29th October 2017: A Q&A with Geoff and Sherry Surratt

Today’s ‘preach’ is a Q&A session with Geoff and Sherry Surratt who engage with Kerith-sized churches and help facilitate their growth.

Ben: What brought you here to Kerith?

G+S: We first came to Europe (Portugal) about 8 years ago, to a leadership conference where we met with leaders from several UK churches. We were amazed at what God is doing, at the desire for God – in the US people hear stories of church decline, but that’s not what we encountered.  We met Becci Oliver and Heather Pocock there and kept in touch afterwards, talking over leadership issues

Ben: Tell us a bit about your background?

G: We were married at 19 & 20, and we’ve been in ministry for about 35 years.  We went to a small church; it grew, had multiple services, and wanted to expand – but was refused permission for a larger building, so instead it opened up a second site .. and then a third.  G ‘s job became one of looking for new sites – we ended up with 14 sites serving 12000 over 12 years of work.  Other churches came visiting, to learn from what we had done.  Since then we’ve moved around a bit, I’m currently serving as an interim pastor in a Denver church.

S: I started out trying to answer the question “How do we help a church leader take an idea an implement it?”.  We formed “Mum’s International” an organisation help churches set up small groups for mothers and toddlers, reaching those who wouldn’t otherwise be in church.  It’s Now called “Orange Family Ministry” where the orange stands for the combination of red (family love) and yellow (church light).  We produce a curriculum for children’s work, which Kerith has now adopted.

Ben: for the record, G+S have written a book on forming multi-site churches which the Kerith leadership have used to help shape their thinking on the way forward for Kerith.

Ben: So tell us about your marriage?

G: We’ve been together about 35 years, so its all e perfect, or course. Or maybe not …  Some years ago we were working in a Texas church.  It was culturally difficult, we were both working really hard to make things work.  There wasn’t much time for family or kids, but I’d not heard anything bad, so I assumed all was OK.  But one day Sherry was obviously upset; she said she felt lost, she didn’t know who she was supposed to be and we never talked of anything except work.  I hoped things would pass, and nothng more was said for a month or two - but when we next talked at a retreat,we  concluded our marriage was basically over.  At the retreat, S just said ‘I want to be friends again’ – and that was the start of a journey back.

S: the lessons we learnt were:

·         Have honest, earnest conversations

·         We hadn’t been in the habit of praying together, but we learnt to be comfortable with praying out loud together – it’s hard to keep resentment for someone who has been praying out loud for you!

·         For me, it’s hard to be a busy working mum, meeting all those expectations of perfection. I learnt I needed to take a few minutes out of busy-ness every day and listen to God.  You’ll never be doing things perfectly, but he’ll maybe tell you it’s OK – relax!

·         Enjoy the moment you’re in, because those times pass fast.

G – praying out loud a good example to kids, too.

S: In the midst of everything, the verse I hold in my heart is Zeph 3:17 (NLT).

“For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Ben: do you think these family lessons are applicable to church, too?

G: some of them are.  Back at the first church we spoke over, we encountered lots of growing pains as the church developed.  We liked the feel of the small church - everyone knew everyone, and it was comfortable.  As the church spread over more sites we lost touch with friends; everyone gave money and time to causes [sites] that we wouldn’t see anything back from; and we changed behaviours and practices we loved, to accommodate new members who didn’t come from a background that would appreciate them.  Soon church members didn’t last out the change, and stopped coming – so there was sadness along the way.  My life’s verse, though is Eph 2:10 (NLT):

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago

So, despite sadness, God plans our lives to become a masterpiece; we, and the church, are better for making the hard changes.

Questions

How do you keep Jesus at the centre of your life at home, in a way that draws you and your family together? What habits and practices would you want to pass on to others?

Kerith is growing, and like G+S’s church, that means it too will change.  How do you feel about that?

·         Are you prepared to embrace change for the greater good of others?

·         Are there things which you couldn’t imaging giving up, so much so that you’d rather change churches if it meant you could keep them?

Ten Talks – What Old Testament Character Do You Relate To Most?

We will have had different speakers at our sites today.  Below are some general questions, as well as a summary and specific questions from the 9:30am talks in Bracknell.

Questions

1. What Old Testament character do you relate to most, and why?

2. What talks did you hear on Sunday, and which Old Testament characters were spoken about?  [It may help to look up some of the key Bible verses they used]

3. What is the most important thing you felt God say to you?

4. What can you do this week to help you put that into practice?

Wendy Jackson on Jonah

Wendy spoke on the different stages in Jonah’s ministry:

1. Jonah the celebrity prophet.  He had successfully prophesied the return of land to Israel (2 Kings 14 v 25).

2. Jonah the runaway prophet.  He did not want to prophesy to his enemies in Nineveh (Jonah 1 v 3).

3. Jonah the repentant prophet.  In the belly of the big fish, he repented and was willing to go to Nineveh (Jonah 2 v 1,9).

4. Jonah the obedient prophet.  He went and prophesied to Nineveh, and the people repented (Jonah 3 v 3, 10).

5. Jonah the cranky prophet.  God dealt with Nineveh graciously, but Jonah was not happy (Jonah 4 v 2).

Wendy shared how she was concerned that one of her daughter’s school friends was leading her astray.  Like Jonah she wanted to run away from this enemy, and for her daughter to have nothing more to do with her.  However, she came to see that Jesus wanted her to show grace, love and kindness to this girl.  She did this, and God worked powerfully.

Question: Who would we see as our enemy, but Jesus wants to us show them love and grace?

Sam Jackson on the writer of Ecclesiastes

Sam spoke on the question “What is the meaning of life?”.

We live in a “post-modern” world that is “post-truth” or “post-meaning”.  The question people ask in the 21st century is not “What is the meaning of life?” but “Why should I bother with such deep questions?”

The writer of Ecclesiastes says that everything in life is meaningless (1 v 1).

Some people think they have not yet found the meaning of life, and so defer thinking about it until they have a job, a partner, or reached a future goal.  People can also distract themselves with acquiring things.  However, all this is meaningless and can eventually lead to cynicism and even despair.

Sam shared how he had struggled to hold on to his faith and identity in Christ during his university course on ‘politics, philosophy and religion’.  Ecclesiastes says that even the quest to find meaning itself can be wearisome (12 v 12), but the way to find meaning is simply to cling to God and keep his commandments (12 v 13).  We find meaning and identity in God. 

This side of the cross, we know God through relationship with Jesus Christ.  The meaning of life is to love God.  We need to make Jesus the centre of our life and he will give us meaning and purpose day by day.

Question: What are you doing to strengthen your relationship with Jesus each day?

Marcus Gore on Job

Job was the greatest man in the East at the time, righteous and wealthy.  God allows Satan to test Job, to see if his worship of God is superficial, and whether Job will still worship God when things are really hard.

Job receives news that he has suffered huge financial losses (his sheep and cattle are stolen), his children have been killed in a building collapse, and his servants murdered in an enemy raid.

Job surprisingly responds with worship and praise ‘At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”’ 1 v 20.

What would we do if things like this happened to us?  It may be best to start with the small things that annoy us – like being held up at a red light or caught out in the rain.  The challenge for us is to worship and praise God whatever adverse circumstances we face.

Question: Are you facing some tough situation and need to choose to worship and praise God?

15 October 2017 - Being Fully Present - Paul Manwaring

During his message Paul led a time of ministry on the three themes of past, present, future. He also spoke and prayed about infertility. To hear his message in full, please visit: http://kerith.church/audio/sermons/20171015_PaulManwaring.mp3


15 X 2017 - Being Fully Present [Paul Manwaring]
Paul illustrated his message by using three chairs on stage to represent the past, present & future.

The nature of the gospel is that it has a past, a present and a future.

• All of us have ‘our’ gospel, not a variation of truth but the experience of the truth of the gospel in our lives.
• The word gospel simply means good news.
• The gospel promises victory from our past, a better today and the promise of a better future.
• Everyone brings with them a past, lives in the present and dreams of the future.
• Our past contains our testimonies. But if we have regret it will cancel the power of our testimonies and we will not be present as we are living in regret.
• Our future carries our dreams and prophecies but if we live in fear we will not be present today as our minds will be worrying about the future....
• ...And if we live in doubt, comparison and shame we will not be fully present today. (i.e. we’re not even in the chair, we’re behind it!)
• The present is the only place which we can act from, we bring our testimonies into the present and they become sources of strength. We plan for and invest in our futures from the present.

Past, present, future:

• Regret gives me a past without victory or value.
• Fear gives me a future without God in it
• Shame gives me a present without me in it.

Dealing with regret.

• Philippians 3:13. Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.
• 1 Corinthians 7:10. A repentance without regret

Dealing with fear

• 1 Tim 1:18. Take the prophetic word and with it fight. (Paul’s paraphrase)
• 2 Tim 1:7. God has not given me a spirit of fear.

Dealing with shame.

• Isaiah 53:4. He bore our sorrows and our shame.
• Isaiah 61:7. Instead of shame a double portion

The greatest challenge is leading yourself. Here are four challenges:

• Believing my story. Where my authority comes from.
• Knowing me. Where my confidence comes from.
• Managing me. Where my integrity comes from.
• Leading me. Where my followers come from.

Let’s be fully present, for others and him. (Shame is destroyed by authenticity.)

• Acts 17:28. In him we live and move and have our being.
• Psalm 46:1. A very present help in time of trouble.
• Luke 4. Jesus returned to Nazareth and stood up and read. The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me. Let’s do the same. Confidence with character, not putting ourselves down or allowing others to do so.

Questions:

1. How do you view your past? (What is the past of the nation you live in?)
2. What regrets dominate your thinking and stop you from living in the present?
3. How is fear of the future stopping you from acting now and living in the present?
4. Turning away from regret or fear does not have to be a one-step process. What first steps can you take to live in the present?

1st October 2017 - Sola Osinoiki: The Privilege of Serving in the house of God

Kerith Sermon: 1^st October 2017.

Sola Osinoiki: The Privilege of Serving in the house of God

Gal 6v9 ‘And let us not loose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right. For in due time at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our faith’

To Reap – means a seed will become fruit when you sow it. You will receive something back. However the reality is that we may be forgotten.

Gen 40:23…… The background to this story is that Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery to work for Potiphar. He ended up on jail, where was not bound by chains and in prison he used his gift to bless people. A baker and a butler had the dreams and Joseph interpreted the dreams which eventually came true. However, once the butler was freed, he forgot all about how Joseph helped him. 

For us sometimes we serve, and it feels that we are forgotten. We may help and serve at church events but feel we are not acknowledged. Remember He does not forget.

In Gen 41:2 it continues to read ‘After 2 full years, Pharaoh dreams he was standing by the Nile’ …and then the butler remembered Joseph.

Remember, if you keep doing what is good, in due time, you will reap your reward. For Joseph this took two full years.

Esther 6: 1 ‘On that night, the king could not sleep so ordered that the book of records… be read before the King’. The memorable deeds and chronicles were read to the king so that he could go to sleep….

v3: ‘ “What honour and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.’

It might feel that your service was forgotten, 10 years ago, 3 months ago etc but Jesus still calls your name and asks what honour or distinction has been given to you as a daughter and son of His. Jesus intervenes for us.

The bible teaches us that even our enemies will surrender. If you have applied for a job and has never replied to you, your boss has overlooked your promotion Jesus has not forgotten and your service (whenever it occurred) will be remembered.

When you feel forgotten, remember that all heaven is asking ‘what is to be done for this women / man? For people who have served for years?’  The angels are looking for what shall be done for you as a servant.

In Esther, a robe and horse was given to Mordecai he was proclaimed among the Kingdom. Within the tragedy and death of this story, the result was turned around for him to be honoured.

Ex 17 v8 ‘The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.  Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” ‘

The background to this story is that Amalek came to fight Israel. Moses turned to Joshua and asked him to take men to the battlefield. Moses rose to the hilltop and together they will fight.

Israel prevailed when Moses hand were held high. Aaron and Hur helped Moses hold his hand up high. And Joshua ‘mowed down the people by the sword’.

This is how work is done in the house. How we need to be a team. We can’t just have a welcoming team in a church, we need the prayers in a church, we need the doers, we need preachers, we need cleaners…all of us together …..to make church work.

Luke 17:10 When I have done all I am supposed to do, I am but an unworthy servant ….but why is this? The reality is that we are unworthy because we can only do what we do because somebody volunteered. The greatest volunteer of the church is:

Isiah 6v8…’Also I heard the voice of the lord saying, whom shall I send? And whom shall go for us? Then said Here I am, send me’. He could have sent many angels out, He chose to send Himself. We serve in the shadow of the cross.

I cast my mind to Calvary where Jesus bled and died for me. If He did not die we have no message to preach, no building to build and no cars to park. But He died because He loves us. Jesus, compelled by love, volunteered to die for us. We are celebrating our ability to serve in the shadow of the cross.

Hebrews 10v7 ‘Then I said, here I am coming to do your will, O God what is written of me in the volume of the books’. …..V8 continues to say ‘to do thy will’.

Volunteering is the wrong word – privileged to serve is the correct word.

Let’s celebrate all those who volunteer, all those that are yet to volunteer…by doing it in the shadow of the cross. The one who paid the price on the cross for you and I. So that you are not forgotten!

Questions:

What is your part in church?

What do you have to offer?

What hinders you from having the privilege to serve?

When did you last show appreciation to others that serve?