Vision

Pastor Matt, speaking from Nehemiah 1:1-4, talked about our church's vision.

"To build a passionate, faith-filled church that glorifies God, equips everyday believers to live Bible-based, Spirit-led lives, and reaches the world by making Christ-centred, fully devoted disciples." 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

I thought that would be a bit of a fun way at some moment, but I didn't realise that everyone would panic. It's not a good um that's awesome, honey. I tell you what, if you're expecting reflexes like that from me, it's not happening. Um at one point then the swing just collapsed. Like I'm unreal, unbelievable. I'm not that guy. I'm that guy who kind of stands by and watches bad things happen. Uh-oh. Uh oh. I'm sorry. I remember once um at church we were building like this enormous trust, right? And I'm not gonna say it was dodgy, right? But it was. Um and uh and it just started going. And there's two types of people in that situation. Three. There's people who run away, there's people who stand there and watch, and there's people who run towards to catch the things. Um well, whether they should or shouldn't, but that's that's what happens. And uh and one guy was just like there, save the day. I just stood there. I don't I don't have that. In fact, I've got the reflexes of a snail navigating a glue trap. I've got the reflexes of a sloth on dialogue internet connection. I've got the reflexes of a Windows 95 desktop computer with no antivirus software. Um thank goodness that that's not what defines us as being good men as being good dads because we're all different, amen. Um, how quick you can react and save the day. Um, but I I do want to be the kind of guy that sees a problem and does react, not necessarily with those quick reactions, but I do want to react. I don't want to be like those priests who 23 years later were waiting still, not being active. They made no impact. I want my life to make a difference, and I hope that you lot do as well. Shall we pray, Father? Um, as we look to unpack your word this morning, will you open our hearts? God, we we open our hearts to you, we open our minds to your challenge, to what it is you are speaking to each of us as individuals. Will you help us, God, to understand? Will you help us to be hearers and doers of your word in Jesus' name? Amen. Amen. Um, it's really easy not to be that reactive kind of person, isn't it? And sometimes I think uh I talk about default settings a lot, don't I? I think a lot of the time our default settings as humans is in action rather than decisiveness, initiative, or how zealy we are. Someone made me laugh this week when they quoted me as being as talking about zealiness, um, which was a few weeks ago now, wasn't it? Um I don't know. Maybe we find it hard to know where to start. Maybe the task just seems enormous. Maybe we lack faith to see us being able to make a difference. But as followers of Christ, we are, I believe, we're called to love God, to glorify Him, to grow as followers of Jesus, to look after each other, to build each other up, and we're called to make disciples. And we can't afford to let this calling pass us by. Not because we're scared, and you might be, not because we don't know how to, and you might not know how to, but because not because we're introverted or because we don't feel equipped, and you might. But we're called, and we've got to remember that guys. Today, um, because we talked about it for a few weeks now. Um, I want to unpack a little bit of vision. Is that okay? Um I suppose like a few a few months ago, we sat here and said, just give us a little bit of time. Thank you for that. Um I hope today you can catch hold of something that you can dream a little bit, that you can maybe start to imagine what would happen when we see the challenge, we see the thing happening in front of us, and we respond to it. Not a quick knee-jerk, um, fantastic reflexes type of reaction, but a reaction all the same. A reaction in prayer, a reaction in strategy, a reaction that we have in love. Amen. See, for me, vision isn't about something we fashion up in the clouds, up there. It's not a pipe dream, it's not pie in the sky thinking, it's a practical response to something that we see in front of us. Okay, um, it's us responding to what we believe God is calling us to do, and us acting together. And I want us to be a church that has caught hold of something and is moved to action. Are you with us? Yeah, cool. I'll preach better today if you are with me. Alright. Little amen. A little, yeah, okay, it's good, Matt. That kind of thing. Because, you know, um, it just makes me better. Um, shall we read from the word of God? This is, you know, this is someone who's seen a problem and is going to react to it. Okay, this is from Nehemiah chapter one. Um let's read. The words of Nehemiah, son of Hakaliah. In the month of Kislef in the 20th year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, Those who survived the exile back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Okay, Amen. So at this point in Jewish history, okay, Jerusalem had been conquered by the Babylonians, and worse than that, okay, they'd forced all of the kind of elite people, the skilled population, the royal family, the politicians, the priests, the artists, the metal workers, the scholars into exile. They'd marched them around four or five months to Babylon and left behind the remnant, the poor, the farmers, the laborers. They'd left those people behind. And this at this point here is who Nehemiah is inquiring of. Okay, he's inquiring about the remnant, the leftover people, and he's also inquiring about Jerusalem. What is the state of the place? Spoiler alert. They end up rebuilding the walls, and it's absolutely incredible. But his brother explains at this moment that it's not going well down in Jerusalem. The walls of the city are desolate, the people are struggling, struggling in great trouble and disgrace. The remnant, these people represented the hope, the hope of Israel. And it feels like to Nehemiah that all hope is lost. How on earth is this gonna get turned around? How on earth is this gonna get turned around? I don't know if you've ever felt like that. Yeah, it's hard, isn't it? And we can feel like that sometimes, I've I believe, when we, as Christians in 2026, we have a bit of a mammoth task ahead of us. We're called to go into the world and make disciples, right? And it's really hard, isn't it? You know, we've got hope, we've got this wonderful freedom, we've got the life and the love of Christ, and I don't know about you, but I want to share it with the world. But the task ahead of us is canny big, and it can sometimes feel a bit like Nehemiah when he hears of what's going down in Jerusalem, it can sometimes feel like all hope is lost. How on earth are we gonna turn this round? It's from that place of despair that Nehemiah has he has a dream placed in his heart to rebuild, to make the city strong again, to bring back glory to the city of Jerusalem. See, the walls represented more than just a nice building, but they represented security, dignity, and God's splendor, right? There was a lot caught up in the walls for them to remain in that messed up state was kind of it was the city was unsafe. It was shameful to the people, it was dishonoring to God. Out of all the people, at that moment, out of all of the people, because he won't have been the only one, out of all of those people, Nehemiah hears, sees it, and decides to do something about it. He reacted. I think of one of those dads. You know, he did something, he was moved to do something. I wonder how many people at that time saw the issue, saw the desolate walls, saw the people, and didn't do anything. Because remember, our default setting can be to just not do anything, can't it? I think we all need to be a bit like a bit more like Nehemiah, amen. All of us, eh? Um, I want to be someone who responds to that call, to hearing that word, when it's placed on your heart, someone who sees the trouble and the strife, someone who sees the issue and is moved to do something about it. I believe we're called to. See, we don't have to rebuild any walls. Thankfully, I would be rubbish at rebuilding walls. I'm no John Footz, master builder, alright? But we do have a job to do as a church, and I guess in a bit, I'm gonna try and maybe unpack a little bit of what that looks like for us. Um, but I thought it would be really useful to uh to learn about how Nehemiah responded in that moment because it wasn't a knee-jerk thing, um, but he responded to call to God's call. Does that sound good? You with me? Cool. Number one, he was pained, okay? It was the people that his heart broke for, and the question is does our hearts break for people? If we're gonna answer God's call in 2026, which isn't a call to rebuild any walls, it's gonna be in response to the need. And uh we had a great day yesterday. We went down to the goose fest, which I've never been to before. Oh it should be called Goose Fest. That sounds better. Goose Fest sounds better than Goose Fair, the Goose Fair, and uh and there was just so many people there, so busy. Yeah, I've got to have a goose.

unknown 13:08

Never mind.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

We'll talk there. It was it was amazing. Community fair, if you don't know what it is, okay. But there were so many people, and uh, and my heart was just stirred, as it always is, you've probably noticed. My heart was stirred. Does your heart ache for the lost people in your world? Do you dream of seeing your neighbours, your friends, your family literally? Look at the chair next to you that's empty. Do you dream of them being sat there with you? Do you dream? Can you imagine it? Can you imagine your son, your daughter, your friend, your neighbour, who right now seems so far away from God on a Sunday morning arriving at church and just going, Hey, listen, I was reading in the Bible this week. What does it mean? Can you help me? Just imagine. Just imagine that person. Can you see it? Can you imagine what your school or your college, your office place, what your place of work would look like if maybe two or three people there decided to give their life to Jesus? Nehemiah, one one of the things he did was he sat down and wept when he heard of the trouble they were in. Do we? Do we? Let's be people who whose hearts break for the lost and the broken in our world. We cannot let it let them fall through our fingers. Come on, let's and if right now there is a disconnect between what we know in our heads and how we feel, then let's just pray, God, open our hearts, let our hearts burn, let our hearts break for the lost and the broken people where we live, where we spend our time, the people we know, Lord. Will you place people on our hearts? Will you move us, Lord? God, will you bring us to the point of action? We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Number two, he was positioned. Now, this is the exciting bit. This is the exciting bit. Later on in the story, it goes on to explain that Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king. So somehow he'd gone from where he was to being in this wonderful position where he would give drinks, wine, whatever that looked like, you know, he would bear a cup to the king. He was in a wonderful position to be able to influence. I think, and you might disagree with me, but you're wrong. I think you are perfectly positioned right now. You are right where you need to be. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I don't work where Paul works. I don't go into all of those homes that Andy goes into. I don't even know your friends at work's names. You are perfectly positioned, just like Nehemiah. Right? He had everything he needed to be able to do this. And he's not the only one throughout scripture. I believe God has placed you perfectly. Think about Esther, the orphan girl, positioned in the royal courts. Think about David, who's just a shepherd, positioned on the battlefield. Think about Daniel raised up in Babylonian University to walk in his belief with the Lord. See, I don't think it has to be somewhere powerful or impressive. A lot of the time in scripture it is, isn't it? But for me, I can't I can't see all the people that Ruth sees. You are called to your life and your family to make a difference. And don't forget, we've got access to the king. Nehemiah had access to the king. He was able later in the story to get like free passage, like he had the king's authority to go and do the thing he felt called to. He was able to go. Um, and and the king gave him like all the supplies. We're positioned, and we've got access. How amazing's that? Will you rise up and be the person God is calling you to be in your home, in your workplace, in your family, with your neighbors, because no one else can do it for you. How amazing's that? Number three, he was prayerful. I absolutely love that Nehemiah's first response was to pray. Get on his knees, to pray and to fast. See, when we're faced with trouble, when we're faced with a problem, when we're faced with the pain, we can quite easily turn and run away, can't we? Maybe we'll turn to and run to other things. Maybe a friend, maybe we'll run and hide. Maybe our first response is to try and fix things ourselves. I do a little bit of that, sorry. But how amazing. This guy gets on his face and prays to God when he sees the pain, when he feels the hurt, he's moved to prayer and to fast. Can I just talk to the dads for a moment? Come on, let's rise up. Let's get on our knees. Let's be men who dream and pray and seek God because I think and I believe there's power in a godly man that prays. Amen. Hey, there's power in a godly woman that prays as well. Believe me, I do believe that. Hear what I'm saying though. Man, come on, let's when we see the problem, when we feel the pain, let's get on our knees. It goes on in verse 5, and we haven't got time to look at it, but he goes on to pray the most beautiful prayer of repentance and dedication. Amazing. And it was this this moment, he didn't rush into it, this moment of formation. Let's remember that it's his plan and his purposes. If we're talking about vision, we want to seek God in this stuff because it's God who's gonna build his house. Amen. Cool. Number four, he was prepared. Hey, they all start with P. Did that on purpose. But when I say prepared, it's not that he was he got busy preparing everything, he was willing, he was prepared to do it. See, he had to take a massive leave of absence from the king's courts, which let's face it was probably a pretty cushy number. Okay, having everything he needed. It's probably a nice place to be, hanging out with the king, the royal courts, but he gave it all up to make a difference in eternity. And it was dangerous work. In chapter two, he has to avoid being caught by city officials. He later receives all sorts of ridicule, people laughing at him. See, it's gonna cost us something. It's gonna cost us something, and we've got to be prepared for that. It might be your time, it might be your comfort, it might be your money, it might be your preference. We need to count the cost. Make the sacrifice to do the thing that God is calling us to. Let's be the people that God is calling us to be, no matter what the cost is. We need to be prepared. Amen. See, I believe that we stand on the precipice, right on the edge of. Something incredible. You might have been around for a while and heard that before. I get it. So am I. But the difference is that we get to dig deep and go for it and walk in that. Because I believe that God is always on the edge of doing something amazing. I believe that God is calling us. Are we moved by the brokenness around us? Will we stand up and make a difference? Are we going to pray that God will move? Will we count the cost and do the thing? Like I said, we don't have city walls to rebuild. But we do get to partner with God in building his house. To see his kingdom established in the lives of the people around us to make disciples. See, that's the vision. That's it. To see his kingdom established, to make a difference in the lives of people around us. See, vision, like I said earlier, it's not about this unattainable pipe dream, pie in the sky, ooh, isn't that exciting? Kind of thing. Vision is a response to what we see around us. It's a tangible feet on the ground. Let's get going, kind of thing. Nehemiah saw the need, he prayed, caught the vision, counted the cost, and rose to the challenge. Like I said earlier, we asked you for a little bit of grace, for a little bit of time, um, in kind of forming this stuff. Um, and that time has been spent putting words to what is essentially a biblical response to our time here on earth. Um hopefully we've got it right, hey. But for me, this stuff feels like a little bit of a formality because it should burn in our hearts anyway, this stuff, shouldn't it? So we want to present to you this morning, and this is exciting. It's a little bit scary, our new vision statement. Okay? For you guys to get stuck behind and get involved with. Um it's what we believe God is calling to us to as a church. Just like he was calling Nehemiah. We hope it paints a picture of our dream to build God's house, to make it a house that glorifies him, equips believers, and responds to the trouble and the pain that we see around us. It's nothing new. It's nothing new. In fact, it might be slightly underwhelming if you're expecting a bold new direction. But I hope and I pray that it gives you a little bit of clarity about what we're gonna do and what we believe is for us as a house. Are you ready? Yes, yes, yes, yes, cool. Go for it, Jess. To build a passionate, faith-filled church that glorifies God, equips everyday believers to live Bible-based, spirit-filled spirit-filled lives. Messed it up, and reaches the world by making Christ-centered, fully devoted disciples. I didn't expect anyone to clap. It boils down to three things. We're gonna glorify God in this church. Okay, we're gonna equip people, and we're gonna make disciples. And I hope that that's something you can get behind and you're excited about. And like I said, it's nothing new. That stuff's in the Bible, right? Yeah. So we're gonna glorify God. That's here corporately on a Sunday. I believe that God is stirring worship in our house, and He has been for a couple of years now. Um, we love to lead you guys in worship, it's a privilege. Um, and we're excited to build on that, to see where that's gonna take us. It's gonna be one of the strands of that God's gonna use, I believe. But you personally, in your everyday walk, we're gonna glorify God. And I love, I want our church, not just here in Prada, not just not even in the Tyne Valley, but wider than that. Okay, I want our house, us together collectively, not the building or the music or all that stuff, but like when people look at us as a community, I want them to be pointed heavenward. We're gonna glorify God. Sound good? We're gonna equip his people, we want to help you to love Jesus more, to be more like Jesus. We want to develop your giftings, we want to see you become that leader, not just in church doing the thing, but in your home, in your marriage, in your workplace, become that leader. We want to help you to become that better father, better mother, that better friend. Out in your everyday, we want to build you up. Um, one of my favorite verses is Ephesians 4, talking about the leaders in church building the believers. And we're gonna make disciples because we've got a biblical mandate to go. Do you want to just pop it up again, Jess? And you know what, guys, we're gonna be passionate and we're gonna be faithful as we do it. We're gonna glorify God, equip believers, and we're gonna reach the world. Sound good?

unknown 28:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Are you excited? Will you partner with us?

unknown 28:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Nothing new, nothing bold or a bit out there, but I hope it stirs you to believe what's possible. We can do this. This is achievable. This is Bible-based stuff, this is who we are. And I'm excited for the future. So I don't know, maybe we need to get this written down somewhere prominent. Uh maybe get an email sent out so you guys can have it and pray over it and believe for it. Um we're here for the long haul. Alright. There is no plan B. Alright, for Judith and I. Um and we love you guys. We wanna we wanna do this together. I hope you're stirred. Yeah? Let's pray. Father, um, we dedicate, we dedicate this to you, God. We dedicate this community of believers to you again. But we dedicate these words, which in many ways are just words. Um, but Lord, we want to be excited about what it is you're doing. Will you stir it in our hearts? Can you help us jump on board? Lord, we want to be people who feel the pain around us. People who understand that it's our responsibility and that you've positioned us perfectly. We want to be people who steep this stuff in prayer. And we want to be people, God, who, you know, we were prepared to count the cost and just do it anyway. Father, over the next weeks and months, we pray that you'll bind us together in love, but bind us together in purpose as well. To see what it is you're calling us to do. Achieve, Lord. We want to glorify you, God. We want to put you first, we want to honor you, not just in song, but every single day. We want to be passionate about your house, about who you are, God. We want to have faith to see it, God. Lord, I pray that we can build each other up, that we can help equip one another. Lord, I pray that you'll help us, God, to go into our world and preach the gospel. Father, we again we dedicate this sentence, this phrase, vision statement, wherever. Lord, we we pray, God, that we will be your church. Dedicated to your kingdom purposes. Help us, God. Help us, we pray. Help us we pray, God. In Jesus' name.

unknown 32:32

Amen. Amen.