soul [Music] hallelujah lord [Music] once again i'm here to say i love you once again i'm here [Music] [Applause] [Music] once again i'm [Music] if it's here hallelujah [Music] praise the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] perhaps creation longs to have the words to save but this joy is mine thank you jesus [Music] we magnify your name you alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise lord jesus this song is forever yours [Music] who else will it die for our redemption [Music] whose resurrection means our eyes there isn't time enough to sing of all you've done [Music] hallelujah [Music] lord jesus this song is forever yours [Music] [Music] let them rise to your throne this morning [Music] to the king of heaven [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] four heroes [Music] this song is forever yourself [Music] oh [Music] to them [Music] we magnify your name you alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise lord jesus this song is forever yours [Music] you deserve [Music] you were [Music] it [Music] [Music] you deserve the glory [Music] [Applause] [Music] it belongs to you all the wisdom and power they are yours they are yours they are yours [Music] day and night night and day worship rise up from [Music] let it arise [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] this is the word here in the flesh living among the meek and lowly the voice of god is every breath salvation [Music] lift up your eyes see the sun [Music] sing their name [Music] this is his heart upon the cross and from his wounds his mercies [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] pour out your praising the name of jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh jesus [Music] lift up your eyes [Applause] [Music] we'll be home [Music] [Music] [Music] pour out your praising the name [Music] she we sing your name over the ukraine this morning [Music] come and save that land come and save that [Music] landlord we believe you can make jesus jesus [Music] oh jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] lift up your eyes [Applause] [Music] [Music] pour out your [Music] jesus [Music] you might like to just keep your eyes closed let's remain in the presence of god lord we thank you for households across eastern europe and europe opening their doors lord to refugees from ukraine thank you for the generosity of their welcome lord thank you lord that you invite us to make our home in you you open wide your doors we pray lord for each one of us here today that we would feel at home in you father we pray for anyone new here anyone exploring faith that they would come and find a good home in you their loving father in the name of jesus christ amen well would you like to take a seat this is uh one of two gift days we're having this spring this sunday and next sunday and it's always really exciting to respond to the generous love of god on a day like this we have a target for this gift day of 120 000 pounds in order to further god's work through the ministry assistant all dates here at this time but i'd just like to speak for a moment into three preconceptions that people can have in relation to giving because this kind of can help to form a background to the giving invitation that we're making to you today the first is to say that we are not a church with large reserves we actually only have our reserves in the bank for uh operating for three months uh we do not have any more than that secondly we are not given any significant funds for daily running costs by the church of england in fact we pay a parish chair to the diocese once a year in order to bless them and to help support other churches in oxfordshire especially poorer ones and then thirdly people sometimes say how can my gift how can my small gift make a significant contribution on a day like this well the truth is that resourcing the ministries and aldos is always a team effort just as it was in jesus's day with the temple being funded not only by the wealthy but also by the widow's might and we encourage a one-off uh gifts on a day like this but we'd also love to invite you into the adventure of joining with others here who give by regular standing order each month that is so helpful not only for our personal discipleship but also for our healthy planning as a church in relation to future vision so uh we currently have 332 households who regularly give by standing order that obviously uh involves more than one person in many of those households and they give an average of 226 pounds each and uh if that's you we're so grateful to you whether that's the kind of figure you give or whether it's less or whether it's more we're just grateful for every one of these standing order contributions we're also so thankful to you for the way that you've generously given over the last year in order to progress vision here at central dates and we're trusting to the holy spirit today for your response the holy spirit is a good spirit who knows both the vision and the plans that we have for oxford at this time but also knows your personal needs uh your what's currently in the bank for you how things are stacking up for you so listen to the holy spirit and a day like this needs to be framed in terms of our whole vision as a church going forward so we're just going to remind ourselves of that now by watching this short film the potential is vast god has positioned us at the very heart of one of the most influential cities in the world at this global crossroads where the nations come where people who have never heard about jesus come and we have this unique opportunity to reach out with the good news to invite people to encounter jesus who came to seek and save the lost and it's so exciting to see on a weekly basis people placing their trust in jesus i got into christianity through my flatmate who is a christian we were actually going through the bible together i was asking him loads of questions about the bible and christianity as i knew nothing i did not grow up in a christian household i love saint all day i've only been going here a month but i definitely already feel like home we want to make disciples to equip people to follow jesus in every area of their lives to raise them up as leaders in a way that might impact the whole trajectory of their lives i see all kinds of people being lifted up in our church and being equipped and god using them powerfully to reach out to the world we want to invest in our children see them grow in the knowledge and experience of god's love for them we want to see our youth raised up confident to live their lives as sultan light in their schools and colleges we want to see our students captivated by jesus and passionate to influence their communities we want to see every generation of our church influencing and transforming their workplaces and communities for jesus christ we want to see those in our mature generations investing their wisdom and experience in the generations that are rising up one of the real privileges actually is i can pray for my colleagues not kind of openly in the workplace necessarily but my colleagues all know i'm a christian and it's surprising the number of them especially if they've had a bad week he'll say oh you know you you pray can you pray for that and it's a fantastic opportunity to just get to lift them up not just as colleagues but as as people and as friends we want to see people in our community and our broader communities welcomed in and encouraged and walked with and growing in their knowledge of jesus as their friend and savior we want to invite people to encounter jesus we want to equip people to follow him in every of their lives we want to inspire people to transform their context so i suffered with addiction from the age of 13. don't run through my family my dad's an addict at the age of 13 of so i picked up drinking drugs and it's been a been a whirlwind of a life it gets me emotional to be honest talking about her because because coming to come into central dates was was the the first place i've really felt at home the lowest point in my life there's no two ways about that i mean i found myself in the prison so at 44 and i just thought had my life come to this i was in a very depressed state but i didn't wake up and immediately say i'm going to be a christian i just came out of prison and just found myself praying then i found myself coming to all dates now i find myself entrenched in christian life and now i find that i absolutely love jesus christ more than anything else ever being honest there's no church i've had nights and all dates that i've found it is beautiful i can't i can't put a finger on it but there's something about that church man which i forever will hold close to my heart we want to see the name of jesus lifted high in our church in our city in our communities the potential is vast fantastic i'm going to start by uh reading this passage in 2 corinthians 9 starting at verse 6. remember this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give not reluctantly or under compulsion for god loves a cheerful giver and god is able to bless you abundantly so that in all times all things at all times having all that you need you will abound in every good work as it is written they have freely scattered their gifts to the poor their righteousness endures forever now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase at your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness you'll be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to god this service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the lord's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to god because of the service by which you have proved yourself others will praise god for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of christ and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else and in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you because of the surpassing grace god has given you thanks be to god for his indescribable gift this is a significant moment in the life of our church and we're praying a lot this week about how we can respond to what we sense god is calling us to in how we pray in how we serve and in our giving and it's an exciting time it's been an exciting seven months over the last few months seeing all the things that god is doing but it's also been even in the last seven days so exciting to see people come to faith in jesus to hear the stories of people being equipped to follow jesus and transforming the context where we've each been placed but first because i'm speaking on a gift day i i think it's important to uh start by saying i haven't always been as excited about gift days as i am today and i felt at times like you might be feeling today which is like what are the odds i came on a gift day um i wasn't anticipating that you know and um you hear a figure and it sounds like a law and you think how's that going to go and i don't know where you grew up but in the area i grew up there wasn't a lot of money and i was quite conscious of that growing up and if you've ever experienced that you never forget that feeling actually so when i started earning money i was pretty sure that the money i was earning was my money i'd worked hard for it i'd earned it it was mine and i didn't think it was any of the church's business frankly what i did with my money i thought if i needed financial advice i'd go to an accountant not a pastor and and then one day our pastor in east london um stood up and he announced a seven week sermon series on money i mean and i was sitting and i was thinking this is crazy like this is ridiculous i was so frustrated like i didn't think money was that important i was pretty sure i didn't have an issue with it pretty sure no one else had an issue with it and i was so frustrated i just thought it was a complete waste of time but you know i was completely and utterly wrong there are over 500 verses in the bible about faith and faith is central to all we are as the church so over 500 verses in the bible about prayer and that is obviously the foundation of all we do but you know how many verses are in the bible about money and possessions over 2 350. jesus talked about money a lot 16 of the 38 parables that the stories he tells to communicate deep truths about who god is and what he's done are about how we approach money and possessions and the significance of that and at the time i didn't realize it but i desperately desperately needed god's wisdom in this area i was seeing and hearing literally hundreds of messages a day in advertising and in different contexts and people you know kind of communicating what i should do in terms of possessions how i should use my finances i was being shaped by the culture i was being shaped by the values of my colleagues and my workplaces and money had just got a grip on my heart and i suddenly realized why wouldn't jesus teaching on this area be every bit as liberating every bit as life transforming every bit as freeing and compelling as is teaching in every other area and it transformed my life in really significant ways so we see in this passage firstly how we increase our love why does god care so much about money and possessions it's not because he thinks money is the most important thing it's because he cares about you and he knows that your attitude to money is one of the most significant things about you money is intertwined with every aspect of our lives it's one of the most revealing things about you because your money your attitude to money reveals your passions it reveals your priorities it reveals your hopes it reveals your fears it even reveals your loves and because god loves you the passage tells us he has given you an indescribable gift not just a present but a person the person of jesus christ sent for you given for you made himself nothing taking the form of her servant suffered and died and rose again for you he literally took our sin on his shoulders and paid the price to win us for god and when you think of god giving the gift of jesus it's really easy to be complacent about that i spent some time yesterday just thinking where would i be but for the gift of jesus christ what would my life look like today but for the gift of jesus christ because he found me when i was lost he saved me when i was in great danger he comforted me when i was distressed and he has guided me when i've been confused and not known which way to turn he has rescued me and redeemed me and restored me he is an indescribable gift paul says in romans he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for all how will he not also give us all things to understand this area we need to remind ourselves remind our hearts that every good thing in our lives is a gift from god yes you worked hard yes you've used your skills yes you've used your connections yes you've used the opportunities that have come your way but who gave those things to you who opened the doors for you who blessed you with ideas and creativity and insight and wisdom and connections who sustained you in your successes and kept you from failing when you stumbled who held you when things were tough sometimes think i didn't even pick the century or the continent in which i was born i sometimes say i'm a self-made person there's no such thing as a self-made person it's all gift and the key question in life is what will you do with the assets and the skills and the gifts that have been entrusted to you for a relatively short period of time how do you respond to the remarkable gifts you have been given when i was at uni uh i met a beautiful young woman called beth and she was slightly out of my league still is and um she was beautiful she was bright she was intelligent and we started going out and it was amazing but then about four months after we started going out she gave me a card and i opened up this card and it had inside it three words which i hadn't anticipated which i wasn't expecting and if i'm entirely honest shocked me and scared me to my very core they were i love you not love from beth not lots of love beth i love you now that there is a serious situation because when someone says i love you it matters how you respond like if someone says i love you you can't just say thanks like it it doesn't work like that you can't just say that's really nice what a nice thing to say it kind of invites a reciprocal response it's very awkward otherwise and i was thinking what do i do i don't know what to do and you know looking back now i guess i might have had um a little bit of a fear of commitment which is an unusual thing for a 20 year old guy but but i really didn't know how to respond and about the same time we went to an art gallery and you know i hadn't been to an art gallery before and so i was just trying to you know look intelligent and look cultured and and walk through this art gallery of beth trying to impress her and then we came to some paintings where and if you've experienced this you could buy the painting and and there was one painting that i thought was beautiful and i looked at it and i thought that's a beautiful painting and i realized it was one you could buy i looked forward and i said to beth i said i know i might get that painting and then i looked at the little label at the side of it and it was more money than i had ever anticipated spending on any possession i was so shocked was more money than i had in my bank account that probably my family had in their bank accounts um that i could have gotten an overdraft and i kind of looked at it and you know how when you when you're in a luxury shop and you look at something and it shocks you because it's so expensive but you don't want the shop to know that you're poor like so you kind of get oh that's interesting i'm surprised it's so cheap you know and you kind of take a step back so i kind of did that and i said i would say okay but you know anyway and i just walked off and i remember thinking you know one day if i'm really successful in life if i if i nail it alive i hope i'll be able to have enough money to be able to buy a painting like that it's beautiful painting i managed to find a photo of it um here it is there's a painting and uh and anyway i went back i didn't think about it again and um uh didn't think much about it and then um a few thanks so much and then a few uh weeks later i came back actually to my rooms in college and there was a parcel there waiting for me outside the door and to uh my astonishment i opened this parcel and inside was this painting and uh it was a gift from beth and i looked at it and my first thought was did she steal it because i'd had some girlfriends well you know that wasn't you know that was but of course she had she had bought it as a gift for me and i was completely and utterly blown away no one had ever bought me a gift like this it wasn't to say beth was rich but she'd used um quite a lot of her income quite a lot of her savings to buy me this extraordinary gift and as i looked at it i thought she does love me and it's one thing seeing in a card it's another thing seeing the indisputable proof and as i looked at this valuable gift i thought maybe i do love her um because her gift changed the way i felt god has given us an indescribable gift in jesus indescribable and when you see that when you're captivated by jesus when you realize what he's done for you it changes how you feel you you want to respond to him in love i mean jesus says well your treasure is your heart is jesus wants to know he has your heart god loves the cheer forgive it because god is a cheerful giver and i've in many times in my life i've loved singing songs i've loved doing things like that you know it's okay to read my bible i found it much harder to give you know i would have said god was the most important person in my life but my bank statement told a different story and if you want to know what you really value your bank statement will tell you it doesn't lie and i was kind of placing my identity and my security in my finances but i needed to reframe it and see whose resource it really is in light of the love god has shown that's how you increase your love but then also we want to invest our seed you know to give is to sow paul says here and every seed you sow has huge potential with it every seed has within it the potential of life and the potential of multiplication and the potential to have a huge impact in the lives of people you might not even meet in your lifetime because when you sow a seed it grows and it establishes life and it multiplies and then bears more fruit and then bears more seed into the lives of others when you sow a single seed you're investing into a chain reaction that kind of impacts which you could not conceive this side of eternity and some of you will be thinking what's the rate of return what's the investment and this passage is very simple and very powerful in the same way you sow you reap so if you sow a little bit um you get a little bit and if you so a lot sorry um you get a lot and it's very simple really because what god wants is seed to be sown so when he sees how you sow he knows he can trust you with resource god gives you the resource the seed capital in the first place and seed is there to be sown and when it's sown it multiplies and has a huge impact and impacts the kingdom you know 30 50 100 fold and sometimes people have this grace you know they kind of earn a lot so they can give a lot but it starts in the little things jd rockefeller said he would never have given out of his first million if he hadn't given out of his first paycheck which was just a few dollars and people get in a bill of muddle in this area you know it's given you know you'll reap generously and um god will give you everything you need in every way but but but paul doesn't say if you give then you'll become a millionaire it doesn't mean that and when i think about this i think about my friend in east london he was born and bred in tow hamlets big guy knew how to handle himself quite dangerous and he had a really hard life and become addicted to drugs and he would say he'd tried every single drug just looking for a solution and he hadn't found it and one night he was completely high on a cocktail of drugs and it was like the holy spirit broke into his life and he suddenly thought in the middle of the night as he was high he said he said jesus if you're real i need you would you come into my life and jesus came into his life right there and then he woke up next morning never touched drugs again and became a christian there are easy ways to become a christian you don't have to become high if you're here for the first time that isn't something we you have to do but that's what happened to him and um and and so he he kind of became a christian then his girlfriend became a christian that long-term partners they decided to get married so he saved up a few thousand pounds for the wedding and then one morning he woke up and he just felt the holy spirit prompting him to give this money he'd saved up for his wedding to the church and so he did straight away and then he went home and told his fiancee and as you can imagine they had one of those awkward conversations that couples have every now and again so he was in a bit of a trouble bit of a fix and he was just saying god i really need your help now so he was riding home from work on a motorbike saying god i need your help need your help and suddenly he saw an armed robbery taking place right in front of him two armed robbers came out of the bank they jumped in the getaway car and drove off and he just thought i'm not having that so we kind of revved up his motorbike and he went after them and started chasing them through the streets they took a wrong turn they came into a dead end he drove his motorbike up parked it behind them so he couldn't get out got off his motorbike walked around knocked on the window they kind of wound it down he said give me the money now this is quite difficult if you're an armed robber because you don't plan on getting robbed on the way back from doing an armed robbery and and they were so shocked they just kind of handed all this money over to him he grabbed it got back on his bike and drove off amazing don't worry the story doesn't end there and um and then he rode his motorbike back to the bank walked past all the armed police who were scattered around and the police officers in the back went right up to the manager lumped the money down and said there you are there's your money i went and got it for you and the bank manager was so overwhelmed he gave him a reward which paid for his entire wedding it's extraordinary now my friend um has seen god work in his life in extraordinary ways he's seen people come to faith he's seen people healed of addiction he's seen people set free from all sorts of things he's never gonna be hugely wealthy in the world's eyes but he can tell the story of how god has provided as he has given generously and he can see god's you know he's been blessed abundantly so he can abound and overflow in every good work just like paul says in this passage he's been made rich in every way relationally spiritually he knows god's love he knows the intimacy of relationship with jesus he knows the opportunities that have flown from his obedience he's known god at work in his life when you give to god life multiplies but it's still hard this whole letter paul this part letter paul is pleading with the church at corinth he's desperate for them to know that this is best for them and best for god because when your eternal perspective shapes your earthly decisions you get the best of both worlds and i've found it difficult i've found that there's still obstacles firstly i i would i would say well you know it's so difficult i'm not sure it's the right time you know maybe next month or next year or maybe when i'm earning a bit more or maybe when i'm earning a bit more i said that to myself for months and years but i was kidding myself if i wasn't faithful with a little why would i have been faithful for the lot you know i used to say well it's how much is too complicated that was a genuine question you know i'd heard about tithing and tithing is a really helpful old testament principle giving the first 10 of your income to god jesus refers to tithing and approves of it but he wants us to give all of our lives to him and i've sometimes i've found tithing really hard and it's been a real stretch and sometimes i've been earning so much i've tied i haven't even noticed it come out of my bank account and and i could have done more and i've done more but i found that if i start there i have freedom to stretch but if i just leave it vague i always end up giving less and then there were times when i it was too complex i said to my pastor once i said it's far too complex giving you i don't even know how to start he said what do you mean i said well is it tithing or more than tithing is it before or after tax is it this calendar year or this financial year because that could make a difference is it about income or is it capital so complex he said steve are you asking what's the minimum you can give and still be a generous giver i said yes thank you he said well steve just just start just give something just start today start to use the muscle and you'll be surprised about the impact it has and you'll be surprised what you want to do next and you know he was right i started giving and suddenly i wasn't thinking what's this the basement i was thinking what's the ceiling what can i stretch to i really love doing it and then i'd say why the church well do you know it's only us and very few other people who are ever going to give here and god kind of birthed me this love for the church i saw the beauty and the potential of church that the church is god's appointed agent for the transformation of the world there is no plan b and then to be part of this extraordinary church seeing people from across the globe come to faith in jesus christ right here right now to be entrusted with ministering here as a congregation together coming alongside those who have had difficult lives you know prison leavers those coming out of recovery a remarkable mix of people coming to faith like i've never seen before students and 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s and prison leavers and those who have had difficult lives it's extraordinary when i see it i think i want to give to things like that and then there's times i've looked around and i've said to myself well i'm not sure my giving will make much difference sometimes it's because my capacity to give has been relatively small and i think well even if i stretch like today we're stretching beth and i i think even if i stretch is it really going to make a difference and there's times when my capacity to give has been so disproportionately large i thought well i don't want to swamp the church with all my resources and give it a whole new set of problems but the church does need it every person counts and what's more you need to know today your spiritual need to give is far more significant than the church's financial need to receive it it really makes a difference in your life your spiritual need to give is far greater than the church's financial need to receive don't miss out it's like a win-win when you give resource it enables the kingdom of god to expand but it also frees up your heart and enables god to move in your life in a whole new way and then we see the potential paul writes he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and enlarge the harvest of your righteousness he talks about people praying for you and giving you their hearts and giving thanks to god on your behalf because of what you've invested it's what i love about giving is that you kind of give in faith trusting god to use it trusting god to multiply the impact and i love it's so exciting to see what's happening at the moment to see in our children's ministry over 150 children now investing in them forging friendships i think of the potential impact of every one of their lives that's a long-term investment we want to see them grow up understanding god's love for them we want to put in foundations that will stand the test of time i think about our youth i still remember being 16 years old and feeling like i've been torn into because my friends wanted me to walk in one way and i knew good god wanted me to walk another and it was so hard and i felt like a failure most days but someone gay said there was a youth pastor who saw god's hand on me when i felt like a fraud and a failure and encouraged me to lead and to give my first talk and it's so exciting to see our youth work thriving and we want to invest in it and see our youth raised up to lead in their schools and their colleges and when i was a student in this city i was about 24 hours from losing my faith i held on by my fingertips so exciting to see over 200 undergraduates and postgraduates coming to our church hearing the good news about jesus inviting their friends passionate about discipling each other and being shaped by jesus for a life of purpose over 50 000 students within a few miles of this church think of the potential you know i look at kind of our 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s we want to disciple people to live for jesus in every area of our lives we really want to invest in that area raise people up to lead in their workplaces and their contexts we want to come alongside those who are struggling who have had difficult lives who need some extra support those who are vulnerable those who are poor those who are struggling in our community we want to see every generation and every background come to know jesus we probably all have people friends families colleagues who we would long to know jesus and it's so easy to take for granted what we've received be complacent about the remarkable things we are seeing but it matters people's lives are at stake people's eternal destinies are at stake you know we could be placed anywhere but god has positioned us here sometimes it feels random let me tell you it's not random there's a purpose to your presence here he's placed you right here this place with potential to shape lives and the trajectory of lives a global cross world a place where culture is formed and there's this opportunity to sow into the lives of hundreds of people people who might have great influence in the world's eyes people who the world will never hear about but we know they have great influence people like michael who you baptized last week who has come to faith and is leading others to faith in our community round here i love the idea that we can give and trust god to multiply someone said to me someone said who pays for the food on alpha i said i've never been asked that before why'd you ask that they said well i i came to faith on alpha and i just i just thought someone paid for my first meal here and it made me feel really welcome i don't know who that is i was like i don't know who that is but someone did just think giving and trusting god to multiply giving and knowing it's bearing a harvest of righteousness giving and knowing as a chain reaction going across the generation and through the generation and people you might never meet the side of eternity will be impacted by your faithfulness and your generosity and in years to come they might turn and say oh you were part of that let me tell you my story you know one day on the final day lots of things that loom so large today will fade like shadows at daybreak on that day relatively few things will remain relatively few things will matter and we can invest in those things we can step in and there was a moment when that changed for me when i thought you know i don't want to lean out anymore i want to lean in i don't want to ask what the minimum is anymore i want to see how far i can stretch because i don't want the church to take a step back not in my generation not in my watch i want us to see people encounter jesus i want us to see people equipped to follow him i want to see people transforming their communities and their workplaces and their context and see the name of jesus lifted high in our church in our city in our nation in jesus name amen let's just take a moment and we're gonna pray and um just gonna ask you maybe just ask the holy spirit what is it you'd like me to do in response to this today so would you come holy spirit and holy spirit all we want is to be obedient to you and to respond to what you're calling us to so we ask that you'd speak to us now not just prompt us come holy spirit amen amen and then what i'd encourage you to do is just to take a moment now and um you'll see there's uh a little leaflet which tells you a bit more about uh giving generously here at uh some audits church um and there's a pledge form as well the best way uh to give is by bank transfer or standing order but you can make a pledge here um today and that's a helpful way of sometimes doing it and there's a pledge form and then a gift aid decoration on the back and you can fill that in and then put it in an envelope and then in a few minutes we're going to respond in worship and there's an opportunity to give back but what we're going to do right now is each have an opportunity to respond by filling in these forms [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] and without [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] fantastic so um i hope you had a chance to fill this in what we're going to do now is we're going to stand when you're ready and we're gonna worship together and people are gonna come around uh with baskets to um enable us to respond and to give back to god out of what he has given to us so uh let's stand and the band are gonna lead us so [Music] in their darkness we were waiting without hope without lights till from heaven [Music] of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt [Music] god [Music] of jesus [Music] you [Music] jesus for our sake you died [Music] [Music] god of glory [Music] praise forever [Music] for the souls of all [Music] now this gospel [Music] is [Music] hallelujah [Music] glory [Music] is [Music] i'd love to invite out the prayer ministry team now we're going to be uh praying at the end of the service for anyone who'd like to to come forward i just had a sense of somebody here it may be uh more than one person uh who has found elements of this morning perhaps difficult you you're finding provision money tricky at the moment a challenge and there was a sense in which you kind of actually were shutting down during the service and one of the old testament names of god came to me jehovah jireh god our provider god the one who provides for us in every circumstance so we'd love to offer prayer for anybody who needs to know god's provision at this time who needs to know the generosity of god in a fresh way i believe that god is calling you to come and receive prayer this morning and of course if there's any other need that you have any other need at all the team here would be just delighted to pray for you but now we're going to finish our service and enjoy some time together and if you're at home we hope you'll just enjoy chatting amongst yourselves but let's receive the blessing of god may the god of all hope fill you with joy and peace in believing through the power of the holy spirit and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be with you now and evermore amen our men have a great day thanks for joining us online [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: St Aldates Church

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Length: 83min 8sec (4988 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 06 2022