Northside Church - Sydney
Saying YES to God
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Now, David Solomon can't answer this question because for reasons it'll become obvious, but when I say the word yes, which large company do you associate that word with? Optus, they said, in resounding unison. You know, some research tells us that 86% of people questioned, polled, can relate the word yes to Optus. That's an amazing percentage. And that would be the delight, that would delight the ears of any advertising man must do so with the crowd who thought that up. I can record, I don't say it was a defining moment, but I can remember in 1992 when this slogan was launched, driving down Anzac Highway in Adelaide and seeing the first billboard that said yes. And I can remember distinctly saying yes, what, yes, so what? I mean, like yes, how crazy is that for a slogan? Optus, yes. Well, someone did their research because here we are still talking about it and that essential, that basic advertising campaign has not changed since 1982. Guys, let's be honest, yes can be a powerful word when it's in response to the right question. It's a terrible word when it's in response to the wrong question. Did I miss out on the job? Yes. Did I fail the exam? Yes. Officer, are you going to book me? Yes. Doc, do I need root canal work? Yes. I mean, these are the sort of answers you don't want to hear yes to, but when it's in response to the right question, yes is a very powerful and potentially it's a life-changing word. Are you going to loan us the money? Yes. So, the test came back all clear? Yes. Will you marry me? Yes. I said to Bev all those years ago. Memory is very, very foggy, but more than this, more than this, in the work and ministry of God's kingdom, yes is the word that unleashes his power, his grace, his justice, his mercy. You think of all the men and women, both in the Bible and those who've come since, who've said yes to the call of God on their lives in response to what he had in mind for them in his world. Abraham said yes and a nation was born, a nation through whom the Messiah would come. Moses said yes, that same nation was released from captivity. Esther said yes in a very difficult moment for the nation and the nation was delivered. Those first century fishermen of whom we read just a moment ago, they said yes and the world was changed forever, Saul changed his name to Paul, said yes and became the most significant leader of the first century church. And friends, since biblical times, there have been countless numbers of people, politicians, reformers, writers, preachers, missionaries, some high profile, some very ordinary, but all have said yes to the call of God on their lives and they've all contributed to the impact of Christianity over the history of the world. And at the end of the 20th century, at the beginning of the 21st century, a group of just under 300 Christians, meeting in a lower North Shore church, said yes to God when the opportunity came to establish an exciting ministry and conference center. And friends, since that initial yes, we have said as a church, yes on many, many occasions, resulting in people being one to Christ, resulting in missional initiatives being undertaken to benefit and to serve families and children, parents, married couples, those preparing for marriage, those going through the pain of divorce and separation, senior people and singles looking for friendship, teenagers and all the struggles that they have, those struggling in the inner city of our city have been served and blessed because we've said yes to God. People living in Uganda, Vanuatu, Madagascar, and way back at the beginning of my ministry, something I meant to remind the filament of our load, I'm sure he remembers, we gave as a church $10,000 for the purchase of a new ambulance back in the year two, in 1999. So these are the countries we've impacted in a direct way and so many more in an indirect way as north side is based on what they've experienced here in ministry have gone off into faraway places and within Australia on independent mission trips and made their own mark for the cause of Christ. And friends, here we are at the beginning of a new year. The holidays are over and our people are returning and our various ministries are being launched as we heard earlier, and there is no reason why this should not be our very best year of ministry. As you know, I approach every year on that basis. There is no reason why this year cannot be our very best year, our most effective and our most successful year in ministry. But here's the thing I want to put to us this morning. That success and that effectiveness will be dependent on our willingness to give a resounding yes to a series of questions from God himself, questions designed to test our level of faith, questions that are going to test our willingness to take risks, that are going to test our reliance on God. Five questions I believe God would ask us this morning, here's the first one, do you acknowledge this is my church? Now a yes answer to that question means that I relinquish, you relinquish any control we may want to have over the church to ensure that it really fits into our idea of what a church should be. A yes answer means that the leadership and the ministry team and all of us will earnestly and intentionally seek God's heart, put his agenda for this church as number one. We'll seek his agenda, not ours, in his letter to the Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, Paul says this, "I'm sure that God who began this good work in you will carry it on until it is finished on the day of Jesus Christ. I'm sure that God who began a good work, God is the initiator. He's the sustainer of all the good things, all the productive things, all the eternal things within his church. Here's the one in whom we live and move and have our very being." Here's the second question from God, do you believe I want my church to grow? Friends, I'm using the word grow to cover all areas of growth, numerical, spiritual, every other area of growth you can think of. Not to answer yes to this question is to severely inhibit and restrict a local church in its witness and its influence in the world. It's a source of great disappointment to me, as I look over my years of ministry, that more local churches haven't said yes to this question. They've reached a point, one minister, one adequate building for their needs, and that's where it stops. That will always be a source of great disappointment to me, the lack of vision. First on the belief that God wants his church to grow, Jesus said, "I will build my church." He didn't say I will sustain it, I'll keep it afloat for as long as I can. He said, "I will build it. I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." That's an image of a church on the offensive. There's a church with significant momentum. It's actually crashing up against the gates of hell. When we say yes to God's desire for his church to grow this morning, here's the third question, "Will you let me use you?" From the moment when Jesus said to his disciples, "You will be my witnesses," from that moment everything changed. From that moment, the Christian church has always involved the willing availability of ordinary people like you and me to carry out the work of ministry. God directed, empowered of course by the Holy Spirit, but Jesus had no plan B. When he ascended, having just given that great challenge to the disciples, we were the plan. The body of Christ, the church of Jesus Christ, we are the plan. He has no other plan. Will you allow me to use you? He asks today. Here's the next question, "Will you trust me?" Have he got saying that to you and he's certainly saying to me, "Will you trust me?" Notice each of these questions takes us a little deeper into our relationship with Jesus. It's one thing to acknowledge that it's his church. It's one thing to acknowledge that he wants his church to grow, but to make ourselves available to serve, to be used in his great cause. That's something else. But then to be willing to trust, that involves risk. That involves vulnerability. That involves faith. It means that the life and the witness of the church is not restricted to our availability, but to his ability. It's not restricted to what we think is a God-honoring, faith-inspiring vision, but to what he thinks is a God-honoring, faith-inspired vision. Invariably, that sort of thinking leads individuals and churches into plans and visions which will not come off unless God shows up. They just won't happen without trust in the fact that he will show up. We've had many of those moments here at Northside during our 30-plus-year history. Here's the final question, "Will you give me the praise and the glory?" Friends, this is in no way an expression of arrogance or self-obsession by God. It's simply his way of ensuring his people don't get carried away claiming credit for achievements that really aren't theirs. It's his way of guarding against us, starting to take pride in outcomes which have clearly come from the hand of God. When he was right into the Ephesian Church, Paul said this in the third chapter, verses 20 and 21, "To him, by means of his power, working in us, is able to do much more than we can ever ask or even think of, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever, our men, things were happening." The church was exploding, Paul had the focus right. It wasn't all about him. It wasn't all about the Ephesians and the Philippians and the Corinthians. It was about God. To him be the glory. This is where our life in Jesus Christ is such a fulfilling lifestyle. It is so satisfying because as we see lives transformed, situations impacted for good, hurting people, healed, we see all that, we rejoice in it, we just can't take the credit for it. It's just that's the great humbler. Friends, when do you stand in relation to these five questions this morning? I asked myself the question first, where do I stand in relation to these five questions? Can you say yes to these this morning? There's a way of ensuring that we move into this year in a way that will impact people, in a way that will transform lives and make a huge mark on this community and places elsewhere? Can we say yes to those five questions this morning? This week, it's 40 years this week since a young 24-year-old man stood at the stairs of the entrance to the College of the Bible in Melbourne to begin his four years of full-time training. He had said yes to God. That young man all those years ago, of course, with a big shock of hair, was yours truly. I was reflecting on those 40 years, four years of training, 36th of full-time ministry, and trying to crystallize what have been some of my main motivational components in my ministry. That was the basis of getting those five questions for the message this morning. They have the five questions I think have come through most strongly to me as a pastor. I'd already said yes to receive Jesus Christ. I'd already said yes to God's plan of eternal salvation. But once in the sick of it, once in the ministry, once in the training and then the application of the training, they've been the five questions that have been at the heart of all that I've sought to do for Jesus Christ. They're simple. They're not rocket science, but I believe they are the mark by which we measure effectiveness and success in ministry. Can you say yes to God this morning? By His grace, I'm praying for His strength, I'm going to say yes. I'm saying yes today, again, in this new year, I'm saying yes to those questions. Will you join me? Let's pray. [BLANK_AUDIO]