To The Ends Of The Earth: A Bigger Vision

you are listening to a podcast from Influence Search. We hope it encourages and empowers you to make a difference in your world for the Kingdom of God. For any more information visit our website, www.influencechurch.co.uk Enjoy the message! Good morning church, so great to have you here with us this morning. This is your first time in church. Then we're so glad to have you here. Make sure if you haven't got one already. You grab one of those yellow welcome bags from our welcome team. We'd love to be able to give you a little bit more information about who we are as a church. But for all of us welcome, it's so good to have you here on the first Sunday of vision month. And we're excited about everything that God has been doing in the life of church. We've had an amazing summer or sorts of things been happening. We had three different baptism services over this summer and loads of different community initiatives and food banks and uniform banks and so many different things. But vision month, every September as a church, for the last 18 years we have held a vision month in September. 18 years here in Richmond, 13 years in Barley Castle, 9 years in Penrith, 7 years in Bishop Auckland, 4 years in Wilkinson, we have held our vision month. And so we are equally excited that you are here, whether you have been here for all 18 of those vision months. And I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand because it also signifies you're of a certain age. If you've been here for all of those 18 years or whether you are here, this is your first time. We're equally excited to have you with us in church this morning. And for us to be not only gathered here together, we love that you are here, but we love that you are part of us moving forward as a church, just like Pastor Rich was talking about this morning. And the reason that we hold a vision month every year as a church is not because our vision changes every year, because there be a very confusing and inconsistent vision if it changed every year. We want to continue to be faithful in who God has called us to be and what God has called us to do. The reason that we gather for a vision month every September is to help us to be reunited and refocused around the identity, the vision that God has placed upon us as a church. We never want it to become just something that is kind of sat on a wall or a website somewhere, but actually something that is part of who we are individually and who we are corporately as a church. And so the vision doesn't change, of course, it over time expands, it develops and it grows, but we want to stay faithful to who God has called us to be, to be his light in our world. Job chapter 17 verse 9 says this, the righteous keep moving forward. Those with pure hands grow stronger and stronger. And that is what we believe as a church. We believe that as disciples and we believe for us as a church that we are called not to stay still but to advance, to keep moving forward, to grow in the strength that God has for us and for us to become more and more effective in our work in the vision that God has entrusted to us. We don't want to take that for granted if God has blessed us and entrust us and called us, then we want to be more effective year upon year in what we have been entrusted with as a church. And so that is important for us as a whole church, across our five locations, across Richmond, Banner Castle, Penrith, Bishop Auckland and work in turn. It's important for us as a whole church. It's important for us here in this town, in this community, reaching this region and it's important for each one of us as individuals, that as a believer, as a disciple, as a follower of Jesus, it's a call upon each of us to become more effective in our work in the vision that God has placed upon us. That God has called each one of us. Whoever you are this morning, we know that God has a vision and a purpose for you and for your world. And we want to be more effective in doing that. So let's pray for a moment. Before we get any further, why don't we jump into our feet? And let's take a moment to just align ourselves and say, God, we want to hear from you this morning, like we've already heard in the encouragement from Pastor Mary this morning, let's throw off anything that would be hindering us this morning. We might have walked in carrying all sorts of weights or baggage or distractions or preconceived ideas. Let's throw off everything that hinders so that we can take on who God has called us to be and what he is calling us to do. Come on, let's pray this morning. God, we just thank you that as we gather in your house this morning. Lord, we're thankful for testimony. We're thankful for transformation. For lives changed by the goodness and the grace of God. We thank you in our lives. We have done so many things. God, it's marvelous what you've done in us. And Lord, we thank you that you always have a vision and a calling to not just to work in our lives, but to work through our lives. So God, as we set this time aside as a church, God, we want to be consecrated. Set apart for you, for your kingdom, for your purposes. So help us this morning in any areas that need to be thrown off. God, give us a boldness and a courage in letting go so that we can take on board and embrace everything that you have planned for us. Thank you for your word. Thank you that it's alive and active. Lord, as we gather around your word this morning, would you speak so powerfully to us? Will you attune our ear to the whisper of the Holy Spirit so that we could receive something fresh from you for each one of us personally today? We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You can grab your seats. And as you know, already by now, our theme for vision month for 2025 is to the ends of the earth. Psalm chapter 2 verse 8, "Ask me," says the Lord, "And I will make the nations your inheritance." The ends of the earth, your possessions. Acts chapter 1, verse 8, "Jesus speaking just before his ascension to heaven." Jesus says these words to his disciples. He says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When Jesus made this great statement to his disciples after all of his life and his ministry and his death and his resurrection, and just before his ascension, his final parting words that he leaves with the disciples is this passage here in Acts chapter 1 verse 8. And it's an echo of the great commission that Jesus has given already in the Gospels. It's an echo of the great command that he has given us to go into all the world, to make disciples of all nations even to the ends of the earth. And so his final message isn't brand new information, but it's a recapturing of this incredible call that he has placed upon us, the disciples then and the disciples today. The disciples in the first century and the disciples in the 21st century, it's his call for us to expand our efforts, to add our energy and our enthusiasm to the vision and the call that God has for the good news to not be kept, but to go to the ends of the earth. And so it was an echo of this great calling that he had given. And when we think about that phrase to the ends of the earth, it's a statement that is now really familiar to people, inside church and outside of church. It's a phrase that's been picked up and used even in secular language over the years as its developed and language has changed. It's used in all sorts of ways in everyday language and yet its origins are right here in Scripture. The foundations of that phrase that can be used in all sorts of different applications, its origins are right here in the Word of God. Not just in the teaching of Jesus, but we're going to go back in a few moments into the Old Testament and look at how that phrase has all of its origins in the Word of God. Old Testament, New Testament. We're going to be unpacking over the next few weeks as a church. We're going to unpack in what does it mean to go to the ends of the earth? What was the origins? What was the meaning on what its application for us today that is disciples in the 21st century that we never go away from what the Word of God says? That this is our guidance, that this is our foundation, that this is the thing that illuminates our path, that lights our way. We're going to go into the Word of God so we can help understand something of this phrase to the ends of the earth. But let me start by maybe breaking down a couple of misconceptions for you this morning. What does it mean to go to the ends of the earth? Well, if you are a flat earth theorist this morning in church, then the ends of the earth would be found just to the right of Russia or just to the left of Alaska. Just in case you needed any kind of satnav to get you there, you want to stretch yourself out far to the right or far to the left. Now feel free to prove to us your theories this month during the series to the ends of the earth. Just jump on the flights, travel to the right hand side of Russia to the left hand side of Alaska, take a photo for us, tag us in it at Influence Church, we'd love to see what the ends of the earth looks like from your perspective if you're a bit of a flat earth theorist. Now the other alternative is maybe some of you subscribe to the Truman Show theory of life. And so if you're a subscriber to the true, anybody remember the film The Truman Show? This one is some of you more than more surprisingly than I thought. And if you subscribe to the theory of The Truman Show, then the ends of the earth you would find, but halfway through the ocean at the bottom of the stairs. That's where you would find it there. Again, we'd love to see your photos. Please tag them in us. We'd love to see what you managed to prove to us about your Truman Show theory or your ends of the earth theory. So of course there is an understanding of a geographical understanding and a geographical application to that. And Jesus was clear about that when he was talking about going to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth, of course as a geographical understanding for us, but I believe there's much more. There's something greater going on here. And both the biblical and the metaphorical understanding of that phrase, the definitions of the ends of the earth are similar. Here's what it says, the definitions of going to the ends of the earth means to do everything possible, not just to a half-hearted effort, but to really do everything that is possible. Going to extreme lengths, having no limitation on your efforts, but going beyond the utmost limits. What everybody else says, well, that's enough. And that's as much as I can manage. And that's good enough. So the ends of the earth is about something much more. It's not just about going to a place. It's about a passion. It's about a passion in our pursuit for the things of God that we're not just going to settle for what is easy. We're not going to stop with what is comfortable, but we're going to go beyond. We're going to be beyond the utmost limits. We're going to be extreme in our efforts about seeing the kingdom of God advance. Matthew Henry, the great Bible teacher, theologian writer, he said this, "To the ends of the earth speaks of God's great sovereignty and all sufficiency." That's amazing. But when we think about the ends of the earth, it speaks of the size of our God, his great sovereignty, his all sufficiency, that he's an almighty God and he's an all-powerful God, that he's a God who is present, he's a God who is able, and he's the God who holds the whole world in his hands. And so when we think about the ends of the earth, it's not just about the size of our God, but it's about the size of our mission as disciples. It speaks about the size of our God, that he's the almighty, all powerful, all-sufficient God, but also the mission that he passes to each one of us to go to those extreme lengths for his glory and for the advancement of his kingdom, though we're willing to not settle for what we've seen so far, but we're willing to go beyond to go to the ends of the earth. Now, statistics would tell us that right now, there are 8.1 billion people on the planet, living and active and alive on planet Earth today. There are 8.1 billion people. So that's a massive number, and it's so hard to see ourselves within the context of 8.1 billion people, but I'll need you to know this morning, you are more than just a statistic. That might be 8.1 billion people alive on the planet right now, but you are far more than just a number. You are far more than just a statistic. You are uniquely known by God. You are uniquely loved by God, uniquely created and uniquely called to make a difference in your world for the kingdom of God. Each one of us uniquely called to make a difference for his kingdom. Bible says this, that God knew you before you were formed, that he knit you together in your mother's womb, that he knows how many hairs are on or are not on your head, and he calls each of us by name. Bible tells us that you are known, that you are loved, that you are called, and that God has a plan for your life to be his light in your world, to be the light and the love of Christ displayed to the people around you. Isaiah chapter 41 verse 9, "I took you from the ends of the earth. I called you, I chose you, and I am with you," says the Lord. God has called us out from all of the random places, from all of the situations and circumstances, from those extreme things where we say, "God could never use me." Isaiah says, "I took you from the ends of the earth. I called you, I chose you, and I am with you," because God has a plan for each one of us. I want us to look further into Isaiah this morning. Go with me in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah in a few moments, we'll turn to chapter 49. Isaiah is a prophet in the Old Testament, out of all of the many prophets that we read in the Old Testament, Isaiah is one of the major prophets in the Old Testament. He lived about 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and the role of the prophet in the Old Testament was to be the messenger from God, that he would bring to God's people, he would speak on behalf of God, to the people he would speak on behalf of God, to the nations, to the rulers of the nation, and so Isaiah was a prophet, a messenger of God, to the leaders of Jerusalem, and to the 700 years before the birth of Jesus. And Isaiah is a really powerful book. Of course, it's filled with prophecy, but it's also filled with loads of teaching, loads of principles that can help us if we apply them into our lives. It can be guidance for us in our everyday discipleship journeys. And the start of Isaiah's book where as you start reading, it's broken down, our come onto it, it's broken down into kind of three sections, and the first large section is filled with some judgment over Israel, kind of against the corruption that was going on in nation at the time, and they were living away from their covenant relationship with God, and so it's filled with a lot of kind of God's judgment over the people, these divine judgments, and their need for repentance, and it's kind of heavy reading for quite a while in Isaiah. But the later parts of the book are really filled with messages of hope, that it wasn't just about judgment, it wasn't just about repentance, it was filled with these prophetic promises of the Messiah that was to come. The Messiah that would be fulfilled through Jesus, in fact, in Isaiah there are over 40 what we call Messianic prophecies about the Messiah that would be to come in Jesus. Over 700 years later, every one of those 40 Messianic prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. And so Isaiah is kind of broken up, theologians would say into kind of three sections, you don't see any difference when you're reading through the chapters in your Bible, but this kind of three sections, the first section, the prophetic section is 39 chapters, so it was a long time of some great inspirational reading and some pretty heavy challenging reading in those first 39 chapters of Isaiah. It's all about this judgment and this call to repentance. Then we get into what is called the historic section where there was all of these promises of hope, that it might have been, it might have seemed hopeless, but there is hope to be found in God, there is hope to be found in Christ in the Messiah that is to come. And then the latter chapters of Isaiah speak about this person of salvation, I've called it, that would be fulfilled through Jesus. And so there's these great things that happen through the book of Isaiah. And I want us to bring us into chapter 49 this morning, which is kind of right in the middle of that middle section about the promise of hope that we've fulfilled in Jesus. And God is calling the Israelites at this time, he's calling them into a new season. He says, "Hey, there's been a season where you've been away from me, there's been a season where you've needed to repent because of the corruption and the idolatry and all the things that you've done wrong, but God is speaking to them about this new season that he wants to bring them into." That's why in Isaiah 43 there's that famous passage about, "See I am doing a new thing," but then it says, "Do you not perceive it?" Because actually, if you can't get a vision that there's something new, how are you ever going to let go of what was old and embrace what is new? If we can't perceive it." And so they've already had that challenge of forget the former things, stopped dwelling on the past. If you keep dwelling, you can never inherit the promises that God is leading us into. That's why there has to be, like Pastor Mani said to us this morning, a throw enough of those things that were old before we can embrace the new. And so there's these continual inspirations and challenges and prophetic messages that are coming through Isaiah to the people to leave behind what was so that you can embrace something new. He's been challenging them, rebuking them for their stubbornness, but now he speaks about the promise that will be fulfilled in the Messiah. And in fact, in the NIV translation, chapter 49 is titled "The Servant of the Lord," because it's all about the purposes of God through the Messiah. We're just going to read six verses here, Isaiah 49. Says, "Listen to me, you islands. Hear this, you distant nations. Before I was born, the Lord called me. From my mother's womb, he has spoken my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. In the shadow of his hands, he hid me. He made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, 'You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. But I said I have labored in vain. Spent all my strength for nothing at all, yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand. And my reward is with God." Verse 5, "Now the Lord says, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him and to gather Israel to himself. For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has been my strength." He says, "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. This is what the Lord says, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Now the key to us understanding this passage is it's written from the perspective of the Messiah that would be fulfilled in Jesus. It's a prophetic declaration about the purposes of God to be fulfilled through the Savior, through the Messiah in Jesus. It's a servant of God, that's why it lists that as the title in the top of the passage, that the servant of God, Jesus, declaring his intentions and his mission, what his vision was for the purpose of him coming from heaven to earth. That was in the mission of God it was to serve the purposes of God, to display the splendor of God and to reach the people of God. That was the vision laid out prophetically in Isaiah for Jesus to fulfill the purposes of God, to display the splendor of God and to reach all of the people of God. And the big challenge that comes in this passage that we read there in verse 6, the big challenge that comes in the middle of it is about having a vision that is too small. And that can be a massive challenge for each one of us. What does it mean to have a vision that is too small? For those of you who are, who are spectacle wearers, you ever picked up somebody else's glasses and put them on your face and realized I can't see like this. I thought I was going to be able to see beyond, but all I can see is right here, or you know that you are near sighted or far sighted whichever way around it is. So you can only see what's in front of you, but you really struggle to see what is beyond this year. This summer Noah went to the opticians picked up a new pair of glasses, modeled for them on church news this morning. And as he went and picked up his new pair of prescription glasses when he put them on, some sort of phrase like, "Oh, this is what the world is supposed to look like." This is what normal looks like. Look some people in the face and said, "Oh, that's what you look like." Okay, because when we put on the right, when we have the right vision, then we don't just see what's in front of us, we see something that is further afield, that suddenly our vision is enlarged, and the great challenge that was coming to Israel at this time was about their vision. Look at verse 6, "It is too small a thing for you to just be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." See, it was always part of the mission of the Messiah to save Israel. That's never in question. He says, "Of course, I'm coming for the tribes of Israel, of course, I'm coming for the people there in Jerusalem." That was always part of the mission, but the mission also went far beyond. Far beyond what people could see right now, far beyond their current perspective, far beyond what was logical, what was comfortable, what was convenient, the vision and the mission of God was always far beyond their past experiences or their current perspective, and the same is true for us, that the vision that God has for us, not just as a church, but for you and I as individuals, it's always far beyond what we can see right now, because I don't want to live passionately for a vision that I can see in my own ability, because then it's an earthly vision. I want to give my life to running after the vision that God has. There's far beyond my comfort zone, there's far beyond my current perspective. It's beyond my past experiences and it's beyond what I can see right now. I want to say, "God, give me your vision." I want to see how you see. I don't want to see with a limited perspective. I want to see with the expansive vision that you have. It was a vision that God was placing prophetically on Jesus, not to be limited, but to go to the ends of the earth, to reach far beyond what they could see right now. Message Translation of verse 6 says this, "He says," so God speaking through Jesus, "He says, "that's not a big enough job for my servant, just to recover the tribes of Jacob, merely to round up the strays of Israel, and setting you up as a light for the nations, so that my salvation becomes global." Here's what I need to understand in this morning, the strength of salvation was never in question. And it's the same in the 21st century, the strength of our salvation is never in question. There's only one way into a relationship with God, there's only one way to heaven, and that's through Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. The gift of eternal life, the amazing gift of salvation, is never in question. The source of salvation, the strength of salvation, never in question. It's only Jesus, it's only through Him. That's why Alpha Course is so important because it's helping people get an understanding of all the different things that we sometimes chase after and say, "Well, if I do this, I'll feel secure, if I do this, I'll find purpose." It's only through Jesus that we find the fullness of life. And so the strength and the source of salvation was never in question. The problem was the size of their vision, not the size of the strength of their salvation, but the size of their vision. And sometimes that's what you and I suffer with. That our vision is too small. That we're so focused on our perceived inability, or we're focused on our perceived limitations, or insecurities of, well, will God would never want me? God could never use me because, and then you fill in the gaps of all of the reasons why you think your past experiences or your current condition limits you from being used for the purposes of God. And often our vision is too small because we're filled with these declarations of limitation over our life or we're filled with excuses of why we think we're not able, why we think we're disqualified from the plans and the purposes of God. Well, it's okay for that person, it's all right for them, but God could never use me or I would never be good enough, or I don't want to be used by God. And it's these excuses that so often reduce our vision and then reduce our capacity. And we live in this place of limitation where we say, well, I can't do these things. And it was always part of God's purpose for the Kingdom of God, not just historically then, but for the Kingdom of God today. It was always part of God's purpose for the Kingdom of God not to be exclusive, but to be expansive, not to be kept in a place of smallness, but to spread to the ends of the earth, to every town, every village, every region, every workplace, every classroom, every army regiment, every factory, every farm yard, every place that we find ourselves, God has a plan for His Kingdom right there to go to the ends of the earth, and not just the extremes of the ends of the earth, but the extremes of our understanding of our everyday parts of earth. The people that we meet with on a daily basis, God has a plan and a purpose for them. And this great call is for every church, but it's for every believer, this great call to reach to the ends of the earth. It's for every church and it's for every believer and that call hasn't changed. Generations come and go, but that call doesn't change. We see it right the way here in the Old Testament. We see the call in the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah and it hasn't changed. We see it presented through Jesus in the great commission to His disciples and the call hasn't changed. We see it in the early church as Paul and the Apostles jump on ships and set sail for Rome and different countries and continents to respond to the vision and the call of God and that same call, that same vision hasn't changed in the 21st century. That God is looking for people who are willing not to do everything but to do something, to be willing to play their part. In fact, for the Apostle Paul and the other disciples and the Apostles in the early church, around 750 years or so after that prophecy of Isaiah, the Apostle Paul picks up that passage in Isaiah 49 and he quotes it as part of a declaration of his mission and his vision. We can read Acts chapter 13 where Paul, when speaking to some of the Jewish rulers and leaders at the time, Paul uses the words of Isaiah to help refocus his calling and his vision for his ministry. Acts chapter 13 verse 46 says, "Then Paul and Barnabas answered them and said, 'We had to speak the Word of God to you first.' Jewish religious rulers of the day. We had to speak the Word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us. I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." When Paul quotes this scripture, he goes back 700, 750 years or so to the Old Testament and quotes this passage in Isaiah that was prophetically spoken about about the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus. Paul is doing two things here by quoting this scripture. First thing is this, he's aligning himself. Paul is bringing himself into alignment with the prophecy of Isaiah and bringing himself into alignment with the mission of Jesus. He's saying, "I'm not out here just doing this on my own." This isn't the Paul show. I'm not just living for what I want or what I think is a good idea or the opportunities that I see is important. I'm not living for, later in scripture, he says, "I'm not living for the approval of man." Paul is not doing something that's anything about what I want or how I feel or what's convenient for me. Paul is saying, "As for me, I'm going to align myself with the Messiah and I'm going to align myself with his mission." I'm going back all the way 700 years to say that same promise, that same call, that same vision, that is true for my life today. It's not about what I want. It's not about how I feel. It's not about my career progression. It's not about my bank balance. It's not about what's comfortable for me. I want to align myself with the prophecy of Isaiah and the mission that Jesus declared to go into all the earth and to preach the good news. He's aligning himself and the second thing he's doing is taking responsibility. I'm not just hearing the call. I'm accepting the call. I'm not just pointing the finger to somebody else. I'm realizing that's part of my calling. That's a vision that I want to give my life to. That if God has a vision for this earth, God has a vision for his gospel. I don't want to be out here doing my own thing. I want to align myself and take responsibility for this. I want to play my part in his kingdom plan. So when Paul quoted the scripture, he used verse 47 and he used a really specific term. Obviously, when Paul's quoting in the Old Testament, he's coming out of Hebrew and it's written for us in Greek in the New Testament, translated into English, and what he uses is a really specific word in verse 47. He says this, "I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." And it seems simple for us in our limited understanding, but what's really rich within the Greek language is that this is a very singular word. The Paul is not just saying somebody should do this, but I'm going to do this. Paul is saying this applies to me. This isn't spoken just to a group. Like when Jesus said, "You are the light of the world," and that is the verse that we anchor ourselves in as a church. He didn't say it to a collective group of people. He said it to individuals like you and me. And when the apostle Paul quotes this verse, he uses this singular Greek language word, not to a group, but to an individual. Paul is saying this, "I'm not waiting for somebody else to show up. I'm taking responsibility." I'm not saying somebody should do this, and then I step back. I'm saying someone's got to do something, and I'm stepping up. He's not waiting for somebody else to take responsibility. He's not saying, "Well, I hear the vision. I see that it's good, but there's somebody else that's going to do that. There's a mission team that'll go and do it. There's a prison team. They'll go and reach those people. There's an evangelism team. I'll leave it to them. There's a youth department to reach the young people. There's a kids team." He said it doesn't matter. It's not somebody else's responsibility. It's my responsibility, my family, my neighbors, my community. I'm called. I don't want to align myself with this vision. I want to make it my vision that I will be a light to my world. Again, in the language when you study it, he's not saying something, even though he's quoting a passage from 750 years ago, in the Greek, he's not using the language in past tense. He's using the word that is today's priority. Saying, "This might be an ancient vision. This might be a mission that has gone on for hundreds of years, but I'm going to make it my mission today. I'm not going to wait for what I perceive as the right time. I'm not going to pass the responsibility to somebody else. I will play my part because Paul understood what we need to understand today, that the gift of salvation, the free gift of salvation that changed our lives, that gave us joy and peace and a security and a firm foundation beneath our feet. The gift of salvation was never meant to be kept, but to be shared, to be taken to the ends of the earth. And two thousand years later, the challenge for us is still the same. It's a little bit uncomfortable. And that same challenge was there, 700 years before, it was there two thousand years ago, that it can be uncomfortable for us. And the problem with that is that we live in a society, we live in a world right now that is obsessed with comfort, that is obsessed with with boundaries, with control. It's almost offensive if we're asked to do something that might stretch us. And who are you to tell me to stretch? I live for comfort. I live for having everything in my world just exactly as I want it. And why would I be called to step out of my comfort zone for somebody else to receive salvation? For somebody else to hear a message of hope, we're obsessed with comfort and safety and security, but the problem is often our comfort can be the enemy of our calling, because our calling will always take you beyond. A calling will always be greater than what you can see right now. A vision that God gives will of course always be beyond our current perspective. And within our current perspective is our current comforts and our current conveniences. And of course the vision that God gives us to go beyond will always be beyond our current perspective, but problem is so often what we call a place of safety actually becomes a place of limitation. So I'm just being safe right now. I'm just looking after me right now. And it's good for us to care for ourselves. It's good for us to be strong, emotionally, physically, spiritually, absolutely. But if we are going to align ourselves with the call of the gospel, then we're called to step out and go to the ends of the earth, to go to the utmost limits for the cause of the kingdom of God. See, when the cause is great enough, God's people have always stepped up. When the vision has been big enough, there has always been those who are willing to say, not my will be done, God, but yours. I must decrease and he must increase. I want to set myself apart so that I can see God do something incredible, not just in my life, but God do something incredible through my life. And the cause has always caused the people of God to rise up and to step into that challenge. And the great thing in the commission that Jesus gives us in Acts 8 to go beyond our comfort zones, to go beyond our own strength is that we don't have to do it in our own ability. So he said, when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be my witnesses. So we're called to be a witness, but we're not called to do it in our own ability. We're called to make a difference, but we don't have to do that in our own strength. That's why we need the Holy Spirit. That's why we need his power, because how can we go beyond in our own ability? We need his power first in order to go to metaphorically for us, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. It's going beyond our ability, but not the end of God's power. It's going beyond our comfort so that we can see an advancement of the kingdom of God. A few weeks ago I was in Manchester. Just for 24 hours, 36 hours, Gaia was away meeting a friend in Paris, and I was the airport, drop off in the airport, pick up, and I thought, well, this is a fairly quick turnaround. And so I'm going to set that time aside in order to prepare to pray and prepare for this month. We have vision month every year as a church, and we're excited with some of the things we're going to be able to share with you this month in different messages, in partners night, in our vision update, and our vision offering at the end of the month. And so I said, it's a perfect period of time for me to kind of set some time aside, just to really pray, just to hold myself up in a hotel, seeking God, and getting revelation of everything that he wants to say to us through this month. And so for kind of a day, a day and a half, I was in Manchester, and mostly stayed inside where I was praying and preparing, but a few times went outside to get some fresh air and kind of walk and pray, and it was Bangkok Day Monday in Manchester a few weeks ago, and kind of walked out the hotel. And first of all went towards the city centre, which was absolutely random, and I thought, this isn't a great place to pray and get a revelation from God. So I found my way out to some different places, and I found myself in a park area. And as I was kind of walking around the loop of this park, just praying and talking through with God some of the things that we believe that God is speaking to us about as a church and a different messages that we're going to bring this month. And as I kind of walked around one of the corners of the park for the second time, realized it was some of those boards that they put up that tell just a little bit of the history of the area. And I stopped and I read, and I realized that this park that I've been walking around for kind of half an hour, 40 minutes by this point, was a place that was filled with all sorts of history and all sorts of Christian mission that had gone on here a lifetime ago. It's an area of Manchester really hidden away called Angel Meadow. And back in the 1800s, I read some of these boards and then felt God speaking to me so I went back to the hotel, did some extra study, and looked up a few different articles and historic artifacts and things. And in the 1800s, Angel Meadow was one of the most, not only one of the most deprived areas of Manchester, but one report said it was one of Britain's most savage slums. And so there was this really impoverished area where in a really short period of time that had this massive death rate because of all the disease and then poverty that was around 40,000 people had died in less than a generation in a really small geographic area. And it was a place that was filled at that time with all sorts of crimes, murder and prostitution, the infant mortality rate was through the roof and disease and violence and poverty and all of these things. But in the middle of Angel Meadow at that time, there was a church, St. Michael's Church. And I spent a bit of time that afternoon just reading back as many of the different kind of articles and chapters of different history books that I could find. And there wasn't much. But I spent a bit of time researching this area of Angel Meadow and some Michael's Church and how this church had been desperate to try and make a difference in that community. There was need upon need upon need. It was such a hard thing to try and do something that would make a difference. But there was articles that were filled with really depressing statistics and statements and loads of despair. Even some of the articles more than there should be wrote about the church just to say what an ugly building they thought the church was. I'm like, there's death and poverty and prostitution and murder and you're like, well, it's not a very attractive building. Like somebody's missed the point here. But there was a church that for generations in kind of I think the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century were trying to 20th century, sorry, were trying to make a difference. And I've read about one man that came in the midst of what seemed like all these reports of despair and nobody could do anything and how ugly is your building. There was a minister that came Reverend John Jowett Wilson and he came to St. Michael's as the rector in the early part of the 1900s and in the middle of chaos, in the middle of poverty and depravity and eventually in the middle of war as the first world war started. One man stepped up and said I cannot do everything but I'm compelled that I must do something. And there's some amazing reports written, not many, but about this man Reverend Wilson and how he tried to, when everybody else was focused on, it's too hard or it's too ugly, he said, okay, fine, forget that. Let's do something. He focused in on the opportunity that was in front of him meeting practical needs, raising funds, he would take a bucket down to the local market every week to try and raise funds for different programs they were doing in the church, what would be today, food banks and uniform banks. There was tons and tons because of the area, there was tons and tons of homeless children, there were starting schools, school buildings that still built there in angel meadow from back in the early part of the 1900s. He was doing everything that he could to not just preach the gospel but to be the good news in action, to make a difference in the air and in his part of the earth, he went to the ends of the earth to make an effort to reach those people. He said, I can't do everything but I'm compelled to go beyond my comfort, beyond my convenience to do something to show these people the love of God. Two years after he died, died in 1928, exhausted from just 14 years of really expansive ministry. Two years after he died in 1928 they closed the church and five years after the church closed 1935 they demolished the whole church and the reports that I read said it wasn't because the need no longer existed, it was because nobody was willing to take responsibility. Everybody else looked at what we would call opportunity and said that's way too hard. One man could do it but nobody else was willing to take up the call so they closed the church and they knocked it down and some of the gravestones are still there in the graveyard, some of those infant mortality rates you see the different graves of people aged, shutting the young ages and they knocked it down, closed the doors because the need was still there but nobody was willing to step up and when the apostle Paul quoted that passage from Isaiah, the start part, he goes on to quote the passage but the last line that Paul says in verse 47 is the the Lord has commanded us. Suddenly he drags an old mission statement, an old vision into the current perspective and says the Lord has commanded us to be a light to the Gentiles. He has commanded us to bring the message of salvation even to the ends of the earth. He was aligning himself with the mission of Jesus and he was taking responsibility for the part that he could play and this month as we step out as a church into another vision month. I don't want there to be any sense of just the routine of well it's September we always do a vision month in September and now singing new song and there'll be some new things that they give away but I want us to have that renewed sense of there's a vision that God has for my life. There's a vision that God has for our towns and our communities. There's a vision that God has for the people that are around your life on a daily basis and we're declaring again that we will be a light to our world, that we will go beyond our comfort, beyond our convenience, go to the ends of the earth for the cause of the gospel and the good news of Jesus and so I simply want to ask you a question this morning and then we're going to pray to finish. I want to ask you what are you aligning yourself with because when Paul made that statement he said he came out from whatever his plans and purposes were whatever his ideals were the way that he was choosing to live his life and remember Paul had already had his life completely transformed through an encounter with God he's no longer Saul persecuting Christians he's Paul but in that moment he says okay I'm not living for me anymore I'm aligning myself and I want to ask you this morning what are you aligning yourself with are you aligning with just the expectations of kind of worldly priorities of well this is this is what you should be doing at your age and this is a pursuit you should be doing and in your career this is what you should be doing and this is how we should be lining up financially are we aligning ourselves with worldly priorities are we aligning ourselves perhaps with the opinions and the preferences of others or are we aligning ourselves with the priorities of God and what God has to say where are we aligning ourselves and second question is this where and who are you taking responsibility for because just think for a moment about where God has placed you what family what workplace what friendship group what what's that group what army regiment what classroom what college or university what family community street where is he placed you and who has he placed around you and those are questions are fairly easy the obvious next question is how can we be the light of Christ to them if you are uniquely placed in that family community workplace classroom how can you be the light of Christ to the people around you would you stand with me this morning those questions can't be answered in a moment but i hope it's something that we can pray about this weekend as we step into this month and i just felt the leading of the Holy Spirit as i was preparing this month to lead us as we finish in a prayer and this isn't normal for us in the way that we would kind of do something at the end of one of our services or certainly in vision month but i felt i wanted to lead you in a prayer this morning a prayer of greater vision for us not just to be so settled and comfortable with what we see and what we feel and what we've chosen right now but to ask God for greater vision to ask him to bring ourselves into alignment with the vision that he has for us because out of 8.1 billion people God knows you he's called you and he has a plan of the purpose for you so i want to lead us in this prayer this morning of a prayer of greater vision and so i've written this out in a way that we wouldn't normally i'm not going to ask you to pray out loud but i just want to pray this over you the words are going to be upon the screen so that you can see this but before we read this and we pray this let's just take a moment to pray and ask God to awaken our faith again to ask God to give us a vision again come on let's just start to pray right now heavenly Father or we need you right now we need you here thank you Father Almighty God Almighty God we come before you today i want to thank you God that your plans stretch to the ends of the earth that beyond what we can see beyond what we can comprehend that your plans stretch to the ends of the earth and i thank you God that you know every person that there is not one person that is unknown to you or unavailable to you you know every single person the more than that you know them and you love them God i thank you that you love me that you love each one of us here and God we're asking this one would you forgive us would you forgive us Lord for the times when our vision has been too small God forgive us for the times when we've stayed in a place of comfort and it's hindered us from hearing your call God i'm asking you this morning we're asking you this morning for a greater vision help us see beyond our current limitations God we want to align ourselves this morning with your vision with your mission and your call please help us God help us in our pursuit of you help us to play our parts in reaching the people around us I want to be your witness I want a different make a difference in my world for the kingdom of God come on let's just start to pray and let's see what God might have been saying to each one of us this morning let's lift up the name of Jesus let's thank him that he sees us that he knows us let he loves us let's thank him for the power of the gift of salvation that he's never in question that he's saved us that he redeemed us that he pulled us out of a life that was and set us on a solid rock God we praise you this morning for your goodness towards us we praise you for the gift of salvation we praise you that you are the one who knows us and made us and loved us and you call us out to go beyond you call us into the greater purpose that you have for us God give us your vision this morning to reach our world we pray thank you for listening to this podcast from Influence Church for any more information visit our website www.influencechurch.co.uk Influence Church empowering you to make a difference in your world for the kingdom of God