In the late ‘90s, David Pawson recorded his mammoth project, “The Challenge of Islam to Christianity.” The series was based on a prophecy David received from the Lord, around the book of Habakkuk, a prophecy which he tested by going to denominational leaders across the country, asking them ‘is this from the Lord?’ Unanimously the verdict was ‘yes.’ It is the correct way to handle prophesy and as such, the prophecy deserves to be taken seriously. Perhaps it is also coming to fruition.

The prophecy Pawson received was that God was going to use Islam to purify his church, and it specifically related to Britain, and to some extent the West. I have thought a lot about that over the past week or so, but have never forgotten the content of that video series. I don’t want to appear insensitive at a time of absolute horror, but it is worth reading the book of Habakkuk to put this into context. An abridged version, is that the Lord tells the prophet Habakkuk that he is going to use the barbaric Babylonians to purify his chose people the Israelites, because of their idolatry and rampant injustice.

Coincidentally, I am reading some of the later letters in the New Testament (Peter, James etc) as well as having just finished a book called ‘From Small Beginnings’, about how various threads of people came together to form a close-knit, Biblical community in the US. Where does all this fit?

One of the major thrusts of the New Testament, is not grace, nor the love of God even, but the need for Holiness in our own lives. We are called to obedience. But crucially, all the references in the New Testament are to the church being called to Holiness, the church being purified. There is little or no mention of the world, perhaps because God expects nothing better from the world. From beginning to end, the NT calls for repentance and obedience within the church, the body of Christ.

For too long, too much sin has been allowed to flourish in ‘the church’ and go unchallenged and unnoticed. When we have substituted a personal, daily relationship with a living God into an attendance-based activity, sin was always going to gain the upper hand. When we dress up for our weekly attendance, yet continue on as though nothing has changed in the rest of our lives, we make a mockery of what Christ’s coming was all about.

The most powerful thing about the church in Acts, was the body of Christ, living a unified, Holy life in his daily presence. How I live on Tuesday, is no different to how I live on Sunday. In case we’re unsure of this, it is exactly how life will be like for eternity. The Kingdom of God is within you, means we need to start thinking about this now. God, at least, is deadly serious about how the church looks for the coming groom.

Of course, none of this will happen with the current church structure. Not ever. While Sunday is still the ‘holy day’ and the priesthood still lives out our daily Christian lives for us, and when we only ever gather together for an hour a week, our lives will be no different to those around us. Sorry to burst the bubble. Smaller gatherings, led by the Holy Spirit, meeting regularly – challenging each other how they live before a Holy God so that ‘a little leaven doesn’t unleaven the entire batch,’ and reaching out into their community with the joy of the Lord, is exactly what the Lord calls us to do and how we should be living. Outside of the West, I would challenge that is exactly how the church looks – and is flourishing as a result.

Reading ‘Small Beginnings’ recently, the true story of a community in the West, formed by believers who all moved into the same neighbourhood and lived church as they did in the book of Acts is a remarkable story. Our faith becomes so attractive to the outside world, as we love, serve, sacrifice and live Holy lives in a daily relationship with each other and before our Lord; again, it is exactly how we shall live before the Lord throughout eternity. Most importantly though, and this is vital, we cannot hide our sinfulness when we live daily in each other’s lives.

It is our refusal to live differently that makes it so difficult in our culture to make disciples. Last week our entire gathering was out on the streets (what a delight!) but we hear the same story – surely, I am good enough to stand before God? This comes, in my view, from a long held belief in Western civilisation that it is okay for someone to believe in God and continue living unchanged before him. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that though. But, the world buys into it. Hold on a moment…so does much of the church.

The last word Jesus says to his church is ‘Repent’ (in Revelation). Rethinking Pawson’s original prophecy, it would seem that God is not so much interested in punishing us as changing us. Like the nation of Israel, his intention for the church is to be a light in the world, to be so pure before the world that many in the world will choose to join it.

There is a great cost in this though, and that cost is our choice to live differently. Are you, am I prepared to pay that price for Him? The rewards are out of this world.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  – 1 Peter 1

It’s an incredible passage, don’t you think? Last weekend, I went to a small meeting for those interested in disciple making. It was a time of learning, training, sharing stories and praying. We ended up eating together and the food was great. Go figure this though, there were just 8 of us there, from the whole of Sydney.

A few weeks back, I went along for a day to hear a little Chinese man, Ying Kai, also teach about disciple making. It would probably be fair to say that Ying Kai is honoured in heaven; several decades ago in his native China, he obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and began making disciples of non-believers, training them to go out and make more disciples. As a result of his obedience, some 1.6 million people have been baptised into Jesus Christ, and gone onto found somewhere close to 80,000 churches. I had a lot to learn, obviously. Less than 50 people turned up that day too, maybe not so honoured here then.

The church has been neglectful and remiss in so many ways, not fulfilling the Great Commission Jesus so clearly gives us. We have come to think that the odd mega pastor, or hero of the faith (such as a politician) is going to be the way God changes things. It seems that may be just an excuse so we can avoid doing the simple lesson that Jesus left us with, which seems so hard. That is for each of us who believe, to tell those around us of the wonders of God’ Son.

It has been said that the word love is spelt O-B-E-Y in the Bible; it is difficult for us to show God, whom we cannot see, how much we love him, except by obeying what he tells us to do. Why is it we simply will not? Jesus set us an example, not by achieving a doctorate, nor by founding a large congregation of followers within a large building, neither in establishing an inner circle of liturgical priests. No, we are told to follow his example and go into the world and make disciples in his name. All of us.

Had we all just followed his command, and simply moved into our neighbourhood and proclaimed God’s salvation through Christ, I wonder how different our society might look today? For example, would God have needed to send Islam to challenge his frozen people? I am convinced – as I believe Jesus is, that the way to reach the world is to simply catch our breath, take a risk, and offer to pray for those around us, or to share the precious treasure that we have. Then to trust God that he will continue to work in the hearts of those whom we introduce to his Son.

I learned last weekend, that according to research, less than 98% of believers in USA have shared their faith with a non-believer. If it is true, do we wonder we have so little impact on our world?

We are learning to “do church” with a missional focus. I don’t want this to become ‘look at me’ but it is an opportunity to share with those who may decide to try something different. After 2 years, we can say with honesty that being a missional gathering, or a simple or organic church is far messier and disorderly than ‘normal’ church. To reach the lost for one thing, we must jettison our agendas. They set the pace, not us.

Our propensity to teach and to lead must also be sacrificed, as we try for more inclusion and learn to let everyone contribute, with the Holy Spirit as our guide. Also, rather than be a ‘knowledge-based body’ we have tried to be an ‘obedience-based body’ with an emphasis on training others to train others to train….you get the picture. We have a few gatherings as well, for different groups at different stages.

After 2 years, we now feel like we are making progress, which I might share another time in more detail. For example, this week we received a text from someone in our gathering, who told how that week they had shared a Bible story with a group of girls at their school, just in a random moment. The person, as they shared with us, finally felt useful for God. How good is that?

Friends, let me leave you with this. The passage at the beginning here, is one of the greatest in the NT, written by Peter. Look at what God has done for you through Christ. Yet, such riches are of no value if they are not shared. Christ cannot, will not, must not, remain hidden any longer. We must share him. While it is immeasurably hard, it is also so simple to do. We must do it.

Here’s a challenge this week; ask God to prompt you to share this passage with someone who doesn’t know about him. If you do, send us the story and we will share it here. An inheritance that endures forever, available for each of us.

Let’s not keep it to ourselves any longer.

Prayer is not preparation for the main task, it is the main task – Oswald Chambers

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. – Hebrews 12: 22-25

I have been reading one of the best books I have ever read about making disciples. Full of stories, method and encouragement, it has caused us to evaluate our own efforts in how effective we are in taking the Gospel to those who are in darkness. That, coupled with an intensive look at the book of Hebrews, which portrays the person of Christ with such clarity, has made for some good reading and thinking.

In the disciple making book, I read of a church planter who plants some 500 new churches a year. These are not bricks and mortar places, with priests and worship teams and a youth group, these are gatherings, Oikos, of new believers who come together very frequently to study and worship and be trained into how to find and make new disciples of Jesus Christ. A movement is begun. Some of the stories of what God is doing in far flung places makes your spine tingle. We feel in many ways, we have barely got started. We want to be part of that story here in our own little place in the heart of Sydney. Friends, don’t for one moment think that Jesus is on the back foot, scrambling to find a place in the world. Far from it his Kingdom is on the move and he wants us to join the work.

The church planter also has a vocational job which he works at during the day, before meeting with people every evening to further the Gospel in his country. Want to know what his secret is though? He prays each morning for around 3 hrs before work, and then another 2 hrs in the evening with his various groups. I was so staggered when I read that, it seemed beyond my comprehension. Yet, seeking first the will of the Lord in all he wants on a day by day, moment by moment basis is surely no more than what is displayed in Scripture. Christ did the same with his Father, and he wants us to live the same way with him. He wants to lead the way in everything we do, especially when we go out in his name. Whose kingdom is it, after all?

Further, the church planters who were successful had an army of others praying for them as well. In some cases, several thousand were praying daily for just a small group of church planters. The author suggested that unless you had at least a hundred people praying for you daily, your success would be limited. So, we will start looking for people to pray with us. It came to me as I was reading this, that there is an army of darkness that would do all it can to prevent others from hearing the Gospel. When you push back and start to do the work of Christ, opposition will surely come. Much prayer is needed. Persecution, opposition is on our doorstep here as well. Soon, we will need to choose which God we serve far more publicly than we do now.

On the other side though, God opens doors all the time. If we pray, then we should be expectant. This week as I was in another city, meeting with a couple who own a company on whose board I sit. I had been wondering whether I really wanted to work with this group of people because of the lifestyle they promoted, but they invited me to stay in their house. In the morning, as she was getting her daughter ready for school, out of the blue she asked me what I knew about Revelation. Someone, a friend of hers who was a believer, had given her a book on the end times and she was fascinated. We got talking, and in the half hour over a cuppa tea, I was able to walk her through the full Gospel message, which she had never heard before. When you get a chance to explain the Gospel, and why Jesus is so essential and central to God’s plans, the blindness is lifted and you can see the understanding that comes. We continue to pray, as she has openly said she wants to hear more.

As I was flying back the same day, thinking about that conversation the Lord reminded me that if we pray, we should expect the opportunity to come. Why was I surprised?

We are passionate about the task we feel the Lord has given us, and continue to seek his face for steps forward. It is not just our calling though, it is according to Scripture, a calling for all who believe in Jesus Christ. The passage in Hebrews reminds us that the God of the Hebrews is to be feared, a ‘devouring fire,’ yet because of what Christ has done, what is due to us will not come to us. Instead, we get an inheritance, an adoption beyond our wildest imagination.

Friends, the world must hear of this before it is too late. There is no time to waste. Come, let us pray for each other, and let us go and make fishers of men as He has commanded. I believe he won’t delay coming for much longer.