SPEAKER_00: That was a lovely.
SPEAKER_00: That was a really nice one to finish.
SPEAKER_00: There's an extra joy in Peter as he as he leads us in worship.
SPEAKER_00: The last person baptized this morning was his son.
SPEAKER_00: How exciting is that?
SPEAKER_00: It's really good.
SPEAKER_00: I love that four of the six people being baptized this morning were generational answers to prayer.
SPEAKER_00: So people in the church had been praying for family members for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter's son, as soon as he was allowed, got baptized.
SPEAKER_00: But there was others who took a little longer, took a little bit more prayer, but God answers prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And so our prayers are not wasted.
SPEAKER_00: Just keep praying and keep believing God is moving.
SPEAKER_00: And the interesting thing is, it's wedding season.
SPEAKER_00: Has anyone noticed there's a lot of weddings happening at the moment?
SPEAKER_00: Or is it just me?
SPEAKER_00: Is there a wedding season?
SPEAKER_00: Is this wedding season in the UK?
SPEAKER_00: I just figure if I see a lot of weddings, it's wedding season.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not there's not a lot, no excitement in the room.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm excited because I got invited to a wedding.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone here is invited to a wedding next Saturday.
SPEAKER_00: Joe and Rosie from the church were getting married.
SPEAKER_00: It's on the weekly download.
SPEAKER_00: They've invited the whole church.
SPEAKER_00: Joe is so desperate for this to be an outreach event for his family.
SPEAKER_00: I think he's forgotten there's also a wedding taking place.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, it's wedding season.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought, let's look at a wedding in the Bible today.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get in the theme of wedding season and look at a wedding in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to do it a little different.
SPEAKER_00: I want to look at it like we're at a wedding meal.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to have an entree with you all.
SPEAKER_00: I want to have a main meal.
SPEAKER_00: I want to have dessert.
SPEAKER_00: And if I'm going all right for time, we might have a cheeky little after dinner man if that's all right with you.
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to get through it that way.
SPEAKER_00: If that we can have a bit of fun today, I feel like having a bit of fun.
SPEAKER_00: I told you to haven't let me preach for a couple of weeks.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't book the guest speaker, so I don't know, like, you know, it was six weeks off.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what they were trying to say.
SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe I was getting a bit stale.
SPEAKER_00: So um let's start with an entree.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna go to John chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to join me in John chapter two if you have your Bible with you?
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna start with an entree.
SPEAKER_00: And the entree is Jesus meets people's needs in unexpected ways.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus meets people's needs in unexpected ways.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna start at verse three.
SPEAKER_00: On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding.
SPEAKER_00: When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine.
SPEAKER_00: So this is in John's Gospel.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know that John's Gospel is very specific on why everything is written?
SPEAKER_00: This is why John's Gospel is my favorite out of all of the Gospels, because John makes it really clear, everything he has written in his gospel is written so that we will believe.
SPEAKER_00: In John chapter 20, 31, he says very specifically, everything I've written, I've written that you may believe, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
SPEAKER_00: See, I love that because it unlocks the whole gospel for me.
SPEAKER_00: Because whenever I'm reading something, the first question I ask is, How is this helping me to believe?
SPEAKER_00: How is this helping me to have life in his name?
SPEAKER_00: But then I've always struggled with this one, the wedding.
SPEAKER_00: We're at a wedding, it ran out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: And for some reason, Jesus' first sign, his first miracle is turning water into wine.
SPEAKER_00: And for me, I find that really challenging because I'm like, that's an odd way to start.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what I would have expected, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Like, but maybe he's starting slow.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's like, you know, churning water into wine and then building his way to blind and lepers and cripples and then eventually raising someone from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: But it just seems odd, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: That the first sign and miracle is turning water into wine.
SPEAKER_00: I find it odd.
SPEAKER_00: And because I find it odd, then I go, well, what is this helping me to believe?
SPEAKER_00: What is this telling me about life in Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And I think it speaks to something very important because I think the reason I find it odd is because I immediately think, and I don't know about you, but I immediately think, why is Jesus concerned with this?
SPEAKER_00: This isn't a big issue.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't leprosy, this isn't, this isn't uh a disability, this isn't blindness, this isn't life on the line.
SPEAKER_00: They've run out of a bit of wine.
SPEAKER_00: But I think the first thing we need to remember is Jesus is the Son of God, and he cares about our situation.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus cares about our situation.
SPEAKER_00: And the way I think about this passage is going, this isn't really an issue we need to bother Jesus with, is kind of a reminder for all of us to not have that attitude.
SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself honestly, do you ever find yourself facing a circumstance or a problem and then deciding whether this is on a scale of importance something we should bring to God's attention?
SPEAKER_00: How often do we filter our needs based on what we think is worthy of God's intention or important enough for God's intention?
SPEAKER_00: How often do we not bring something to God because we've decided we shouldn't waste his time with this?
SPEAKER_00: This isn't high enough on the scale.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I thought it was really awesome that Sean reminded us about the 15 people that came forward last week.
SPEAKER_00: I know I felt one thing as I was preparing this week and praying for those people is we some of those people, you waited a long time to come forward.
SPEAKER_00: You waited a long time to bring it to God.
SPEAKER_00: And I think sometimes that's because we're filtering.
SPEAKER_00: And and if we're filtering, then we've got to ask ourselves, why are we filtering?
SPEAKER_00: And a simple question I have sometimes is do you have a big God or a small God?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you have a small God, then you need to manage your situation so he's not overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_00: But the creator of the universe, the creator of all things, the creator of you and me is not a small God.
SPEAKER_00: And if he's not a small God and he is a big God, and they he is a big God, then we don't manage a situation for him.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to filter.
SPEAKER_00: You see, he wants us to lean in and be close.
SPEAKER_00: And the only way to lean in and be close is to bring all things to him.
SPEAKER_00: Not to filter, not to hold back, not to step back, because he will only ever answer our prayers according to his will.
SPEAKER_00: See, that's empowering and exciting because it means we don't need to do the filtering.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna do the filtering in how he answers and in how he answers and how he responds, and what happens when we lean in and we get close and we bring things to him is we learn more about his will and way.
SPEAKER_00: So if we can learn more about his will and way by bringing everything to him by leaning in and by being close, and we can learn more about his will and way from reading his word, if we can do those two things, we're getting a good start.
SPEAKER_00: You see, filtering's bad.
SPEAKER_00: And see, what I understand about this passage is it's a reminder that little things can escalate quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Little things can escalate quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Because in my mind, I'm like, they're out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: It's a little thing.
SPEAKER_00: The wedding's probably into its third act anyway.
SPEAKER_00: How much more wine do we need?
SPEAKER_00: But little things escalate quickly.
SPEAKER_00: If you understand the culture of the time, you would have understood the whole village is at this wedding.
SPEAKER_00: Not just the whole village, lots of the surrounding villages will be at this wedding.
SPEAKER_00: It's considered a social disaster and a disgrace to run out of wine at a wedding.
SPEAKER_00: So if this happens, the family have to live in that disgrace in this village and the surrounding villages.
SPEAKER_00: What's worse is that the bride and groom may think that this means a sign of bad luck for their marriage ahead.
SPEAKER_00: So this little thing starts to escalate quickly when you think of the results and the impact of running out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: And those little things that we're filtering from God, that we're trying to deal with ourselves, that we're trying to manage, that we're holding back, they will also escalate quickly.
SPEAKER_00: And see, what happens is this small issue doesn't escalate because Jesus gets involved.
SPEAKER_00: And so that teaches us another powerful thing is we don't have to wait for things to escalate to take them to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Let's take everything to Jesus, let's have a relationship of closeness so he knows our every waking thought.
SPEAKER_00: Trust me, he can handle it.
SPEAKER_00: All right, I'm a dad.
SPEAKER_00: I can't handle my daughter or my wife's every waking thoughts.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, guys, I'm not alone in that.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: All right, I I you know I can say that because my wife's out gone home, and my daughter's in kids' church.
SPEAKER_00: But God can handle our everywaking thought.
SPEAKER_00: All right, he can handle that closeness, he wants that intimacy and that closeness with us because he put his Holy Spirit inside of us.
SPEAKER_00: So we need to take things to Jesus and not let them escalate.
SPEAKER_00: But I love this part here.
SPEAKER_00: When the wine was gone, Jesus's mother said to him, They have no more wine.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus started the sentence with woman, which is not how I'd start the sentence talking to my own mum, but I think something's lost in the translation for us in English, but he says, Woman, why do you involve me?
SPEAKER_00: My hour has not yet come.
SPEAKER_00: He then sorts the problem out and she doesn't say another word.
SPEAKER_00: Now I've got to tell you, I never understood this passage.
SPEAKER_00: I never understood how Jesus changed his mind when his mum didn't say another word.
SPEAKER_00: But I didn't understand that because I'm Australian, and you probably don't understand that if you're English.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're got a different kind of diversity in your family, maybe a South American kind of diversity or an African kind of diversity, then you will understand what happens when the mum gives you the look.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: I've had I've had people from Nigeria live in my house.
SPEAKER_00: I've sat at dinner tables with them and their parents, and I've seen the look up close and in person, and I wasn't their son, but I was willing to do whatever they said.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is in English, he's from a part of the world where I think they had the look.
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's really important to mention that Jesus listens to his mom.
SPEAKER_00: But that's our entree.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't filter.
SPEAKER_00: We just need to take it to God.
SPEAKER_00: Because God is going to meet our needs, it doesn't matter how small they are in unusual and unexpected ways, because he does care and he will filter our requests according to his will and way.
SPEAKER_00: But we need to move on to the main meal.
SPEAKER_00: And the main meal is Jesus does something new with something old.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does something new with something old.
SPEAKER_00: Let me continue the story.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water.
SPEAKER_00: So they filled them to the brim.
SPEAKER_00: Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.
SPEAKER_00: They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
SPEAKER_00: So the solution is he looks at these jars.
SPEAKER_00: And so we get so focused on he's turning water into wine, we don't realize that these jars that he uses weren't made for drinking water.
SPEAKER_00: These are ceremonial jars that are used for cleaning and purification.
SPEAKER_00: This is about ritual.
SPEAKER_00: This is something very old.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about drinking water.
SPEAKER_00: And it's about being clean and holy.
SPEAKER_00: And because you have these jars that are about being ceremonially clean and holy, they can also be things that represent separation and segregation.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you are clean and holy, that means you are separate and segregated from those who aren't clean and holy.
SPEAKER_00: So these jars don't don't represent necessarily positive things completely.
SPEAKER_00: But he takes these old jars and he does something new with them.
SPEAKER_00: And he created and he turns the water into wine.
SPEAKER_00: And what I like is he's taking old thinking and shifting it to new thinking.
SPEAKER_00: And where there's separation and segregation, he's turning it into celebration.
SPEAKER_00: Something that brings them together.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't about age.
SPEAKER_00: This is about transformation.
SPEAKER_00: This is about what happens as we follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's about what we celebrated this morning, the the marking of someone's life from before you were baptized to after you were baptized.
SPEAKER_00: When you come out of the water, you come up into a new life.
SPEAKER_00: And as you follow Jesus, it said takes off the old and puts on the new.
SPEAKER_00: So as you pray, as you bring things to Jesus, as you trust him to filter your needs according to his will and way, he is actually going to start to take things off you so that he can put new things on you.
SPEAKER_00: You see, that's why it's so amazing to bring our smallest of needs to Jesus, because it's like you never know where it's going to lead.
SPEAKER_00: We might think we're bringing the most smallest, in insignificant thing to Jesus, but that can be like something that opens up a bigger, a bigger journey of transformation with Jesus, and all of a sudden we realize that this small thing is connected to this old thing that's sticking underneath this new life we're trying to put on, and Jesus actually wants to go to town with us and take off the old and put on the new.
SPEAKER_00: And I love that thought that it's about old thinking, becoming new thinking, because we can't say, Jesus, transform me, change the old if we're not willing to change our mindset.
SPEAKER_00: We are not the person we used to be.
SPEAKER_00: We have to remember that.
SPEAKER_00: We have to hear that.
SPEAKER_00: So much of our early journey of discipleship is held back because we think we're still the old person we used to be.
SPEAKER_00: We need to realize that Jesus is washed that away.
SPEAKER_00: He's not holding that against us anymore.
SPEAKER_00: He's put the Holy Spirit in you.
SPEAKER_00: So if you've got the Holy Spirit in you, you're not the person you used to be anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Not by a long shot.
SPEAKER_00: So we need to transfer that to our thinking, not think the way we used to think, but think the way according to who we are in Him.
SPEAKER_00: So I think that's really powerful.
SPEAKER_00: And then this device that once segregated, uh separated, and alienated is now causing us to come together and celebrate.
SPEAKER_00: But if we're really gonna understand how God is doing something new with something old, we've got to skip mains and get to dessert.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna skip mains and get to dessert.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm stretching this, but I told you, I haven't preached for a couple of weeks.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a little over-excited.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, you're just lucky there's no props.
SPEAKER_00: The dessert is the secret to the transformation.
SPEAKER_00: Did we catch how it happened?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's really powerful.
SPEAKER_00: We we read it, it's really simple.
SPEAKER_00: His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you.
SPEAKER_00: That was the secret to the transformation.
SPEAKER_00: Did you notice in the passage that Jesus didn't touch the wine?
SPEAKER_00: He didn't touch the water, he didn't touch the jars, he wasn't physically involved in any way.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't even speak over it.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't say, Water, I now command you into wine.
SPEAKER_00: He just looked at the servants, he gave instructions, and because of their obedience, the water was transformed into wine.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it couldn't be any simpler than that for the first sign and miracle of our transformation.
SPEAKER_00: Because there is a different dimension of reality that is possible when Jesus is present and he is moving through our obedience and our servanthood.
SPEAKER_00: His mom just said, do whatever he tells you.
SPEAKER_00: And they did exactly what he tells he told them, and the whole situation was transformed.
SPEAKER_00: You know, and in all the other miracles we see Jesus physically involved.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we we we see when he heals the blind man.
SPEAKER_00: This is another crazy one because he feels the need to make some mud and rub it on the guy's eyes.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, that's one that I'll be asking about when I get to eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Because I figure if we've got eternity, we can ask lots of questions.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's gonna take me a good quarter of eternity to get through the whole Jonah conversation with the whale.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I wonder if there's instant replay in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if I can just be like, God, can we roll that back?
SPEAKER_00: Can I see that, see how that works?
SPEAKER_00: See, I'm losing it now.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, stay focused.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is obedient.
SPEAKER_00: He was obedient to his mother, and he's obedient to the will of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And he asks us for our obedience.
SPEAKER_00: And when we move in that obedience with that servant heart, the situation is transformed.
SPEAKER_00: He can transform you through that servanthood and that obedience.
SPEAKER_00: But I I don't want to go over today, and I think we've got just enough time for a sneaky after dinner men, which is the last thing that was said.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone brings out the choice wine first, and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much drink.
SPEAKER_00: But you have saved the best till now.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's like one last pointy challenge to the whole narrative.
SPEAKER_00: You have saved the best till now.
SPEAKER_00: Because I think we're kind of we're kind of like that.
SPEAKER_00: We tackle a situation with our best efforts.
SPEAKER_00: Who who likes to tackle a situation with their best efforts?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, 100%.
SPEAKER_00: I'll go headstrong with my best efforts.
SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't work, I'll go again with the efforts I have left.
SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't work, I'll go again with exhaustion.
SPEAKER_00: And then when it doesn't work, guess what I'll do?
SPEAKER_00: I'll then ask God for help.
SPEAKER_00: But but he says, don't save your best till last.
SPEAKER_00: Start with your best.
SPEAKER_00: If we start with our best efforts, our strength, our capability, we're not starting with the best.
SPEAKER_00: He's the best.
SPEAKER_00: And so we got to shift that mindset of filtering what's important, deciding what he can and can't handle, but then we've got to shift the mindset of thinking, I can do this, I've got this, I can handle this, and actually go, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the situation.
SPEAKER_00: It might seem small, it might seem insignificant.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna hand it up to you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pray on it.
SPEAKER_00: And then if it is something I have to tackle, I'm not gonna tackle it in my best efforts, in my strength, in my wisdom, in my understanding, in my abilities.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna move in your strength, your wisdom, your abilities, in your gifts.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's that that's the after dinner mean, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: It's that last little challenge.
SPEAKER_00: And and through all these challenges, what's happening?
SPEAKER_00: What's the consistent thing that's happening in every course of this meal, from entree to main to dessert to after this dinner meal?
SPEAKER_00: The consistent thing that's happening is in every step, you're being asked to get smaller so that he can get bigger.
SPEAKER_00: You're being asked to get smaller so he can get bigger.
SPEAKER_00: When you stop filtering, when you stop trying to manage the situation, when you stop trying to take control, you get smaller and he gets bigger.
SPEAKER_00: When you stop thinking you've got the strength and the ability and the skills and the gifts, and you start going, actually, he's the best in this situation, you get smaller and he gets bigger.
SPEAKER_00: When we start to transform our old thinking towards the new thinking, we get smaller, he gets bigger.
SPEAKER_00: And when we just obey his instructions, we get a lot smaller and he gets a lot bigger.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the secret here.
SPEAKER_00: He just wants us to get smaller so he can get bigger.
SPEAKER_00: He just wants us to lean in and get close.
SPEAKER_00: And that's that's the wedding feast.
SPEAKER_00: That's the wedding story, that's the challenge for us today.
SPEAKER_00: And so, although what happened last week was incredibly amazing, I think the challenge for some of us, whether we were involved or we were watching, is we can't let things get to that point when we finally come forward.
SPEAKER_00: We need to get to that point daily so that it doesn't have to build up, that it doesn't escalate.
SPEAKER_00: And so then the last thing I was thinking really quickly in how this is relevant to us at 4 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: in this season is I think this story is the best model of church growth whatsoever.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, his mother, and the disciples were at a community event.
SPEAKER_00: They were at a community event, a community celebration.
SPEAKER_00: They were there, they were present to where all the village was and all the villages around was.
SPEAKER_00: But not only were they there, not only were they present, they actually cared about the outcome of the events.
SPEAKER_00: They cared about the outcome of the event.
SPEAKER_00: And then the way they moved in that consideration drew attention to Jesus and glorified Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I think if we can apply those three principles, go where the community is, care about the outcome of what's going on, and then move in a way that glorifies Jesus, we don't have to come up with a church growth plan.
SPEAKER_00: It'll just happen because that's where God can move.
SPEAKER_00: So that's it.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's the wedding sermon.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna worship.
SPEAKER_00: And it was really great to be with you.
SPEAKER_00: Dear Lord, I thank you so much for what you're doing, for who you are.
SPEAKER_00: But we especially thank you for your patience.
SPEAKER_00: That as we stumble our way through this sometimes, that you are patient with us.
SPEAKER_00: That as we learn to lean in and build that intimacy, that proximity, that closeness, you don't hold our mistakes against us, that you just keep pulling us closer and closer.
SPEAKER_00: So help us to be the people that don't filter, that lean in, that trust in you, that you're a big God who can move mightily in even the smallest of our situations.
SPEAKER_00: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.