Very much in line with my talk for tomorrow morning where I will talk about what happened when Matthew threw a great party ‘with Jesus as the guest of honour,’ this fabulous talk by a hero of mine will blow your mind about what Christianity is really about.
If you’re a preacher, this is a masterclass in how passion persuades.
It’s hard not to grow a church that reaches people far from God and helps them find their way back when you have someone like my mate Andy Hawthorne in it. In fact – there is nobody like Andy!
I get to have breakfast with him most weeks and he’s one of the people who inspires me to GO FOR IT, by the way, he’s speaking at Ivy Kingsway this Sunday am.
I don’t want you to miss out on connecting to this passionate, uncompromising and gifted man whose charity The Message does so much great stuff he’s been honoured with an OBE.
Watch this video, you probably won’t need to turn the volume up. Below it is what I take from this PASSIONATE talk he gave to a national Youth Workers a couple of weeks ago– watch it here:
http://www.message.org.uk/2014/05/20/restoring-hope-andy-hawthorne-at-yws14/
So…
Keep Mission central. Not only mission – EVANGELISM! PREACH! Preach the cross! To bear MUCH fruit. Not just loving people, of course we do that but we have to tell people the way TO heaven and out of hell.
And that’s COSTLY! But if we are red letter Christians we have to say what he said about now and eternity.
Do we believe this any more? The only thing that counts, the only thing TO count, is disciples!
If we don’t proclaim the gospel – who will?!
The Holy Spirit will come and bring CONVICTION. Don’t we want righteous young disciples?!
Step out! If they don’t hear it, they won’t have hope restored.
John Wesley: social reformer AND he said ‘You have nothing to do but save souls!’
William Booth: ‘Not called to evangelism? Put your ear down to the Bible and hear him call you – to go….’
Let us build rescue shops within a yard of hell!
Talk by Alan Taylor at Ivy Manchester
Genesis 21:1-7
Sarah called her son Isaac because what they heard from God seemed so ridiculous to her, she laughed at the idea.
Abram was promised a family, though his wife could not conceive.
He would have lived in a place with a lot of stars out every night. His descendants would outnumber them.
What do our dreams look like when they are fulfilled?
It may be you’re in a hard time, struggling to hold on to your dream – hold on! God wants us to dream along with him, a good dream, a big dream – that brings joy to our hearts.
When you read the Bible, ask;
1) Where does this story fit into the bigger story?
2) Where do I fit in this story?
God’s dream for Abraham and Sarah was way bigger than a family, it was for them to be blessed to be a blessing – a family on mission. That’s our story now. We carry that too. Called out to bless the world.
Isaac was laughter – good news that brings joy.
Q. What dream would bring you joy?
And who else would be blessed by it?
Is it so big that if you shared it, it would make someone laugh at the thought of it happening? If so – that’s a dream worth getting God involved in!
How do we carry a dream like that?
The Bible says ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick…’
How do we stop that happening?
Remember – it’s GOD’S idea. His initiative, it’s about His glory. His power at work. Jesus died and rose again. Resurrection power is in working in us! Because the resurrection happened, all the rules have changed. New life has broken in now.
Do you remember when it hit Blockbusters that the world had changed? They were living in an old world format. They missed the future that was shaping their present.
We are surrounded with signs of God at work miraculously every day.
Q, What miracle/ miracles needs to happen, to have your BIG dream – that will bring joy to the world – come true?
Miracles don’t ‘just happen’ – God wants us to join in with him. Jesus loved to see his disciples play along with him.
God says to Abraham, ‘You’re going to have to family.’
So – what do you have to do to get a family?
They’d have had to have a level of intimacy between them – they had to have sex!
God is saying ‘BIGGER’ to your big dream.
And he’ll take you through some things that are uncomfortable, to bring you closer to him. You get close to him that way. You learn to worship in the waiting. Connecting to his goodness and who he is.
MLKjr famously declared– ‘I have a dream…’
a big dream! He didn’t see it fulfilled.
We may have not seen it fulfilled yet. Don’t give up! Are you waiting for a guarantee? Awake the dream! Move toward it.
Sarah never dreamed that she would be part of the story that would have Jesus in it- the Saviour of the world. She thought a baby was big enough a miracle.
Don’t let the dream die. Dream again. It’s time for us to dream bigger.
This is about principles not techniques for healthy church growth
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
The key to healthy church ministry is that it is the CONTINUING ministry of Jesus. Acts is not just the acts of the apostles but the empowering continuing work of Jesus. We can’t create growth.
We can position ourselves close enough to Jesus to follow His Spirit and do what he tells us.
It’s about following Jesus. That’s job 1! And it takes the pressure off.
But if it was all about Jesus, every church would be growing.
Before Jesus does something through us he wants to do some things in us.
Jesus had prepared the disciples for what lay ahead.
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
God wants to do some foundational stuff, he lets us be broken down before he builds up through us. So much is seasonal in how he prepares us, it’s cyclical. Be alert to the season you’re in – if there’s not fruit work showing, maybe there’s root work growing.
We need a harvest vision.
“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Get that ahead of now vision. God gives leaders a grace to see ahead of time. And he is able to do more than we can expect or imagine – that’s confidence not presumption. And you make your plan based on THAT. You see the big vision ahead and work back from that.
At this year (25 celebration) Stuart Bell said ‘hear that founding word again.’ So they say they want to play their part to see the UK come back to God.
If you’re stuck, maybe it’s a vision issue. Get back with God
LOVE where you are. Love your Jerusalem. Unless you love the place, you’ll never love and reach the people.
Ask the Holy Spirit to do an experiment with you to break the barriers.
Constant Prayer
When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
The suddenly of God’s Pentecost starts because of the preparation in prayer. Yonghi Cho was asked how he got that amazing growth: ‘I pray, and I obey.’
Prayer is core to who they are. It grows out of him.
Prayer is not a monologue but a dialogue and he has a lot more interesting things to tell me than I have to tell him.
However you look at church history, revivals worldwide etc. – you see that when people seriously get hold of God in prayer, fasting, things happen.
In Sept 99 they started a pattern of fasting across the church
3 days one month. 1 day the next month.
They have ‘Deep Night’ prayer meetings regularly – create an atmosphere of presence, break through. We have to get hold of prayer and that’s how we advance and are protected. Don’t just have crisis prayer.
The disciples were used to walking to the upper room to prayer. Never assume that people have got the basics.
Cf Willow’s Reveal.
Are the people getting built into regular daily Bible reading and prayer.
Right Leadership – and transitions
There was this strange thing that then took place about how they cast lots. Not the way we’d do it – but there’s something about leadership needing to be right before the Spirit gets poured out.
They had a forced leadership transition. But they said ‘we want someone who has our DNA, who’s been on the journey.
Some parts of the church in the world is it’s hire and fire.
Some parts of the church it’s family.
Both ways of doing it can be problematic.
We have to have a flexibility in our culture where some can be elevated and others not and it be okay and nobody throws their toys out.
Don’t get someone in because of their gift – have they got your DNA? Watch how much influence you give them.
Empowering Presence
Acts 1;8
His church was having an amazing time charismatically and spiritually, lying on the floor having a good time while lost people were staying well away.
The way they administered the moves of the Spirit were not furthering the work of the Spirit.
Look at Luke’s description of the work of the Spirit – it’s a prophetic empowerment for ministry, not lying down.
We have to think wisely about what we do and when.
We can learn to be attractive by being a little more attractional.
Roll on the floor before.
Maybe we don’t have to do everything in one service?
Have a deeper night regularly.
If they had not made those changes, they would never have got where they are – and they see MORE of the Holy Spirit moving and changing lives now and tangibly there – more than they ever did back then.
This is not diluting the gospel, but wise in the way we administer our Sunday service.
You don’t hear ‘My friend came in and was freaked out’
You do hear ‘My friend came in and just started weeping because they knew God is here.’
Have a swimming pool. A big shallow end and a deep end too. Don’t throw them all in at the deep end and expect them to swim! They call theirs ‘Touching Heaven.’
Mission
Most of what church does is aiming at the 20%. How do we reach the 80%
Finally
Nobody gets saved just because the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost . You can have lots of Holy Spirit meetings.
PREACHING MATTERS.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
Do the work of an evangelist.
Lean into specials like Christmas. Where a whole lot of people invite a whole lot of people…
Get people to come, and then keep them coming…
Carefully crafted sermon series are key to reaching and keeping people. Keep people on the journey, and build them into this kind of community…
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were
(This is from last Sunday night’s talk at the Ivy AGM – Awesome Gratitude Meeting)
One of my favourite author/ speakers died last year – his name was Brennan Manning. If you have ever read ‘Ragamuffin Gospel’ you’ll never forget it.
I have read lots of what he’s written and listened to many of his talks, but it was only this week I heard the amazing story about how he got the name “Brennan.” Because his real name was Richard Xavier Francis Manning – a good Irish catholic name, to be sure.
While growing up, his best friend was Ray. The two of them did everything together: went to school together, bought a car together as teenagers, double-dated, and so forth. They even enlisted in the Army together, went to boot camp together and fought on the frontlines together in the Korean War.
One night while sitting in a foxhole, Brennan was reminiscing about the old days in Brooklyn while Ray listened and ate a chocolate bar. Suddenly a live grenade came into the trench. Ray looked at Brennan, smiled, dropped his chocolate bar and threw himself on the live grenade. It exploded, killing Ray, but Brennan’s life was saved.
When Brennan became a priest he was instructed to take on the name of a saint. He thought of his friend, Ray Brennan. So he took on the name “Brennan.”
Years later he went to visit Ray’s mother in Brooklyn. They sat up late one night having tea when Brennan asked her, “Do you think Ray loved me?” Mrs. Brennan got up off the couch, shook her finger in front of Brennan’s face and shouted, “What more could he have done for you?”
Brennan said that at that moment he experienced an epiphany. He imagined himself standing before the cross of Jesus wondering, Does God really love me? And Jesus’ mother Mary pointing to her son, saying, “What more could he have done for you?”
We sometimes might wonder, Does God really love me? Am I important to God? Does God care about me?
We might look at our church and think about making big plans and whether it’s really possible for us to make a massive impact on the city. Will God give us what we need?
The answer is in Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
What MORE could he have done for us?
And how do we honour what Jesus has already done for us?
Two ways:
1) By being really, deeply, increasingly GRATEFUL and…
2) By asking for MORE. Because that shows we know what a kind God he is, so we can ask again.
Saul of Tarsus never got over God saving him. He never got tired of telling the story of his conversion. Over and over, just look through the book of Acts, he’s unstoppable, every chance he gets. Later he writes –
1 Tim 1:12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.
Paul says he was once so far away. Anti-God and he didn’t even know it. Religious but self-righteously so wrong – about everything. Some of us know the feeling.
Likewise, I never want to get over the most important thing that ever happened in my life, when Jesus Christ saved it, revealed his love and his glory to me, and I wasn’t even his friend – I was his enemy.
I threw the grenade he fell on! He died in my place. He was battered and whipped and suffered for my sin. He shed his bled for me. What more could he have done for me?
But then there was more. Always more.
I’ve been a moaner and a worrier and a complainer at times. I’ve not been anything like as appreciative as I should have been of people who have helped me so much through the years, or the God who put them there so many times. But he has forgiven me of so much, protected me, rebuked me, kept me from falling countless times. Wow.
What more could he have done?
Always more. He’s given me a wonderful wife, an incredible family, every one of whom is walking with him too. Of course there have been hard times too along the way but I’m also grateful tonight for the tough times too because He has always only ever been good in all of that. He’s given me the best friends anyone could want, good health, blessings and blessings and blessings.
The list is endless. Because there was always more. He has been pleased to use me. Called me to serve him full time, for which I am eternally grateful. What more could he have done?
But then there was more! 5 and a half years ago he called us back to this city with this personal promise from Genesis 31:3 right at the centre of the call here to Manchester: The LORD said…”Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.”
Ivy was and is a church full of incredible people. I tell leaders all over the nation and all over the world about the changes we’ve been through and the unity and loyalty here is astonishing! Ivy people amaze me time and time again. And they attract more and more Ivy people who amaze me more and more. You can’t out-challenge Ivy people. They step up and step out in faith, time and time and time again.
I am so grateful for the leaders who’ve been there on the journey and everyone who has waded in with us as we’ve moved from here to there, then to there, then to there, and then back here at about the same time as going there and then there, and now we’re going to go here, there – and everywhere. Ivy people get excited by being on that journey with God. This is not a normal church.
Who wants normal?! Normal is over-rated, and underachieving.
In the last 5 and half years God has done so much for us. I am stunned as I consider how many hundreds of people he’s added to the family. Just looking back over the last year! WOW. What more could he have done for us?!
Phil 4:6 says Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
We have some major building plans before us as we look to transform our existing building into a missional hub. That involves bigger financial targets, as we prepare to grow a national church planting network as part of New Thing, a global network we belong in now. This year we plan to do more mission, plant more Ivy churches, train more and more leaders, make more disciples, and reach more places in the nation and the nations.
According to the God, how much of this should we worry about? (Fill in the blank ________ )
How much should we pray about, ask God about, make requests about? ALL OF IT.
But the phrase I want to underline here, is ‘WITH THANKSGIVING’.
Because I’m in danger of taking so much for granted.
I know as a ‘Go for it’ leader there are times when I have been very focused on the front end at times of getting people on board with the projects, but not thankful enough for those who didn’t just get onboard but without whom we’d never have a hope of getting there.
Elders, staff (Past and present), buildings team, children’s and youth workers, coffee makers, chair putter outers, welcomers, generous givers, sound team, worship team, missions team, Ivy team. Sundays and through the week. There’s so much going on – life bursting out everywhere and I can’t catalogue it and I literally CAN’T thank everyone, enough. But I’m sorry when I didn’t.
And I just owe God so much, I know I am a favoured man. God’s been so good to me. But at times I’ve just been good at asking and whatever supplicating means and making my requests known – but paid so little attention to the thanksgiving that was missing.
One thing I used to love when I was leading an Anglican church, there were some great prayers people had written to help you pray. Sometimes the words, written centuries before, would just resonate. There’s one for when you’re just generally thankful – but especially for Jesus. That has always been a favourite!
How much MORE could He do for us?
It’s Ivy’s year of more. I believe it, even though I don’t know much of what it entails, we make the path as we step into it.
But even if he never did anything more for any of us; we owe our ultimate gratitude for God’s ultimate gift, as these words from the C16th remind us. Why not pray it where you are?
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men.
We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
(Snippet from tomorrow’s talk. Will be on podcast next week)
Noah was told to build a rescue boat. And that’s what the church is meant to be by the way.
This week the CofE put out a report highlighting how good it was that some churches were growing.
The headlines on twitter simply declared,‘Good news! Many churches are growing!’ I was really excited, but then I looked at the actual figures in the middle and in fact since 2010 –
18% of their churches are growing, great.
But 55% are plateauing
and 27% declined.
Later on we read that nearly half of churches have less than 5 under 16s.
That’s not good news. Reporting it as such is disingenuous. Surely these figures highlight a problem?
If it was a business you’d say ‘It’s change or die time.’
You have to face the bad news, before you can be good news.
I’m passionate about this because I’m still convinced that the local church is the hope of the world! We have to recognize the seriousness of our time and build churches and movements of churches that are life boats, not cruise liners for the ones already on board (with no kids allowed to disturb the games of shuffleboard on deck).
Noah recognized the seriousness of the situation in his lifetime, and took the action required. We’re not building a cruise ship here at Ivy, we’re building rescue boats!
Anyone who knows my wife Zoe well will know over the years she has a great prophetic gift in dreams, really insightful and occasionally scary! The wonderful thing is how they come true in detail. It’s no exaggeration to say that every major move in our life has been foretold in a dream she’s documented.
So the other night she had a dream – about a move of GOD that’s coming our way. This ties in with an increasing excitement I have been feeling, many reporting a palpable sense of the presence of God last Sunday in our service at Kingsway, a number of miraculous answers to prayer here at Ivy recently, one of our sites (the new one at Ivy Sharston) getting over 100 new people turn up last week; and reports from various sites I’m connected to of outpourings in various churches (especially that at my friend Richard Taylor’s church in Wales). It seems the spiritual temperature is being turned up!
Here’s Zoe’s dream, from her notes. The bits in brackets are my explanatory notes.
I was with a few others (women friends/prayer partners) were in an upstairs room – when a storm was coming up outside. I told someone there how bad it looked but they weren’t at all worried by the storm (this was one of the friends who’s a mighty woman of God who has lived through revival when she was in Brazil).
The sea was swelling and then a huge, enormous wave came up, not like a tidal wave – instead it was like the whole of the sea, came flooding in with tremendous force.
It flooded everywhere below us. The house shook but still my friend was not phased by it at all.
When all went quiet I went and looked outside. Everywhere looked beautiful, as though the wave had washed everything and made it brighter. The shore was clean, not trashed like you’d expect after a storm.
I asked the person with me to cut my fringe so I could see properly.
We went down to the shore which was now full of fishing boats laden with fish. An abundance! Fish of all shapes and sizes. I’d never seen so many or such variety before it was amazing.
There were so many that the cost of food went down and even the poor could eat well.
Also beautiful creatures came out of the sea, including sea lions. I showed others there that the sea lions were friendly/tame, even though they tried to bite their teeth did not puncture my skin. I held and cared for a ragged brown one.
Others helped at other boats, because there were so many fish. Some of the boats had landed sharks in them but no one seemed to be afraid.
I asked if Kohl my Grandson would see this and was told, “Yes he will – and he’ll see even more!”
Zoe says, ‘My interpretation is…
There’s a move of God coming that will come with all the force and power of heaven. This is not just going to crash in one area but to sweep over a vast area.
It will come shaking ministries. God is very much in control of it.
It will cleanse our land, renewing and refreshing it.
The Holy Spirit will clean the dirty and remove the rubbish from people’s lives.
Thousands will be saved, people of all different backgrounds, races, colours and creeds.
Cutting my hair so I can see better is obvious. (Anthony’s note; hair in dreams is often a sign of knowledge or wisdom, so here human ‘knowledge’ can get in the way of spiritual revelation).
The poor will eat well – obvious too!
God’s people will not be afraid of the creatures that bite (spiritual attack? People who seem far away from God we’re scared of?).
We will nurture all those who come to Christ and encourage them in all compassion and humility.
People that were seen as dangerous and the enemy, including many criminals and drug dealers etc. will be ‘caught’ too – and born again.
What do you think? I’ve never had such a hard time trying to post a blog post on WordPress. Someone doesn’t want us to get too EXCITED! Are you ready for the MOVE? Spread the word!
Let’s pray – ‘Lord, send the wave!’
I’ve been a Nancy Duarte fan for years, highly recomending her books as a great investment to anyone who communicates (that’s you) and especially preachers.
How fantastic to discover that one of the world’s leading authorities on getting your message across in a way people will hear it is also a Christian and passionate about THE Message that changes lives forever and the world for good.
Invest 20 minutes on this video, and take notes! (I have the structure line on my office wall now together with some other prompts to help as I pull messages together).
Then if you live within striking distance of Manchester book in here NOW for the Diamond Geezers Men’s Day on Saturday April 13th before it’s too late.
(If you have any trouble watching the video here, go to http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/lecrae-explains-true-manhood)
GREAT start to our time this weekend, Graham spoke BRILLIANTLY about thinking BRILLIANT. Tomorrow at the Armitage Centre we’ll hear more. Excited to partner with our friends from Christ Church Harpurhey and Vinelife,
It’s not too late to book in – here.
Here’s my notes from tonight…
Around 25 years ago had 3 dreams:
1) a grey man in an old car was showing him round the grey city pointing out all the sin and problems in people, with a grey attitude. Depressing!
Dream 2 – grey man in slightly better grey car saying, ‘We are doing courses to help them’ – that was even more depressing.
Dream 3 – Bright young guy in a bright car, shouting encouragement that told them who they really were and it CHANGED the people! ‘This is how I see you – you’re going to be doing this!’ The city changed!
The church has an old vehicle being driven by an old man. The old man is the old man that was put on Jesus. We don’t need to do that.
God isn’t focused on the old man. He’s not focused on sin. Rom 6 – consider yourself DEAD to sin. His focus now is on RIGHTEOUSNESS, and now he’s only dealing with the new nature.
The OLD self is DEAD.
Speak and live out of the new nature. The old nature is buried! God’s not asking you to go grave robbing.
Jesus appeared to him in a dream saying, ‘Give me back my stuff!’
All that belongs to me- your fear, insecurity, sin – you’re stealing my stuff.
It’s not who you are. I can’t give you this, if you’re holding onto that.
God’s not asking us to work on it but to lay aside the old stuff. Put on the new man! Don’t babysit a corpse.
You don’t have to work that through – you have to lay it aside.
The problem in lots of churches is that everyone’s working on their stuff instead of rising up to be who they are.
2 Cor 5:17. If it’s true that Jesus didn’t just die for us but AS us, so you’re crucified with Christ. Then when you sin, you’re defaulting not to an old nature but a type of behaviour that hasn’t been replaced with something from the new nature?
Consider yourself DEAD to that.
The antidote to THAT is THIS being developed.
Transformation comes with the RENEWING of the mind. Working on my new self. My real self, in community with others who are doing the same.
It’s about learning how to be a REDEEMED community in a RECONCILED society. Because he is NOT holding their sins against them. He already put it on Jesus! So now the way is open for everyone to come for a taste of what they are really like. Enjoying our new nature! We don’t have any hang ups. We’re too busy being favoured, so nobody’s safe from a blessing, because we’re bringing you the Kingdom.
The Kingdom is a new man in a new vehicle.
When you deal with the old nature you have to do that for a long long time.
When God deals with the new nature he can give you a brilliant thought and if you think like Him and think about ourselves the way he thinks about us, that change can take place straight away.
When God looks at you, he sees nothing wrong with you – just what’s missing from your present experience of you and invites you to experience a miracle in that place.
When God comes, he always comes with a gift.
He says ‘That belongs to me…
and THIS belongs to you…’
New for old.
It’s easy to be prophetic when you know its new for old. He’s always going to take that old struggle and give you his new thing.
We all now people who say they’re speaking the truth in love but aren’t. Because they are just saying what’s True.
What’s true will put you in chains. The truth sets you free.
The truth calls people UP, not OUT.
It says,‘You don’t need to be like that – because this is who you are…’
‘You have an image problem? I don’t – because I see the image of God in you.’
You have a choice now, I can carry on that way or see who I am now. My true self.
We need to practise this in our communities in church and take it out so people discover who they are and what God wants to be for them. The fruit of the Spirit is more powerful than the gifts. Because it’s BEING not just DOING. The best sign and wonder is not a miraculous healing but people seeing you enjoying being loved by him. John 17. Develop loving communities that discover who they are in Christ and behave accordingly. Tell people, ‘This is who you are. You’re brilliant! Stay brilliant!’
We need a radiant idea of God and ourselves. I celebrate who he is.
I like myself then.
And then I see people differently, pray for them differently. And it’s the goodness and kindness of God that brings you to repentance.
Repentance = ‘What you’ve thought brings you to a place you don’t like? Think again.’
Our message?
Now you’re reconciled to God, he sees you different than you think. Start to think like Him.
Transformation is in the air, and it starts with ME.
Apostolic communities always think ‘ME FIRST.’ Let it be in me first. Our role is to be the beloved and let people see how much we’re loved. Everyone’s vulnerable to that!
Every one of us is known in heaven already.
cf. John the Baptist – not even known yet, but an angel comes along and prophesies who he’s going to be and how he’s known in heaven. God is going to release that identity, no just through prophecy but through scripture.
God told him to JUST read and study Ps 91., and keep on doing that. He did it for months. ‘For where I want to take you, I need you to live in Ps 91. This is your inheritance word.’ It’s all about warfare.
God does scripture different than us. He didn’t write it in a year, he doesn’t expect us to read it in a year. He wants us to find our inheritance in it.
Like Jesus did, when he read the ‘wrong’ scripture for the day, Isaiah 61. He says, ‘This is who I am and this is what I’m about.’ You know when you get a word like that. Every promise there is for you. Everything they had, you can have. How many of us have had experiences of scripture where it’s come over us and we’ve gone ‘Oh wow that’s me!’ Lay that alongside that scripture. You have permission to have that promise. You have permission to be that person.
Write it out and read it out to the Lord, saying ‘I accept this upgrade in my identity.’ Because his resources are not tied to your behaviour but your inheritance. It’s not just about getting your needs met. That’s the baby end.
It’s to do with the inheritance. How God sees us. Your identity has glory, power, authority attached to it because he doesn’t do things by half. He sees us so differently. We get to declare, ‘This is who I am! I agree with God!’
Q. So how do we transition away from a Pastor/teacher foundation of church?
That foundation is not able to bear the weight of what God wants to build.
The apostle/prophet is the foundation.
There is no equality there. We’re equal in the sense of being loved, but not power.
teaching ministries go best with a prophet as best friend. You need partnership at all levels.
The apostolic and prophetic need to partner with pastoral ministry. Otherwise you have a ‘present/past’ pastoral ministry, that never moves on to future/ transformation.
Jesus has planned a transformational moment for us that can do 5 years work in 5 minutes! That’s why you need the prophetic and pastoral in there too.
Evangelists need to work with apostles and prophets. Because apostles and prophets are always trying to walk around the old stuff that’s in place, and because some apostles aren’t really they’re just freaky – and you have to pay to be their friend? Really!? Apostles produce sons, not associates.
I believe more in apostolic cities than apostolic networks.
Anthony Delaney 
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