Vineyard National Gathering 2021 // Friday 29th January, Morning Session

[Music] you breathe and make life out of the dry dust carefully for my you breathe and make life you did and you do make all things [Music] and it was [Music] lingering with us making it holy you wait in stillness [Music] in light of all you have done because i've known your great love because jesus he died for me [Music] i give my own unreserved [Music] yes i give my own jesus everything i have i'm laying at your face for your glory for your faith [Music] i [Music] is [Music] [Applause] jesus use me as you please yes [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] jesus [Applause] [Music] forever [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] and use me [Music] i am chosen by your hand before the world you had a plan nothing surprises you you know it from the start suffering god you are [Music] [Applause] troubles come and [Music] [Music] is [Music] so i will rest in your [Music] [Music] there is [Music] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] you know the world in your hands [Music] [Applause] [Music] rest in yourself [Music] [Applause] oh so we've all known sorry we've all known trouble holding heartache heartbreak but we have every reason to hope because we have a god who is making all things new a god who holds all things in his hands a god who works all things for our good so let's sing it together there's no need to be afraid [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] good morning my name is lisa crosby i'm one of the senior leaders at darlington vineyard and i've got justine with me this morning to help me out and we're here to lead you through a few minutes of movement we want to make sure that we won't concentrate on our breath and even when we feel weak and tired god gives us strength isaiah 43 31 says this but those who hope in the lord will renew their strength they will saw on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint and we want to invite you this morning to breathe and to move come as you are move however you feel comfortable so we're going to start by taking a deep breath in and breathe out deep breath in [Music] and breathe out take your arms above your head you're gonna bring your elbows down into the waist for council two take them up again just mobilizing those shoulder blades don't forget to breathe don't forget to smile bring your body in worship this morning gonna move faster so we're going to turn them over down bring them up this is so you pull in a stretchy elastic band from your ankles okay i'm going to take the feet hip width apart we're going to take a bend over to one side touching the knee over to the other side nice and slowly into the middle okay if you want to stay here just follow justine get those hips mobilized this morning if you can take it a little further you can reach to your ankle or you can take your hand to the floor reach up through the back just keep it here if that's good for you going to take a deep breath and out securing me in your concrete love my father you know my name just hold it here and breathe now we're going to invite you to move using those side bends again in this next song [Music] just make it a little bit more fluid maybe a little deeper as you bend as those hips starting to loosen up from that sitting in that chair my trust is in you okay we're gonna come to the feet and we're gonna move from foot to foot just shake this out this feels really good maybe use the arms across the body activate that brain we're going to kick up to the bottom just going to show you the low energy i'm going to take it a little higher by kicking and jumping a little bit [Music] don't forget to breathe if you hold your breath it's going to be a lot more effort [Applause] don't forget to smile and punch that's it twist that middle we're gonna go all the way across [Music] control those punches don't just let the elbows flail out gonna take a breath [Music] i will trust [Music] connected to your breath it's so important we're going to take this rinse again just go to the foot stay low with jab or you can bring in hands and a twist to the waist [Music] we're gonna go for those heel kicks again stay low with jazz come a little higher with me [Music] we're gonna bring up high knees you can just lift your knees follow me jess [Music] we're going to take that side touch again [Music] stay here if that's okay for you i'll take it a little deeper [Music] we're gonna go back to that rinse that twist just can't help but dance now she's a [Music] dancer moving these arms it will get your heart rate up activate your brain as it crosses the body gonna take those heel kicks [Music] if you're really daring you can bring in more arms i'm gonna keep mine here [Music] and breathe father god we thank you for your strength for your movement for the breath that we breathe and lord thank you that we're able to come into your presence this morning in jesus name amen [Music] oh god how beautiful your home [Music] it off to turn [Music] his gains become let all things [Music] is [Music] we take your faithfulness [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let all things [Music] is is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] says [Music] [Music] all things may rise [Music] is [Music] in weakness [Music] all things won't sound in weakness [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning hello and welcome to our final day yeah our final day so wonderful to be with you all today my name's taryn and this is chuck and together we are taryn and chuck yeah and uh we lee catalyst vineyard church which is a multi-site church based in the northeast of scotland we are also regional leaders and we're also part of the vineyard leadership group as well yeah hey hasn't it been such an amazing few days the lord has been so unbelievably kind to us and i'm sure that the lord has been speaking to you wherever you are in the world in the way that he's been speaking to us obviously we would have preferred to be in the same room together but that wasn't possible uh we've loved and and really treasured just being able to hang out with people uh many of you are online and so uh we're just grateful to god aren't we just grateful to god um this morning we have two sessions separated by a let's call it a refreshment break coffee tea hot chocolate yeah whatever it is and so this first thing we have alexander venter speaking to us and then after the break we'll be hearing from joe saxton and uh stay tuned yeah yeah perhaps last night you heard the vision for our offering from john and debbie and you haven't yet got around to doing that or you couldn't quite figure out the technicalities of how to do that it's really really simple all you need to do is go to our website vineyardgathering.com forward slash give and all of the details that you need will be there wonderful we love hearing stories and if you have a story about what has what god has been doing during this time as we've gathered together online we'd love to hear that and the way to share your stories just head over to the website and all the information will be there on how to share that story we'd love for you to do that we're going to take some time to worship the law together but before we do all of that why don't we just take a moment to pray and lord this morning we love that it's a fresh moment a fresh day to come before you again to lift our eyes to you to worship you afresh to proclaim that you are god you are our king you are our lord and together we bow the knee and we worship you and as we worship you today spirit of god we ask that you would come and you would meet with us and we would experience a fresh touch from your spirit that you would meet us in the places that we need to be met in today that you would fill our hearts you would fill us to overflowing as we worship you amen [Music] vision o lord of my heart [Music] not be all else to thee say that [Music] waking or sleep in thy presence my life and be thou my wisdom and thou my true word i ever [Music] i [Music] thou in me dwelling and i with thee one and be thou my breasts play my sword for the fight be thou my armor and be thou my might thou lays down me heavenward [Music] richie i eat not no man's empty praise thou my inheritance [Music] only the first in my my treasure [Music] one [Music] heart of [Music] oh [Music] in heart of my own heart whatever [Music] of all [Music] [Music] you speak and you make all of the darkness you speak and make you speak and make right [Applause] chaos you speak and make right [Music] make all things new [Music] you breathe [Music] carefully you breathe and make life you do and you do make all things new you did and you do make all things new and it will be [Music] [Applause] [Music] good you wait in stillness [Music] you wait in stillness [Music] [Music] so i'm giving you my heart and all that is within i'll lay it all down for the sake of you my king i'm giving you my dreams i'm laying down my rights i'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life and i surrender all to [Music] surrender [Music] i'm singing you this song i'm waiting at the cross and all the world holds dear i counted all these for the lost of knowing you the glory of your name to know the lasting joy even sharing in your pain and i [Music] surrender all to you and i surrender all [Music] and i [Music] surrendered all to you all to you [Music] and surrender all to you [Music] and i surrendered you my lord [Music] and i surrendered [Music] my lord [Music] i surrendered [Applause] i surrender all [Music] i surrender i surrendered i surrendered [Music] i surrender [Music] let's just linger here let's not rush away from this moment just more of your spirit more of you jesus just go deeper now thank you lord thank you lord for all that you are doing for all that you have done thank you that you are a god that never changes you are a god who is so incredibly faithful yes and we lean into that we draw from that we lift our eyes to you knowing that all good things come from you and we say thank you thank you for your goodness thank you for your faithfulness thank you amen amen amen isn't it just wonderful that we can worship together even though we're in lockdown even though we are separated we can still come together and we can worship jesus who is no less worthy of our praise even in these circumstances just great so good so good uh thank you to the worship team who've served us so beautifully all week um well it's my delight it's my privilege to introduce to you alexander venter alexander is a dear friend of us in the vineyard in the uk and ireland a stunning bible teacher author church planter pastor just a pioneer remarkable guy and he and his wife jilly have planted and led a whole bunch of churches and one of them was a multi-racial church in the middle of the apartheid era slap banging in between johannesburg and soweto just a stunning stunning work and really courageous work and so we are thrilled to have him speaking to us now he's written a whole bunch of books and doing healing is a game changer i commend it to you doing reconciliation doing church and doing spirituality all of them fantastic and so it is such a joy to introduce him to you now why don't we pray and then over to alexander and lord we lean in we incline our ear we want to hear from you and so we pray for alexander and we pray for ourselves that you would fill us afresh with your spirit give us ears to hear what you're saying to us right now and all god's people said amen hi there my name's alexander fenter and i'm a recovering sinner pastor my work is to understand and to live and to teach the teachings of jesus which essentially is about the kingdom of god which is what i'm going to speak about today but first of all i just want to say thanks to john and debbie and the team for this honor and privilege to speak to you vineyard uk and ireland at um at a 2021 national conference it really is a privilege so thank you so i want to just speak about jesus and the kingdom the king and the kingdom and the text that i'm going to be speaking from is the great commission in matthew 28 from verse 16 down to the end but just to preface it by saying that matthew's biography of jesus focuses particularly on the king and the kingdom if i had to summarize the theme of matthew it is the king is here and that's in fact the title of derek morphy's study his small volume on the book of matthew so right from the the birth of jesus and we've just been through christmas jesus has the three kings from the east coming to worship him and bringing gifts king herod his nose is put out of joint when he hears that a jewish king has been born and tries to kill jesus and all of the prophecies matthew's favorite phrase is according to the scriptures king jesus the jewish messiah fulfills the hebrew prophecies in his birth in his ministry his life death and resurrection and then of course matthew is writing to jewish readers primarily therefore uses kingdom of heaven as opposed to kingdom of god that mark and luke use they essentially mean the same matthew uses heaven out of deference to his jewish readers that heaven is a synonym for god but just to say king jesus came to inaugurate the kingdom of heaven on earth and what did that mean for the first followers of jesus and then the world around them and for us here today and after a very torrid year of corona trauma with all the extreme and extraordinary challenges it is presented to all of us and still is presenting we need to pause and stop and think about the king and the kingdom and renew our sense of vision and commission that jesus has given us as his followers so reading then from the gospel of matthew the great commission so matthew the ends is biography with these words from jesus and of course often with a loved one the last words that they speak before they die or depart often are the most important words and this little story of matthew that ends his biography of jesus actually summarizes his entire gospel and i want to share five points with you that come out of the story it says then the eleven went to the galilee to the mountain where jesus had told them to go and when they saw him they worshipped him but some doubted and then jesus said all authority in the heavens and on the earth has been given to me therefore you go and make disciples apprentices of me from people of all nations all ethnic groups baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit and teaching them to obey everything i've commanded you and i will be with you always until the end of the age this is a profound text that we call the great commission but just by way of introduction of the big picture let me go through the points so it starts off with the the worship of the king then it goes to the authority of the king and then it goes to the baptism of the king then the character of the king and then the presence of the king jesus told his first followers the apostles to go to a mountain in the galilee where he would meet them and that is after 40 days of appearing and disappearing to them after his resurrection and he appeared and disappeared to wean them from dependence on his physical presence because they had been physically with him for three and a half years and had totally come to depend on him and went through the shattering traumatic experience of the leader messiah the the the one that they believed and hoped was the king of israel the shattering experience of his betrayal and crucifixion and then the remarkable surprise of his bodily resurrection and his appearances and so when jesus brings us to a close and ascends into heaven he meets with him one last time according to matthew and it says when they see jesus they worship him and so the first point is this idea of visionary worship when we see jesus for who he really is our only adequate response is to fall to our knees and to worship the human response to god's self-revelation in his son king jesus is to surrender our will and crown him as king worship like the magi from the east they came and they brought gifts and they bowed down to the babe of bethlehem and they worshipped him it is remarkable that here jewish people worship a human being jesus a resurrected human being is worshiped because they see him for who he is friends we need to see jesus for who he really is the resurrected king and the clearer we see jesus by the revelation of the holy spirit the more we are transformed in a deeper surrender of our will to live a life of worship all of god's mission is born out of worship all authority is born out of worship all initiation and baptism is born out of seeing jesus for who he is in fact this point picks up matthew's earlier stories of people seeing jesus even the demons saw jesus and recognized them for who he was as the son of god when jesus asked his apostles whom do you say that i am peter said by revelation of the holy spirit you are the messiah you are the king the son of god and and jesus then said i'm changing your name from simon a reed shaken in the wind to petros a stone built on the petra the rock of who the king really is and our faith and confession in the king and then jesus gave to peter the keys the authority of the kingdom and that brings us to the second point so the first point is the worship of the king and that is visionary worship our vision of jesus causes us to surrender in worship to him i love the phrase from isaiah 33 17 where it says your eyes will see the king in his beauty you know to really see the historical jesus this young city old rabbi from nazareth for who he really is inaugurating the kingdom of heaven on earth is to fall in love with jesus because jesus is not only remarkable he is truly beautiful see the king in his beauty and i love matthew's realism where he says but some doubted that's the not yet of the kingdom side by side with the already of the kingdom they saw him they worshipped him but some had questions in their mind and of course doubting is different to unbelief doubting asking questions is part of faith be that as it may then jesus says all authority in the heavens and on the earth is given to me and therefore you go and make disciples of me the second pointer is the authority of the king and what matthew is doing is he's directly connoting the story from daniel chapter 7 of the son of man and i believe that matthew in his own way here is saying matthew that is daniel chapter 7 is literally being fulfilled in this text because when jesus ascended it was his coronation at the right hand of the father he in the book of daniel chapter 2 and chapter 7 daniel speaks of four kingdoms the last beast the last kingdom is the worst and most brutal of all which was the roman empire so from the assyrian babylonian empire to the media persian empire to the greek empire to the roman empire and it says in daniel chapter 7 the vision that daniel had i looked and thrones were were set in place and the ancient of days came and took his seat and his clothing was as white as snow and then it says the beasts had their authority stripped from them that's verse 12 and then verse 13. then in my vision i looked and i there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven and he approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence and to this son of man was given all the authority the glory the sovereign power and all peoples and nations bowed down and they worshipped him so in the the 11 followers the jewish followers who worshiped a resurrected human being jesus is the it is the embodiment and the microcosm of the all the nations worshiping the king the the resurrected king and of course ben adam son of man simply means a human being and this mysterious human heavenly figure comes out from under suffering um under the fourth beast the most brutal empire the roman empire and is triumphant by entering into the courts of heaven on a cloud jesus ascended in a cloud and there he was given all authority and power the kingdom and ben adams son of man is the phrase that jesus took for himself which was a very um conscious messianic designation that was expected in the time of jesus 81 times in the gospels he refers to himself as the son of man and so what matthew is doing here when jesus says all authority is given to me he is connoting this and the son of man actually embodies the new humanity because in daniel 7 it says that he gives that authority the kingdom to the saints of the most high to rule and reign and extend his kingdom over all nations to the ends of the earth and that's what is being said here all authority is given to me therefore go in that authority and make disciples of me from people of all nations and so it is commissioning authority as it is visionary worship and commissioning authority is that we are authorized to go and make apprentices of jesus from people of all nations and to be a disciple let's see a bible word in the greek context and jewish context it was a disciplined learner but there is willard has popularized the phrase and apprentice our commission in the authority of the king is to make apprentices of the king in his kingdom an apprentice is a person who commits to to live with to learn from to become like and so we are not called to make converts neither are we called or commissioned to make church members neither are we called to make people good pure vineyard christians we are called to make apprentices of jesus people who intensely and passionately pursue christ's likeness to become just like the king in his kingdom so that we share his collaborative authority and exercise it in real terms to change the world around us right to the ends of the earth and how do we make apprentices of jesus and this is of course what dallas willard called the great omission in the great commission is that we make converts but we don't make disciples disciplined learners of people who intentionally progressively become like jesus that great omission has cost us dearly as the church it is the single reason the fact that we don't make disciplined learners apprentices of jesus it's the single reason why the church is so powerless to change our society and our nations and our communities how do we make disciples the baptism of the king baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit so baptism was initiation into discipleship initiation into apprenticeship and jesus was baptized by john and he initiated this baptism to his followers that whoever decided to become apprentice of jesus and put their faith into the messiah the king and follow the king they would enter through the waters of baptism and it symbolized essentially identifying with christ's death whereby i died to my old life of sin and being buried and rising again to my new life in the king to live the life of the kingdom but the deeper meaning of baptism is participation in the trinity because in semitic usage when you say in the name of you know to name in the bible is to describe the essential character and destiny of a person the nature and when it says you baptize them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit what jesus really is saying is you plunge people immerse apprentices of jesus into the reality of the trinitarian god the reality of the life and the love of the father and the son by the holy spirit to live the trinity on earth to live heaven on earth followers of jesus who are immersed into the life and love of the father and the son by the holy spirit actually live heaven on earth we are a taste of kingdom come and that is the meaning of what we ought to do in making disciples is initiate people so i call it participating baptism because in in ii peter chapter 1 verse 4 is this remarkable verse that through the great and precious promises of god realized for us in jesus we have become partakers we participate in the very divine nature of god and the extent to which we participate in the divine nature of god we are freed from the corruption in the world through sinful desires and corrupted appetites so that is what discipleship is about and that leads then to the fourth point which is the character of christ and here jesus says don't only baptize people and immerse them into apprenticeship and don't only teach them to begin to live the life of the trinity through death and resurrection but train them teach them to obey everything i have commanded you and here is a very very important point and once again this is what dallas meant by the great omission in the great commission we omit to to intentionally systematically teach every person who comes to our church and claims to follow jesus we omit to teach and train them to end up obeying everything jesus commanded just imagine that if we train our will and all our faculties to incrementally obey jesus in love that formation of character is the power of transformation in and through us to the world around us authority is linked in real terms is linked to integrity of character and so when jesus says teaching them to obey everything i have commanded you in hebraic understanding teaching is not just information of theology and the mind but it is formation of the heart which is the will and so the kingdom of god jesus taught his followers to pray pray lord let your kingdom come let your will be done on this piece of earth as it is in heaven the kingdom of god is the effective range of the will of god wherever god's will is done his kingdom has come so when i do the will of god in and through my body as it is in heaven and when i do the will of god in the peace of earth around me in my marriage and my family in my workplace as it is in heaven god's kingdom has come in that environment and in that place imagine becoming the kind of person that predictably easily naturally does what god would do if he were you to be a disciple is to live interactively with jesus learning from him how to live my life as he would if he were me it's beginning to think the thoughts of god feel god's feelings speaking god's words and behaving and doing what god would do if god were me and jesus himself was the very incarnation of the fulfillment of the will of heaven here on earth in contrast to most other people who do the will of satan on earth as it is so the fourth point is transforming character training in the character of christ so that we easily naturally incrementally do all that god wants us to do and then he says and i will be with you always even to the end of the age and dallas willard's paraphrase of this is i will be with you at your side by my empowering spirit till the job is done what is the job we have to do is by his collaborative authority his commissioning authority make apprentices of jesus to the ends of the earth that is our job and when that job is done jesus will return so he promises us not only the character of christ but he promises us the charisma of christ i will be with you is the presence of the king and as gordon fear wrote that remarkable book about the holy spirit called the empowering presence the presence of the king with us is the power of the holy spirit in us and through us to the world around us so that is the charismata of the holy spirit all the gifts of the spirit all the resources and the power of heaven is available to us to get the job done to make apprentices of jesus from people of all types all nations everywhere the pursuit of becoming like the king the hunger the passion to see the king in his beauty to be so ravished by the vision of the king that we worship and surrender and then we collaborate with his commissioning authority and we are disciples we can only make disciples to the extent we ourselves are disciples by being initiated into the trinitarian reality learning to live the life of heaven on earth by being trained in the character of christ to do god's will routinely easily predictably through the power of the holy spirit that resides in us and through us transforms the world around us so that's my message of the king and the kingdom in the midst of these deeply troubled times in which we live may god bless you and let me pray for you lord jesus i thank you for for vineyard uk and ireland every church every church plant every leader and pastor all the people that are watching this this message i speak the blessing of the king and the kingdom upon him in the name of jesus may the king bless you by the power of his holy spirit with a profound baptism of the life and love of the trinity and may you be transformed in your character to live the life of christ and to be jesus to your world and to your community be the great light that shines in deep darkness in the name of jesus i bless you with all that you need to be jesus to your community amen thank you thank you alexander so good oh i think just rich and challenging so helpful and just a thought-provoking so much to think about there really is there really is and saying all of that many of you will probably be feeling like gosh i need a break right now and good news good news there is a break coming up for you yeah and and then after the break we've got joe saxton joe saxton and uh she's an amazing speaker and you're gonna love her too that's right and so now is your moment to step away from your screen leave your screen running because uh we're just going to stay on this link on youtube for the rest of the morning you don't need to go anywhere else go searching anywhere else this is the place to be and 11 15 is where we're gonna start again yeah and also just want to remind you um that we've got some a whole bunch of resources that may be helpful to you and so head over to the website for those resources what's the website taran the website is vineyardgathering.com of course it's that easy i should know it by now vineyardgathering.com and what the resources chuck oh my goodness right well first of all there are activities for your kids yeah secondly there are worship playlists and thirdly there is a place to submit your stories of all the different things that god has been doing during the course of this week so please do head over and have a look at all of that and we'll see you in a short while 11 15 be there or well just be there [Music] i is you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus your name is [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] when i am lost [Music] jesus [Music] when i am lost [Music] oh [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] so i can come closer than ever before jesus [Applause] [Music] we need you to love even when light overwhelms me what you said [Music] amen [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] so i can come closer before [Music] jesus all i ever wanted was you my heart and make me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my heart and make me [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] so i can come closer before [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] the sky from water you speak and make right [Music] you did and you do make all things [Music] you breathe and make life [Music] [Music] you breathe and make life you did and you do make all things [Music] and it will is [Music] [Applause] [Music] you wait in stillness [Music] lingering with us making it holy you wait in stillness [Music] [Music] oh god how beautiful your [Music] and know the shape that we would [Music] and [Music] his gains become let all things [Music] is [Music] we take your faith [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is the son of god [Music] [Applause] [Music] this [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you promised [Music] [Music] all oh may rise [Music] weakness [Music] all things won't sound in weakness [Music] [Music] i'm falling at your feet [Music] i'm happy here on my knees [Music] your [Music] jesus [Music] jesus you were i'm happy here on my [Music] by knees [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] jesus jesus you [Music] with everything everything [Music] is [Music] through tears [Music] with all my heart i love you you with everything everything with all my [Applause] sing strengths through tears [Music] um [Music] see through tears [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] know your way for your faithful we wait in hope for the lord he is in him our hearts rejoice for we trust in his holy name way [Music] is rejoice for we trust [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus jesus [Music] jesus [Music] your name is [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] your name is [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] jesus i love you i love you [Music] when i am lost [Music] when i am down [Music] oh [Music] my head jesus [Music] and jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] so i can come closer than ever before [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus even when light overwhelms me even when shame rocks what you said i know your voice was surrounded my lord jesus [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus so i can come closer before [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus you [Music] [Applause] [Music] so i can come closer before [Music] jesus we need you more and more [Music] [Music] you have called us [Music] to your side [Music] when you are moving [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] cool [Applause] [Music] it's [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] let it burn let [Music] [Music] in my soul [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] that gives me [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh spirit come light a fire in my soul let it burn for you love let it [Music] let it burn let it burn [Music] it's [Music] use it for your glory we only hear what we've received [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] so use it for your glory [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] you're the power [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we give everything [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we give everything to you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] for your glory [Music] [Applause] i am chosen by your hand before the world you had a plan nothing surprises you you know it from the start suffering god you are [Music] troubles come and troubles go [Music] somewhere [Music] [Music] so i will rest [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you hold the world in your [Music] so i will rest in your sorrows [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] so we've all known sorry we've all known trouble holding heartache heartbreak but we have every reason to hope because we have a god who's making all things new a god who holds all things in his hands a god who works all things for our good so let's sing this together there's no need to be afraid [Music] [Music] every [Music] is [Music] everything [Music] [Applause] so king jesus we pray come come come come come take up residence on this island we pray we speak the dormant seeds in the soil bear fruit we speak to the diaspora come home come lord jesus in every county and every village and every town and every city lord jesus let your kingdom come that your kingdom can't we pray let your kingdom come we pray let your kingdom come we pray come lord come lift your voices come on god come on god we pray come fill our homes fill our homes fill our streets filled us up let it come [Applause] you're welcome among us [Music] welcome let's go [Music] please [Music] praise [Music] crazy [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] through every land [Applause] yes [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] welcome back we hope you managed to get a quick cup of tea maybe a piece of cake maybe you've got to stretch your legs or get some fresh air well if you weren't able to tune in last night we are andrew and rosie mcneill and we are the associate national directors of vineyard churches uk and ireland we're joining you today from birmingham where we lead the birmingham vineyard and it is an absolute joy to be with you as we gather in many towns and cities in fact even nations for this moment we're delighted to now welcome back joe saxton if you didn't hear who joe was yesterday she is an author a speaker a podcaster and an entrepreneurial coach born to nigerian parents and raised in london jo brings a multicultural and international perspective to her leadership training she's co-host of the podcast lead stories and also equips women in leadership through her leadership coaching joe is also the author of numerous books including her most recent ready to rise we are so expectant for what god will do as we gather in our homes and listen to her let's seize this moment and pray before we hear from joe let's pray together father thank you so much for this moment and for the message that joe has for us here and now we pray that you'd speak to our hearts as she speaks to us we ask that in jesus name amen hi everybody i'm joe and it is a privilege to be with you i am just so sad that i don't get to be with you in person i would have loved to have been in the uk with you and hang face to face but i am glad that we still get to connect in this way um and allow the lord to meet us here in these unusual ways of doing things in unusual times i thought i would start though with a story it was my mom's birthday and she lives in london and um we had flown over from the states to spend a bit of time with her and i thought the best thing we could do the most fun thing we could do because it was a little after her birthday actually that we take her out to her favorite restaurant her favorite restaurant a chinese restaurant in our neighborhood so my husband my two teenagers two girls and i were driving into the neighborhood and i said to my husband hey don't worry about the gps at this point i know exactly where i am i grew up on these streets i know this place except that as we began to navigate the neighborhood everything was different instead of the sainsburys there's an embassy being built instead of another store i was used to seeing there something else was gone the fish and chip shop friends wasn't even there anymore that i lived there i used to be there every day gone lots of stores were different lots of buildings were different things i didn't even recognize anymore and i was beginning to feel a little bit discombobulated so as we turned a corner i um i thought oh we'll take that road except that road wasn't a road and then we turned another way and we'll say well take that drive except it wasn't working anymore in fact it was blocked off and it was fine for just being there for 35 seconds it was not working finally one way or another we got to the restaurant and as soon as i stepped in probably because you kind of re-enter your family systems i started complaining and saying to my mom everything's changed what is wrong with this place it took me ages to get here nothing is the same anymore and my mom laughed at me again because we reconnected in the whole family system thing and um said joe it's been changing for years you just weren't watching everything's always been changing and as i've reflected on this last year or so that that moment that time has been on my mind a lot so many things have been changing we've encountered deeply encountered a landscape change in the way we live the very fabric of our lives some things are the same but yeah it's so different and it's not recognizable anymore now for some people they would say that it gave them more space and more time but i i'm not one of those people it has um the realities of a global pandemic the realities of a racial uprising and reckoning um that actually may have catalyzed in the states but kicked off in many parts of the world the reality of a bruised and struggling economy meant more worries more unknowns more frustrations more demands we know i knew how i used to lead i knew how i used to plan i knew what i used to expect and none of those things were anymore and for a while maybe there was the assumption that back to normal would happen soon enough but the longer it lasted the longer things went on with lockdowns and shutdowns and reopenings and returning to shutdowns the more was deconstructed as a result back to normal wasn't coming and then when we look back on things like um racial reckonings and uprisings certain normals we didn't want to return to anyway because it wasn't actually great for everybody and then somehow in the midst of that we were supposed to leave through it all it's been draining it's been exhausting and it's why i think it's really important that as we gather together close as leaders we talk about burnout the term burnout was coined in the 1970s by an american psychologist called herbert freudenberger he used it to describe the consequences of severe stress mixed with high ideals sound familiar um in the helping professions he was actually beginning to refer to doctors and nurses who sacrificed themselves for others and would often end up as burned out but nowadays the term is used for anyone and the workplace but also um our relationships um different environments our care given those things which could lead us to burning out he noted three particular features of burnout one was emotional exhaustion the fatigue that came from and as i say this see if any of these resonate with you in any way whatsoever emotional exhaustion the fatigue that comes from caring too much for too long ever been there when you feel unable to cope emotionally exhausted drained and you don't have enough energy and sometimes it manifests itself physically with things like stomach pains or bowel problems the second um feature was depersonalization where they kind of run out of empathy run out of caring run out of compassion you kind of get a bit cynical about your working conditions and even your colleagues the job becomes increasingly stressful and frustrating and they begin to emotionally distance yourself from feeling numb about work does that sound familiar to you and then the final one a decreased sense of accomplishment that feeling that you can't escape that feels like nothing you are doing is making any difference a reduced performance is a result um and it affects everyday tasks hard to be creative and as i pondered these things and had many a conversation with leaders and friends about the exhaustion they felt about the cynicism they felt about the emptiness they felt i was thinking about elijah and um elijah is one of those key characters in the bible one of the giants of faith but we meet him at turbulent time in the people of god a time of corruption and frankly evil at the highest levels in the lives of through and through the lives of ahab and jezebel god's prophets were being killed and elijah was public enemy number one in the era in which he's leading out as a prophet he speaks truth to power he's seen god do so much and has done so much with god there's prophecies about a drought he's fed by ravens which doesn't sound like fun there's his encounter with the widow of zaraphat a miracle of provision and then raising his son from the dead but maybe the one that that comes to mind most of all is mount carmel elijah versus the prophets of baal where they are expecting their gods to refer to their um to meet them and meet their offering and then god comes with his fire and his power and reveals himself and reminds them who god actually is and yet instead of that leading to revival instead of that leading to some kind of reform in the land jezebel reminds elijah that his days are numbered because she's going to take care of it and deal with him now let me be clear before i unpack this any further the bible doesn't explicitly say that elijah was burnt out and yet the way the lord tends to elijah in that moment the way he guides him through those times strikes me as helpful for those of us who are feeling that emotional exhaustion in these days those of us who are living with that sense of nothing is working and there's no point in going on those of us who are feeling detached and cynical and empty in all we're doing there's something about the way the lord tends to elijah that i believe could be important for us and with that in mind i'm going to read from the first book of kings 1 kings chapter 19 verses 5 through 18 1 kings chapter 19 verses 5 all the way through to 18. set the scene jezebel has just said i'm going to kill you and um elijah is on the run he escapes he's like god take my life i'm done it's over i'm miserable i'm empty why should i go on and then he falls asleep verse five then he lay down and slept under the broom tree but as he was sleeping an angel touched him and told him get up and eat he looked around and there by his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water so he ate and drank and lay down again then the angel of the lord came again and touched him and said get up and eat some more or the journey ahead's going to be too much for you so he got up and ate and drank and the food gave him enough strength for 40 days and 40 nights until he got to mount sinai the mountain of god there he came to a cave and then he spent the night but the lord said to him what are you doing here elijah elijah replied i have zealously served the lord god almighty but the people of israel have broken their covenant with you torn down your orders and killed every one of your prophets i'm the only one left and now they're trying to kill me too go out and stand before me at the mountain the lord told him and as elijah stood there the lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain it was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose but the lord was not in the wind after the wind there was an earthquake but the lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake there was a fire but the lord wasn't in the fire and after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper when elijah heard it he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave and the voice said what are you doing here elijah he replied again i have zealously served the lord god almighty but the people of israel have broken their covenant with you torn down your altars and killed every one of your prophets i'm the only one left and now they're trying to kill me too then the lord told him go back the same way you came and traveled to the wilderness of damascus when you arrived there anoint hezel to be king of aram and then anoint jehu son grandson of nimshi to be the king of israel and then anoint elisha son of shafat from the town of abel mahalo mahola to replace you as my prophet anyone who escapes from hazard will be killed by jehu and those who escaped jehu will be killed by elisha yet i will preserve 7 000 others in israel who have never bowed down to baal or kissed him there are so many things that we could take from this so many things we can take from these words and we don't have the time for that i want to encourage you to dive in by yourself and draw out everything everything the lord has for you by the power of his spirit but what i want to share is just simply three areas that we see god attend to an elijah that i think is important for us as we are dealing with our own personal burnout as we are and admitting our burnout as we are looking at our teams and the people around us our friends our families and as we reflect on what this could mean for our lives and how we respond three areas that god attends to with elijah the first is he attends to his physical needs verse five he lay down and slept under the broom tree and as he was sleeping an angel touched him and god told him get up and eat i do believe that sometimes we christians can be bad at this we can take care of the spiritual stuff we can intercede we can prophesy and declare all the things that god needs to do and we don't take care of our bodies somehow our bodies don't seem spiritual enough even though we have one body and our leadership lives in it you know um we can neglect our body abuse our bodies ignore our bodies ignore what our body is trying to get through to us and we are um and we kind of violate our design specifications as it were push ourselves harder work ourselves longer why because the spirit of god is moving and so we've got a go go go and our bodies pay the price and our hearts and minds pay the price we know our relationships pay the price too when we're living that way and so i'm struck that this god who came down with mighty fire against the prophet saba ah this god who gave prophetic words to elijah that would change the very um the weather system this god who um passes by and tears loose the rocks says have some food eat something have some water and here i'm gonna provide it for you because you need strength for the journey it's not spiritual it's not unspiritual to take care of your bodies and so i want us to think in this place of burnout that we may be um or maybe this reckoning with being on the edge of burnout that we may feel in a time which has demanded so much from us which has required our creativity that has required our energy where we've had to deal with uncertainty and change again and again and again how are you doing have you taken a day off have you slept how are you sleeping are you sleeping well are you eating well are you staying hydrated i can't remember who said it um and so i don't know who to ascribe it to but i i've heard um i saw a quote in a book one time where someone said you know i'd rather burn out than rust out and the sense of the spiritual intensity was way better and the point the writer will said in response was but if you're out you're out there's no glory in it if you're out and i want to encourage us maybe the first thing the lord wants to do with you is sit you down and get you fed maybe the first thing the lord wants you to do is drink some water because you're not as mean that way maybe you need some sleep if your body could speak to you what would it want to say and are you paying attention the second thing we see god attend to with elijah is that he attends to what's going on in elijah's heart and mind elijah is completely isolated no one to talk to because well he's run hasn't he and god asks what are you doing here elijah and i love the fact that it's a question because we do know that god knows the answer to that you know if god is asking you a question he's not confused it's because there's something within the person he's asking that needs to be drawn out that they need to hear you see the emotional exhaustion and the cynicism and that i'm done with all this take it all away from me can't just stay on the inside it has to be processed and what i love about this passage is that again the god of the mighty fire the god who's done these miracles begins to simply have a conversation and draw out all that's agonizing and draw out all that's painful and draw out all that's broken and so i want to ask you as you are reckoning with um months weeks and um of uncertainty and change and challenge what's going on in your heart and mind and who are you talking to about it who are you processing it with you see elijah didn't have any choice about who he was and who who he was with and we'll explain why in a little bit of a moment but you know we do and i want to ask you is there anybody you're talking to about how this has felt for you about how leadership is going about whether you know um whether you just want to go back to the old way but you find that you can't be nostalgic anymore that to be a prophetic people is costing you in ways you never imagined is there anyone you're talking to about whether you want to give up are there mentors in your life friends who you can talk to are you busy comparing yourself and thinking well they're doing well so i've just got to talk about the task and not how it feels to do it some of us honestly with the burnout we could do is seeing a therapist a counselor whatever language you like to use but somebody professional who could talk you through the journey we've let people pray with us but we've not actually let anybody ask us questions we've not allowed god to heal us in all the ways he's given us in the world around us i want to encourage you if you are dealing with burnout at some point you need a way to process what's going on in your heart and mind and yes talk to the lord of course we want to talk to the lord but see how else the lord wants to provide for you to be able to do that fully and then the last thing as i come into land that we see um god attend to is that he attends to the loneliness and isolation and leads him forward into community i love the last verse there he says yeah i will preserve seven thousand others in israel who have never bowed down to baal or kissed him you see elijah's lost perspective and it's understandable he's getting a death threat of course he's lost perspective it's been a nightmare for a long time and he feels utterly isolated utterly vulnerable utterly threatened so god has to give him the bigger picture again and say you are not alone you want there are thousands of people like you and not only you not alone um generally but there are people who i'm who i'm raising up to do the task and i'm sending you back to your community you can't go forward alone you see because community will bring you clarity community will bring you companionship community will bring you confidence and community will give you courage but will we be vulnerable enough or will we say there's no one else who's feeling less like i do there's no one else who's with me in it god just take it all away god i'm done with this i love the fact that god sends him back to people who are in a similar place still under ahab and jezebel's rule still having to deal with the threats and the corruption but still know the goodness and the greatness of god who have you got they say in that proverb don't they it takes a village to raise a child i believe it takes a village to be a leader to sustain a leader to multiply leaders to raise leaders and if you're exhausted you need other people because you're doing too much on your own or even all what what's been happening in the world around you frankly is too much for you i think we could all agree with that right it's all too much for us and so together we need to walk with the lord as we work this stuff out and so as i close i simply offer you this what is your next step friends maybe it's simply admitting that you are beyond tired you've got up and you in the morning and you're more tired than you were when you went to sleep that you hit though when i described the symptoms of burnout you checked all the boxes and so i ask you what's your next step is it a physical need is it time to attend to what's happening within your body is it mind and heart is it time to talk to the lord and talk to the people around you and get some help to process that's all that's happening or is it community and and not only acknowledging that they're there but going back and re-engaging and reconnecting with people so that you can go through this together there's an african proverb that says if you want to go fast go alone if you want to go far go together in this ever-changing landscape we want to go far in this ever-changing landscape we want to see the kingdom of god come in fresh and renewing ways in in this ever-changing day where we're disoriented and nothing makes sense we want the lord to meet us here empower us here so let him meet us here let him empower us here let him minister to you in the midst of the tiredness refresh and renew your soul body spirit and mind and let us let us as church move forward into the future god is giving us let's just pray together lord god i simply ask that you would show us where we're at you'd ask us the questions we need to hear and you'd show us the next steps forward so that we can walk into all that you have i thank you that elijah wasn't done in that moment even though he felt done and for those of us here who are burnt out or completely on the edge you're not done and they're not done either but lord we cannot do this unless you lead the way so would you carry us forward for the glory of your name amen that was such an inspiring talk from joe there's so much insight for all of us both in life and in leadership now i want to think about a talk really a talk is in two parts part one is listening and part two is reflecting and responding and we've done part one and now this is a moment for part two this is a chance for us to reflect and respond to god in a time of prayer did you catch how god met elijah in that passage that joe read it wasn't in fire nor in the earthquake nor in the wind not in any of those dramatic things that we often associate with god turning up in power but god met elijah in the gentle whisper now in order for us to discern a whisper we have to get quiet and we have to get close so let's pray let's help us respond in this moment we're going to lead us in a response to the things that god has said to us i'm going to guide us for a few minutes and i encourage you just to be still we can be expectant of god coming close maybe close your eyes or stand or kneel sometimes the very posture of our bodies helps our whole selves engage with what god is doing it's a moment of expectant stillness just to start us off in that moment of receiving and responding i'm going to pray a prayer and i encourage you just to repeat this prayer after me as a way of opening up our hearts to what god wants to say and do jesus you are for me and jesus you are with me right now let me hear your voice father there's been so much richness already today we want to ask you what do you want to say to us what's the specific thing that you want to whisper into our hearts now lord some of you resonate with what joe said you feel on the edge of burnout others are in a different place you're not in that place of burnout but all of us can listen to what god is saying to us in this moment and just in the stillness just keep that conversation with god live just say father what is it you're saying to me was there something in what joe said that caught your attention that was the start of god's conversation with you just sit with that in the presence of god and say god what is the next step for me how is it that you want to meet me how is it that i need to respond to your kind invitation just live with that for a moment and we're going to pray a blessing for god to increase his presence and his work in each of our lives father i want to pray for those right now who resonate with the thing about their bodies just needing rest lord will you grant peace and rest to bodies that need that where there's some choices we have to make help us take the right steps but we just pray to send your spirit in power right now lord just to let the rest of god in the presence of god descend upon anxious bodies and hearts come holy spirit even as we're in this moment let your presence and your power fill us hit a reset in our inner world and in our hearts and minds come lord jesus father for those of us who have become lonely or disconnected isolated father would you drop names or faces into our minds who to reconnect with who to reach out to who to share what's going on with father would you draw us back into community yeah and for all of us lord just just the courage to be real about what's really going on real with you but also real with friends that love us thank you father for family and for the wider church that we're part of yeah even now lord we just pray that your presence would come and fill us again bring comfort and courage and strength to our hearts let the word that's been brought to us today just land and produce a harvest of change and of good things in our lives come holy spirit and power we welcome your presence and we recognize that you're working in this moment increase your work in our hearts and lives okay amen so we're going to close this session now but if you're still receiving from the lord please stay engaged with him and respond to whatever he's doing and saying to you just want to say that we're going to be back tonight at 8 o'clock with our next main session and we're delighted that we're going to hear from john and debbie wright our national directors so why don't you hit that subscribe button and the little bell on youtube and it'll let you know when we're going live and until then we hope you have a great afternoon and we'll look forward to seeing you tonight see you later [Music] beautifully made [Music] raised [Music] you're calling me i'm coming home you're calling me i'm coming home [Music] beautifully made by nature i've fallen my grace have been raised you're calling me i'm coming home we are no longer strangers to your eyes [Music] we no longer strangers to your eyes [Music] separated by my transgressions [Music] no [Applause] [Music] we are no longer strangers to [Music] have yourself us [Music] father i'm coming home [Music] though i have wondered [Music] your love is reaching out i'm running to your arms oh yes i'm running to your i'm coming home i'm coming home [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] strangers [Music] strangers to yourself [Music] strangers [Music] i'm [Music] [Applause] me i'm coming home jesus yes coming back to you i'm running back to you yes coming home

Channel: Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland

Views: 9,004

Rating: 4.8814816 out of 5

Keywords: vineyard, vineyard churches, churches, uk, ireland, Vineyard National Gathering, Vineyard National Leaders’ Conference, National Leaders Conference, Leaders Conference, Vineyard leaders conference, NLC, Vineyard NLC, Vineyard conference, Vineyard event, Vineyard worship, Vineyard trent, Trent Vineyard conference, Vineyard, VCUKI, John & Debby Wright, Pete Greig, Vineyard Conference, Alexander Venter, Chuck Freeland, Jordan Seng, Jo Saxton, vineyard gathering, vineyard online

Id: aUV9ng2mcnI

Length: 168min 52sec (10132 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 29 2021