Things are a little bit different today with the painting going on but I’ve been assured it will be finished by next Sunday along with new chairs which have been ordered and are on their way.
Last week we read the passage of the unfruitful fig tree. The owner said he would give it one more year and he would provide the fertiliser to make it grow. If it didn’t grow after one more year, the keeper could cut it down to make room for another tree. We don’t know the outcome of the story, it could have gone either way which is quite sobering or very positive depending on whether you’re a glass half empty or glass half full kind of person. I can tell that you the timing of us reaching that parable in our series is remarkable.
It wasn’t long after that day that Robin told me he would like to get involved and not only him but his friend who he writes and produces music with was also interested. Robin has been involved at Elim and helped start Elim South and I thought it would be great for us to have some musicians in the building.
But after that things really began to snowball. Robin catches up every Tuesday with the founding father of Elim Christian Centre and as Robin spoke with him, Luke expressed his interest in supporting Robin. Not long after that, another one of the pastors who Robin sees regularly also said he wanted to help Robin and support the church in any way possible.
This is how we knew it was God. A friend of Robin’s who funnily enough owns a fertiliser business challenged Robin with a question - what is a pastor? Robin told him what he thought and his friend turned around immediately and said that’s the answer he was looking for in confirmation from God. Then the fertiliser guy also said he wanted to get involved.
From that confirmation, Robin began talking to another couple who run a Soup Kitchen who are also in transit and they expressed an interest. As Robin relayed all this me, I thought of the PCC history of being involved in our Community and I realised that we needed to meet with Paul as soon as possible which we did at Denny’s 3 weeks ago for breakfast.
It is like God is sending fertiliser with all these people that have emerged suddenly who want to help us grow here at PCC. It’s very exciting and I am so thankful but I also know know that we must grab this opportunity with both hands or it will be gone. These next 6 months are critical for us to grow and Paul and I have accepted this challenge on behalf of the church. No apologies!
The upshot of all this is that Robin is coming on board as Assistant Pastor and Worship Leader for the next 6 months to help fill 2 big gaps - pastoral care which we’ve always had a gap, and to provide a music ministry. We will launch this next and you’ll get to meet some of these people I’ve spoken of.
Please know that the DNA of the church is not changing, the open style, the weekly communion, share care and prayer, the preaching of the Word, they all remain because they have proven unshakable. Neither are we becoming an Elim Church.
But music and pastoral care are very important gaps for us to fill if PCC is to grow. And as elders we are grateful to have the spiritual oversight from Pastor Luke Brough, someone who has proven knowledge in growing a church.
Our passage for today is brief but follows on from the story of the fig tree and the healing of the woman with a spirit of infirmity that we heard last week.
Luke 13:18-19
Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
The Kingdom of God grows from the smallest and humblest of beginnings. Who would have thought a baby born in an obscure little village, in a stable, whose bed was a manger, would become the one who would influence all of history and save the World?
This prophecy about the Kingdom of God growing to such a size that it would provide shelter and community for everyone would have seemed impossible when it was written, but here we are 2000 years later with a global church that does exactly that in every nation of the world.
Luke 13:20-21
And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”
The church is the visible evidence of the Kingdom of God but the second parable tells another truth - that the Kingdom of God grows unseen in the human heart and the growth is also exponential.
The Kingdom of God works from the inside out, transforming individuals and societies quietly but completely. The kingdom grows unseen and only becomes evident later. You may not see the growth inside person until suddenly and inevitably it blossoms like a fruit tree in Spring. How many times have you heard of someone you never thought would become a Christian suddenly making a confession of faith and then you see the transformed life on display.
Both of these short parables remind us that God's work is unstoppable, whether it is visibly changing the world or invisibly changing a human heart.
If we think of this for PCC, we can have the courage to respond to the clear direction God provides and move forward with this vision. We admit that we are small but we believe the life will grow unimaginably in God’s hands, even reaching out into the World, which is amazing to think of. God is able to multiply the little we give him, just like he did with the 5 loaves and 2 fish which fed the crowd of 5000 men.
I’m going to challenge you today with something for you to reflect on. It’s not an instruction, it’s something to consider because we have a project on our hands and projects are an investment in the future. They change the future. What do you want to see for your grandchildren, do you want to leave a legacy behind? We’re all standing on the shoulders of someone else who’s been through this church and given their tithes and offerings and we want to honour that by delivering a legacy.
You need to start thinking in your network - who can I invite and bring because things are going to happen and we don’t want to miss the opportunity. God is doing a new thing.
Let’s have a coffee break and we’ll come back and look at last years financials. I’ll publish a link to the presentation in this week’s newsletter.
- You can find a summary of the PCC accounts on the Charities Register
- Search for Papatoetoe Community Church
- Annual Returns
- You can also find the original trust deed under Charity Documents for those of you interested in our rules of governance.
No comments:
Post a Comment