Loving One Another - Mike Pilavachi

just to say just really really quickly I know lots of you know and some of you won't be interested so I'll say it quickly but for those that have been asking this summer we're doing our last summer festivals it'll be our 27th and final year and the reason is it's not comp is simply because we believe God spoke to us for no other reason when we started it's because we felt God spoke to us and we're stopping because we really believe God has spoken to us and we're not it's not because of her financial crisis or anything like that we've never had any money so nothing's new in 27 years but just to tell you the brief story of how we came to see that is I I'm gonna be 61 in a couple of weeks and I said - no no no that's nothing to cheer about believe me and and that's something to be no actually I was just a year nearer my pension but I I said to our trustees a few years ago we need to start looking for who's gonna take it on because the 60-something shouldn't really be leading a youth movement and if you see me in action you will realize more and more why I don't like their music I don't understand their language I did I did a hole and I did a hole illustration this last summer that I used to do 10 15 20 years ago and they they were absolutely shocked this summer it was it was on sex and it was it was to do with eating a cake and all of that and the analogies and you know 15 20 years ago you know the analogies worked and they loved it and they laughed and all of that and then this summer they were just beside themselves and I thought this is going better than ever this is amazing this is really I'm connecting better than ever and it was only after sole survivor see the last one the my friends craigandemma bullaes sat me down and they said do you realize the innuendos that were there and I said yeah yeah yeah double chocolate cake sex all of that and and and they said no no and the world has changed and there was things that they were taking from it that I had no idea it was going over my head completely and I was thinking unreinforced one go into what it what it was but it was like for me it was I said the same stuff 15 20 years ago and no one thought so anyway basically through all sorts of things like that I realized it's time to be put out to grass and and and the honest truth is I I assumed that Andy would would take it on but the Lord made it really clear particularly to Andy that he wasn't to take it on and Andy and Beth just they they felt a real feel a real call to lead local church and whereas it was all right for me to do two jobs being single when you got three kids that's not right and they felt a real call to lis Church and in fact the last time Andy asked the Lord which was just over a year ago the Lord's the Lord said the answers still no don't ask me again and and then we got advice from various people in high places that we should go and look for one of the top youth leaders in the world and find them and recruit them and buy them and bring them and I never felt comfortable about that but I just couldn't work out why I just couldn't work out why does this not feel comfortable and what happened was one by one some of my friends were Andy and Allie and others came to me individually not knowing the others were done so and said to me I just need you to know when you stop I'm stop because the Lord said to me to serve with you rather than to serve sole survivor if you know the difference and then we suddenly realized wait a minute we're gonna we're gonna recruit someone from right outside plant them in and we're all going to stop and we've always done it as a family we've always done it as a bunch of friends we've always done it from this local church I think was like this just doesn't seem right it doesn't seem like it'll work and then we started thinking for the first time we voiced it Lord are you saying we're supposed to stop and I was the one that said no no we mustn't stop what's going to happen to the young people there's that what's gonna happen to them where are they going to go we can't stop and then it was the following Wednesday I was praying and the Lord spoke to me really clearly and and he said when did they become your kids when when were they your responsibility they're my kids and it was like immediately I don't know how to describe it a weight lifted it was immediately oh yes you're in charge and we'd always said from the beginning we'd always said when God says stop we'll stop and one of the things we've always said over the years if is God never said I'll build my sole survivor he only said I'll build my church and we exist for a season to serve the church and then when we're done we hand on the baton well then we came back and we we said you know what we really sense and it was unanimous Aaron felt it were meant to stop and then in the months there was about three four months between us deciding and us announcing and in those three four months we had people coming to us with prophetic words from everywhere people who had no idea confirming the word and when that keeps happening it makes it easy it really makes it easy and what has thrilled me absolutely thrilled me is as is as we have so many of those words that were given without people knowing have are coming to pass in ways that we can believe but also others are rising up to take it on and and um and there's three groups in particularly that we're going to cheer on with all our hearts who are youth leaders we and what we wanted it to be is we wanted to hand on the baton as much as we could not to play God and you know people can go where they want but for us to do our duty at the end and and it was like what we said was we just want them to love the kids whoever does it to love the young people that's what we've tried to do and not anyone who sees a gap in the spiritual market or or you know another event in their festival portfolio or anything like that but but people who love young people and the people who love young people our youth leaders and there are a few youth leaders that don't love young people but they're really in the wrong job they're really in the wrong job and it's like you know and who would want to and and and all three of these groups have been so hesitant really really and that's one of the things that we've loved and then for us we're not we're not we're not going we're not retiring it's nothing to do with that and we we believe that God has spoken to us really clearly as a bunch of friends that we're to build the way to serve this church and to do an experiment which is how how big can you grow a church on family principles as opposed to business principles and we don't know and we want to find out and we want to do it together and the the second thing is we want to I just want to spend my remaining years wherever I can wherever I'm wanted as much or as little to serve the church in encouraging naturally supernatural ministry in settings like this and in others helping church leaders to do it rather than just believe it but also the thing that I'll be honest with you just burns in me I just wanted it always has done but it's come with new clarity which is what I want to talk about tonight really which is which is about doing Church as family doing Church as community because over the last years it has been obvious to me and anybody involved in youth work anybody actually anybody involved in any kind of work with human beings in the Western world that we have become and are becoming a broken Society the incidence of loneliness are now huge huge people we there's never been more of us closer together on the planet but we have never been further apart and you know when when you can delete a friend when you can delete friends at the press of a Facebook button you know you're in trouble and a while ago I saw on my Facebook feed someone wrote I've decided I've got meant to many friends on here so over the next few days I'm going to delete half of you I mention it so that no one is hurt or offended and and I smiled at that and you know I'm I'm a church leader I've been leading a church for a long time I'm you know I've been around the block of you know done stuff like that and so I should be pretty some pretty secure do you know every three hours I was having a look to see if I'd been deleted and it was like I haven't been deleted yet I haven't been deleted yet and do you know what we live in a culture where people don't know that they belong people don't know that and they need to know that they belong they really need to know that they belong and the greatest healing is the healing of relationships the ultimate healing is spiritual healing and so much and I know it's more complicated than this okay I really really do I know it's more complicated but one of the things that root of so much of our emotional illness and mental illness is simply loneliness is simply a sense of not belonging and so much of the issues when you when you talk especially to young people of of self-harm the issues of of identity crisis of Who am I the issues of depression of suicidal thoughts when you come down to it so much of it so much of it is down is down to the brokenness of loneliness and we see it again and again and again and and it's in our society and people don't know how to do relationships everything's temporary everything's hit and run everything superficial we live in a superficial world and you know we really we need as the church to rise up and to be biblical and this is about being biblical folks it's about being biblical and you we've got it you know I are being to so many I'm not going to do the whole talk again I won't do it but I just say this you know in a business you hire and fire employees in a family you raise up sons and daughters and if the church is going to survive and thrive someone's got to be raising up sons and daughters because because it's not gonna work because if all we do is hire and fire employees and look for the best of the best to pick them and to find them then guess war only the richest survive but actually the biblical mandate Jesus invested so much of his time in 12 and remember what we said was the first night last night it was yesterday afternoon yesterday afternoon they were a bunch of failures and he invested in them and he was committed to them and they let him down and and they betrayed him they denied him they ran away at the crucial moment but he was committed to them he was committed and they changed and they changed and this has to be our model it has to be our model if the church is to survive and thrive and and all you have to do what's this got to do with the Ministry of the Spirit flipping everything because here's the other thing if if you really want to see God move in your church make it a church of people who love each other it's very hard for people to receive the spirit where there isn't a sense of love and belonging and security it's really hard it's really hard to allow the spirit to go into the depths of our brokenness and bring up the pain and bring healing if there isn't a sense of belonging and love and acceptance if there isn't a joy in fellowship if there isn't a sense that oh my goodness we're all broken we're all broken listen to this this is the fruit of the day of Pentecost lots of us who label ourselves charismatic we focus on the spirit King they spilled out into the streets declaring the wonders of God in many different languages 3,000 were added to their numbers and and everyone thought they were drunk so everyone can think we're drunk you know and and you know and I think that yes sometimes that does happen that really does happen you know but here's here's the end of the chapter here's the blueprint for the church chapter 2 of Acts verse 42 they devoted themselves they devoted themselves they didn't just do it in passing they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and to fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer everyone was filled with aura the many wonders and signs performed by the Apostles all the believers were together and had everything in common they sold property and possessions and gave to anyone who had need everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts they broke bread in their homes and ate together with gladden sincere hearts do you know a test of a biblical church is how much you eat together don't let anyone tell you it's about prayer and Bible study it's about flipping food Jesus came he came to bring salvation and the Kingdom and he came to have meals he did look at all the meals that Jesus ate and it's not I know I'm kind of joking there cuz well I'm half joking I'm longing for that soldier and but it's it's not about food it's about fellowship and in the biblical times to eat together was such an act of intimacy to eat together to have table fellowship the Lord's Supper was in the context of a meal the Passover for the Jews was a meal Jesus fed the 5,000 with a little boys picnic he went to Matthews party he hang out as Zacchaeus his house after the Last Supper when he rose from the dead he had a resurrection one of the first things Jesus did after he rose from the dead is he cooked breakfast for the disciples how much more biblical do you want to flip and get not all theologians would agree with me on that interpretation but I'm gonna stick to it and you know what it's it's about being family it's not about fish and chips it's about being family and and and and of course prayer and Bible study really do matter they really do matter but they broke bread in their homes and ate together with gladden sincere hearts praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people and the Lord added to their number daily daily those who were being saved the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved do you know after just before Jesus went to the cross you know he gave only one new commandment just one just one one thing to add to all the old Commandments and you can find it you can find it if I can find it in there we are thank goodness I thought they'd moved it it's did I do that in your Bible there's some demon that moves the verses around in it comes twice in that's that's the 812 driven by another Dino and listen to this John 13 verse 34 Jesus says a new commandment I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another and listen to this this is the killer statement after the new commandment he says by this everyone know that your mind that you're my disciples if you love one another that's the test he gave the world that's the test he gave them to see to do the experiment to see if we belong to him if you love one other and then in John 15 he repeats the new commandment but he adds to it he explains in when he says greater love has no one than this then he lay down his life for his friends your my friends if you do what I command you should it be a friend of Jesus love other people that's how you get to be a friend of Jesus if you want to be a biblical friend of Jesus and this is all over and this isn't just Jesus said this you know the longest prayer the longest prayer that Jesus is recorded as having prayed that doesn't mean he didn't pray longer prayers because he prayed through the night and stuff like that but the longest prayer that the Holy Spirit thought it was important to have recorded in the scriptures that Jesus prayed in John 17 was that we might be one think about that the longest prayer he is recorded as having prayed is for our unity and it's a lot of it is so that the world might believe it's so that the world might believe and we miss this because you see we we get blinkered and we get blinkered on and I've been involved I'm old now and I've done it all you know I've been to lead us conferences where the latest thing if you just do this your church will explode if you you know if you become cell church if you become multi whatever they call it multi-site church if you if you if you grow a big mega church it will reach if you do this if you you know weave spiritually Warford over the years we've done sword fighting with the demons we've we've Alfred we've a me gird we've we've we've G 12:2 we've G back again we've we've we've done I love all that you know all right all of that's good all of that's good but you know what they're all good and there's lots of things we should be doing we love alpha we do alpha here and it goes really well but none of them's the magic bullet none of them's the magic bullet the magic there's no magic bullet it's the flippin hard work of doing life with each other and it's flippin hard work isn't it mm-hmm and and you know the blessings are amazing and we think I don't know about you but I've always thought of Paul as being this this hard you know like if there's one person I I want to meet when I get to Evan is John because in his old age he really softened you know the the son of thunder became the beloved disciple and he wrote those letters beloved let us love one another for love is of God for he who loves knows God for god is love and I keep thinking when I meet John in heaven he's gonna say come here Mike come and have a cup of tea you know you're the beloved as well and it'll be really and and and the wife there's one person I've wanted to avoid it's Paul the thug you know because I just always imagined Paul would look at me in the eye and say so how many churches did you plant is that all you know and I've always wanted to avoid him you know like you know and like but I've missed it we you know we've missed it we've missed it you know justjust listen to this I'm not really intrigued at all at the end of his letter to the Romans his great masterpiece you know his great his great thing he says great priscilla and aquila my fellow workers in Christ Jesus Gris also the church that meets in their house now when you send greetings it's like it's really personal you know he was saying you know you greet them for me you do that to them for me so then greet my dear friend epinet us who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia my dear friend greet Mary who worked very hard for you Greek greet Andronicus and Junia my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me they are outstanding among the Apostles and they were in Christ before I was greet another bloke amply Attis my dear friend in the Lord greet a bonus our fellow worker in Christ and my dear friend statues he had a lot of dear friends of you know is that you wonder where he got the time greet upon us who whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test greet those who believe belong to the household of someone else and it goes on it goes on greet my dear friend Persis another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord greet roof was chosen in the Lord and his mother who has been a mother to me - Wow I didn't know that some bloke called rufus his mum was like a mother to Paul and it goes on and it goes on Greek Greek Greek Greek Greek and then dad you know how it ends ends greet one another with a holy kiss in case anyone's left out [Music] now this is this is hard man Paul this is in the Bible this is doctrine this is flipping doctrine and it works and it works and we've been on a journey my happiest years of my life have been the last few years and and the truth is it's not because my health is not great I need to lose weight I've got all sorts of things and and you know and we've had some tough times with illness and with people we love losing people we love and you know and it's it's hard it's hurt but you know what in the midst of it has been the happiest years of my life because I'm doing this with my best friends and Andy I am I'm doing this with my best friends and we love it and you know and like the truth is like we are genuinely joint senior pastors of the church and everyone says that's not supposed to work the number of people have said to me oh no no and we love it we love it both of us you do don't you yes we love it and and we love and I love I love I love our pastors meetings where we argue all the time and we and and we argue because we love each other we argue because we're a family and it's wonderful and it's how it's meant to be and do you know all the pictures all the pictures in them in the Bible are about family listen to this the eye on earth from somewhere I've nicked it family is easily the most prominent metaphor describing the church in the New Testament the word brother is used 139 times this is in the letters father is used 63 times inheritance which is a familial term is used 19 times Sons is used 17 times children is used 39 times in total - there are 277 familial references in Paul injust Paul's 13 letters you see it's everywhere it's everywhere and you know what in as I said in in in a business you are and far employees in a family you raise sons and daughters and what what do you what happens in a family you know if you if you put your seven-year-old on a rotor to load the dishwasher and your seven-year-old makes a mess what do you do do you sit him down and say look look let's have a review this is your annual review it's not working is it with the loading of the dishwasher it's just not happening and so I need to tell you I need to tell you we're giving you your notice and we're gonna bring in a seven-year-old from across the road to take your place you don't do that you don't do that if it's your kid what do you do you love your kids so much you will spend years loading the dishwasher with him until he knows how to do it you will never give up you will never dismiss him or her because that's what happens in a family and you know Paul says Paul says to the Corinthians you have 10,000 teachers I'm doing it from the old version because that's the one I still know you have 10,000 teachers you do not have many fathers what happens around teachers people learn things what happens around mothers and fathers people grow up and I just want to say a few things that may be a bit more personal but I know this is true because it's it happened to me it was done to me I arrived when I was 27 years old at this church not far from here gone far in life called San Andres Chile would and and I arrived because I was broken my my history was not much my child was was awful it felt awful and I arrived because I heard that they prayed for people and they they prayed for healing and I just knew I needed healing and then the vicar and his wife David and Mary pitches to this day I don't know why they did it but I was I was shy I had no confidence I was I could at least Ruth whose assistant pastor in our church and her husband Bob they were home group leaders then and I was put in their home group and and people's would say to me that when I used to arrive in a suit can you believe it and I used to be so shy I hardly said anything I hardly said anything but you know what they loved me and they saw something in me that I could never see and David asked me if I'd be the youth worker of the church which was crazy and then um Mary and Prue here who's sitting here they they prayed with me for all my stuff for every Friday every Friday for three years for three years for three years didn't do me any good it's a joke and they prayed for me and David and Mary showed me how I could get into their house through the garage that was always unlocked and there was a whole year where I just turned up early in the morning at their house to have breakfast with them uninvited nearly every morning and I'd walk in and I'd say hello and I'd hear them shuffling around upstairs and they'd be hello hello put the kettle on we're just coming down and I sat there with them and we opened the post and we discussed the day's events and when I messed it up David shocked me he didn't shout at me he loved me he corrected me he cared for me and Mary the same and you know I just had lunch with them on Monday David's 8888 and Mary's a little bit younger and you know they've they've prayed for me every single day for 30 years and even now even now they say to me David says Mike we love you we pray for you every day we're so proud of you we're so proud of you it changed my life it changed my life no one could say I couldn't see anything good in me but it changed my life and it sent me on a journey and when I went to them when I went to David and I said I've got a dream to start a festival and I explained what it would be and I've got another dream to plant a church and he listened and he said it sounds ridiculous to me and then he paused and he said but it sounds like it might be God let's have a go let's have a go none of this would have happened none of this would have happened and they believed in me when there was nothing to believe in and that's what's flippin amazing when there was nothing to believe in they saw something and that's why I'm hooked on this and also I'm not quite sure how this is gonna come out but I'll say in the last years I've my background was not great and my parents they they were loving in lots of ways but my dad could be very violent and and you couldn't argue with him he was a very large Greek man and you just couldn't argue with him and so if you did then it would get very very aggressive and very loud and so I learned to withdraw because that was the only safe place and my mum bless her because there was things going on around the home she she ended up sometimes out of her need becoming quite manipulative and I remember things like when I was when I was I think 11 my mum sat me down in their bedroom and she said Michael your dad and I are gonna I think we might were probably going to get a divorce when we divorced who do you want to go with do you want to go with me or your dad and you know how hard that is when you hear that from a parent it was like what on earth do I say and and so I I learned the only way I could survive was to withdraw and I didn't I didn't have the courage as I became a Christian or even the understanding to reflect to reflect on um why I reacted in ways I did and I would regularly I would regularly torpedo the ministry that God gave me by reacting in a and it wasn't from the head it was there were certain things that were hot buttons there were certain things that were hot buttons for me that that if so if there was if there was ever conflict or if I ever felt I was being pushed I've been claustrophobic all my life and emotionally claustrophobic and so I would always have an escape route you know I would always work out where are the exits how can I get out and spiritually where are the exits it's not it's not it's not an accident that I've been times I've been working for three trusts at the same time well if one or two don't work that's the one it's also not an accident that I get on and off planes all the time well if this doesn't work if I go and without realizing it every country I ever went to bizarre it was bizarre I thought it was a hobby but I'd look at the house prices to see if everything went wrong here I could escape could I afford to escape and live there and what I did was I hurt people because what I did when anything went wrong I would withdraw and I would hide and I didn't understand it and it was an it was anything was it was overwhelming it was an overwhelming emotional reaction and I remember while I was pastor of this church while I was leading Soul Survivor there were many times I would go home to my house and I would lock the front door and the back door and I would put myself there was I worked out there was a certain spot where if I sat and I switched the lights off nobody would be able to see me if they came so if i sat there they wouldn't be able to see me through the window from the kitchen and they won't be able to see me reflected in the mirror and I would think I'm safe no one can get me now now I realized that that was just a tiny bit dysfunctional that was like that was just a tiny bit weird you know that was just a tiny bit broken and it was like but I never had the courage or the understanding to reflect on it and then in the last year's friends got around me and there were two friends who who were pastors who insisted that they take me to this guy in Scotland called Jim McNish who reflects things back to you and for the first time someone explained me to me and you know it was like oh my goodness I always thought I was a get now I know why and do you know what a relief it is to know why you're a get do you have any idea but do you know what I've been able to get the courage to face some of this stuff and the courage has come obviously from relationship with Jesus but it's also come from my friendships from my brothers and sisters who've seen the worst of me and are still here are still here there are people here that we look at some of them that we've been weeping together over 30 years and they've seen the worst of me and they're still here and strangely they still love me and do you know when you have that it's the beginning of healing when you have that it gives you courage to face the black holes in your life that you couldn't otherwise face and it's it's such a healing it is such a flippin healing and we've seen that in this church it's happened for me but it's not just happen for me it's happened for others and we're seeing that and we want to we want to explore this and I'll start to come into land with this this isn't just about us a few months ago I'd been away and unfortunately Andy and I a joint senior pastors but the church loves him and boos me and we have healthy competition and there was a there was I came back one Sunday and and they know we play so they everyone joins in and it's like you know and I came back one Sunday and I said to the church I said hey guys I'm feeling really insecure because you know you all when he preaches your clap when I preach you're all silent when I say a joke about him you hiss when he says a joke that's not half as funny about me you cheer and I said I'm feeling really insecure and I actually need to know the answer to this question who's the most important person in this church and at first they all thought I was kidding so they started all shouting Andy Andy and I said now I'm being serious guys I need to know I need to know who is the most important person in this church and then a couple of my more super spiritual brethren shouted out Jesus and was like yes I know Jesus yes Jesus is the most yes after Jesus after Jesus I know Jesus is the most important person in a jesus church but after Jesus is and they didn't know how to answer they didn't know how to answer and then I said I'll tell you who's the most important person in the church it is not Andy Croft it is not me and it's none of you the most important person has to be the person who hasn't walked through the door yet it has to be we're not a family that's about us we're a family that's about them we're a family that wants to welcome them in and do you know when we are such a family we don't we could tell you a whole list of things that we get wrong but you know I have been I want my heart it wants to explode because the last months particularly we've seen so many come to know Jesus here and the thing that they keep saying they keep saying I just even heard this afternoon one one of my friends in the church said that he talked to and a lady who's just recently joined she and her husband and and and she said as soon as I walked through the door I knew I'd come home assumed I think I think she's here as soon as I walk through the door I knew I come home we've had people come and and and because they recognize so what they do you know that when a non-christian comes to your church for the first time their main question is not what is your doctrine about the cross and resurrection although that's really important it is not what is your doctrine about sexual ethics although that's really important their main question is could I belong here if they really knew what I was like would they love me would they accept me or would they reject me and tragically that's a question in our Instagram age in our show the best side of your self age that lots of Christians sadly are still asking as well and our mission as the church as the people of God is to build church there is family that loves unconditionally and the way it works is I was saying to someone earlier on is we want to have the highest standards of holiness that are that are biblical but we also want to have the deepest levels of mercy to all those who don't meet those highest standards of holiness because that's the only way I can stay that's how it works that's how it works no no no I just and he's gonna are you gonna I just asked Andy if he wanted to show anything yeah just just briefly just to say obviously I totally agree and one of the things that that happened to me a little while ago if you've been around you referred me show a little bit of my journey with God and stuff like that and part of it is that for one reason or another I I've grown up thinking if I'm not successful no one loved me big lie that I've believed but I believe it so what it means is that if I if I do something I feel like it's gonna get badly virtually have a breakdown and I did actually have a breakdown a couple years ago and had to work through a lot of it and then you might be aware that my little my youngest son Caleb's had quite a lot of health challenges since he's been born we found out about a year ago and so I've been working through that and we love him so much he's a real gift to us but I wanted to make sure that I was just not going to have another breakdown because it's a lot of emotion to process so one of the things I did just just about 5 or 6 weeks ago is I booked in to see a counselor just to have like an MOT just to check that was doing all right and I sat there and he said well tell me a bit of your story and they charge a lot for counseling so I just thought man I'm just got to get the whole thing out there super quick save myself some money so I I said well this is it well you know just told him well I'm not successful normal loved me that's a big part where it drives me and all that stuff and Todd that told him the whole deal and and and then he just looked at me and he said it's funny and he took about he just did this really long pause that cost me about 5 quid [Laughter] and then he said to me you don't strike me as someone who believes if I'm not successful no one will love me and until he said it I didn't I didn't know but when he said it I thought it's because I'm not anymore the truth is I'm not anymore like I still visit that place sometimes but I don't live there in the way that I used to even just a few years ago and I thought what's changed and there's exactly what Mike just said which is people have loved me in my brokenness is last year I've taken so many months off work just because of Caleb he's been in hospital for a long time and I've been looking after the boys I don't mean now to do anything at all and and this church just has loved me I have eaten more pasta bakes than I ever have in my life you know it's they've prayed for us they've held us they're supported as they've wept with us barely a day goes by when I don't meet someone who tells me that they're praying for our family and and so it's just it's almost impossible when when you're surrounded by that kind of love to continue to believe that if you just made a mistake somewhere people would walk away and there's a line I heard years ago that that most of our her comes from relationship and so I guess it stands to reason that most of our healing would be found there too and I found that to be true there was a time when I was the person who hadn't walked through the door and now I'm in and so I couldn't agree with Mike more wholeheartedly that we are to be this for others and just to finish you know what Mike was talking about how this relates to the Holy Spirit that the early church fathers when they were kind of gazing up at the Godhead and just trying to you know get their heads and their minds and their hearts around him one of the one of the languages that they began to use at the spirit of was that he was his own person his own distinct person but also that he was the bond of laughs that exists between the father and the son and what the spirit were told in Romans chapter 5 you know the spirit is poured out the love of God poured into our hearts like all like the sea pours forth or wave and sucks in the pebbles back and in the same way God pours a spirit and draws us back into him like by the spirit we cry Abba Father but also what the so the spirit draws us into God but also what the Spirit does is he draws us into one another and so it's the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit and that word fellowship sometimes in religious circles feels a bit limp what it actually means is common life shared life it's exactly what you see in Acts chapter 2 and as we choose to do the hard work of living that out by His grace it's what hopefully people are finds when they walk into our communities - okay just as Andy said I won't I'll stop now but this has everything to do with being a church that's open to the Spirit when the Spirit comes he brings us together and when we're together the Spirit comes it's a virtual circle it's a virtuous circle not virtual virtuous and you know what it's the other side I I loved what Nick shared this afternoon I wanted him to share that I've seen I've been there I love and the guys that causeway coast vineyard are some of our dearest friends I'm any excuse to go there and they join us and and we we're totally there and as we go out and we tell people about Jesus and we pray for them and we go where they are absolutely how amazing if we have somewhere where we can say come home welcome home you've met Jesus now can I just introduce you to your new family they are amazing you will be at home you will be loved you will be cared for you will be accepted you will be healed welcome home welcome home

Channel: Naturally Supernatural

Views: 5,000

Rating: 4.9555554 out of 5

Keywords: Soul Survivor, nsn, naturally supernatural, Mike Pilavachi, Andy Croft, Tom Smith, Holy Spirit, Ministry, Worship, Spirit led worship, Ali Martin

Id: DHyf_IbsUq4

Length: 51min 9sec (3069 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 27 2019