My message last Sunday morning was entitled, “Excited about Jesus” and this is a catchphrase for what I believe is a great way to give Jesus a central place in the church and in our lives.

It seemed to me that God has a proposition for us. Live by faith and not by sight, and rest especially upon on the finished work of Christ, what Jesus has accomplished for you on the cross. And the Holy Spirit and the power of God will draw men to Jesus, build the church, and substantiate every hope that you rightfully have in Christ Jesus.

Now don’t you think that being excited about Jesus especially about what he accomplished for us on the cross is a great distinguishing quality that we can have as a church and as individuals.

You know what brands are? They assure people looking for a product or a service of its quality. They promise to deliver on a set of expectations.

Wouldn’t it be great if we can all agree to build NLV’s brand based on Jesus. Resting upon God’s promise that “When Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all men to himself.” Being especially excited about what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross.

Wouldn’t it great if being excited about Jesus is a vision which unites us all at the foot of the cross and moves the church forward?

Severally weeks ago, I shared at NLV about what the main and plain meant for us.

It was part of my continuing effort to communicate clearly about who we are. I did not really share anything new, not new to the people who have been coming to church for some time, I hope. Because the stuff I shared has been talked about many times before, and again hopefully, modelled and practiced by me.

John Wimber had used the phrase to mean sticking with the main things that are taught in scripture, and the things that are plainly taught in scripture. John had a profound theological and philosophical pre-supposition about life: Remember the Coke jingle, “Things goes better with coca cola… things goes better with coke.” Well, John simply believed that things go better with Jesus. I guess that is what the main and plain boils down to.

It’s like getting back to basics with the main and plain. But you could also say that it is like getting to know what the essential things are and to do them well. And so I said that the main and plain should explain the distinctiveness of NLV, and answer the question “What’s the difference with you guys?”

Do you want to know the greatest challenge I have set for myself as pastor?

It is to introduce people to a God of wonder. I really believe that the Church is build upon a revelation of God, and knowing the wonder of God, the wonder of heaven on earth.

What is more, since joining the Vineyard movement, it has surprised me to see that in gospel accounts, Jesus’ main message was that in him God’s kingdom has come, heaven has come to earth.

Another basic truth which I have discovered is that God is always working. And the good news is that our Father in heaven is intent on advancing his kingdom on earth. So what you and I need to do (and learn to do) is to see what the Father is doing. Look for who God has come upon, or drawing into kingdom, or see how (the manner) he is advancing his kingdom. Then organize yourself around that!

The next thing is see yourself as limited but God as unlimited (the Lord is truly sovereign).

I have said a number of times that little can used to accomplish much in the hands of God. Like the rod (a piece of dead wood) of Moses, five loaves and two fish of the little boy, like you and I. This is simply because of the incredibly great power (of God) which is at work in the lives of those who believe. All of these form the basis for what we call being naturally supernatural.

Jesus also taught that what mattered above all was for us to love God and to love other people. Jesus treasured intimacy with the Father.

And you know what? Mercy and compassion are the very things that God extended to us when he saved us. And so in the words of John, “If we ever ignore the poor and needy, we are as good as dead as a church!” Try to separate power, from mercy and compassion. The patient will not survive the surgery.

Enough of my ramblings, I believe that NLV has developed five distinctive traits which result from our desire to uphold and adhere to the main and plain. What they are and what they mean in practice are described below:

1) Intimacy with the Father
And so we prioritize worship, prayer, word/truth or Bible based teaching and a personal daily devotional life including the Bible study.

2) Being relational
Jesus modelled hanging out with one another, doing the ministry stuff, being there for one another, being accepting and caring people. And discipleship is by modelling like Jesus did it for the 12.

I said that at the end of the day looking back, people probably won’t remember, and don’t care what was preached or how worship was led, as much as they will remember that you were their friend, and remember the times when you came alongside when things got bad for them.

Praying together, sharing meals, fun @ vineyard loft and meeting in small groups are simple ways to be relational.

3) Naturally supernatural
This is being Spirit dependent, operating in the gifts of the spirit, and expecting that God’s presence, power and grace can breakthrough at any time into our lives and circumstances.

Amongst other things, being naturally supernatural means a “no hype, no manipulation” approach to worship leading, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We do not try to drum anything up; rather, we, like Jesus, look to the Father to see what he is doing at any given point in time, and we try to get on board with what God wants to do.

We rely on the gifts of the Holy Spirit when we pray for one another. As the body of Christ gathers together God works through different people for the benefit of the group. Therefore, we have found that God often gives specific direction or reveals prophetic insights to guide the ministry times.

Someone commented that we seem to have a disproportionately high level of anointing on people in NLV exercising prophecy. Yaay! And as I was writing I was reminded of Nigel’s dream of 500 people at an NLV service and God saying, “Get ready”.

And I am tickled pink by the picture which Chun Wai shared. The one of a fisherman standing on boat with line cast out to the sea, whale secretly tugs on it and chuckles to itself when the fisherman reels vigorously like mad to reel the fish in, but does not realize how big the fish really is! This is a picture of the huge stuff that God will achieve with little unsuspecting ole us. Much can be accomplished in the hands of a huge and awesome God.

God has really been so gracious with us in the financial area in the last two years as we have shared with you. Plus what can I say about Ethan?

4) Everyone gets to play
Everyone gets to do the stuff Jesus did.

Your pastors are the preparers. Everyone, all of us are the ministers, serving God and serving one another, including those who do not yet know God.

We don’t see ministry as being church bound, i.e. something that is just done in our meetings. It is shaped by who you are and where you happen to be (and what the Holy Spirit is showing you there and then!) The significance of your service is not dictated by numbers and the best result could be got by simply ministering to people “one by one”.

5) Valuing people
We prefer to promote people instead of programs. We prefer to take risk with people rather than with programs.

We prefer to rally people and resources behind a person who has already shown passion and leadership for say a Mercy Works or Missions project, then do it the other way: the pastors plan the project and then try to get leadership and passion going for it.

My wish to be used by God to speak life to life: speak God’s promises, and the life of the risen Christ into your life. To call you back to what God has in store for you. To help you set your BHAGS (big hairy audacious goals), and connect the dots to fulfil God’s custom designed destiny for you.

“When members expect the pastor to do kingdom stuff alone, the church dies.”

When we say we are planting a church we are actually planting the kingdom. The whole idea is that the mission of the church is an extension of the mission of God. Church planting is not the end result; the kingdom is the end result.

We seek to become a culturally appropriate expression of the Body of Christ in the context of the people we are targeting to reach. How do they express enthusiasm? How do they express gratefulness? What kind of values are held dear? How can we incorporate all that into our church context?

The biggest challenge that a church planter has is probably the critical mass. “I don’t have much to invite them to. All I have is this vision!”

You may be surprised to learn that “pastoring” and church planting are different. You can pastor and grow a big church and not actually like people. You can be a grouch, as long as you can preach well and lead your staff adequately. You can’t do that and church plant; you’ve are the primary attraction, so to speak. And if all you have got is this vision, you jolly well learn how to communicate that effectively. If over time that and whoever you got get the cultural expression right, then you have got the beginnings of something to invite people to.

Yesterday’s meetings were sweet, and we loved the way everyone expressed what NLV is about!

In a book by John Eldredge called “Walking the dead” John says, “Good grief” like Charlie Brown in the peanut cartoon. “Life is brutal!” And he then asks the question, “What is really going on here?”

Now let us ask you this question. “Have you ever sensed that what is, is not what is meant to be?” I have  always said that I do not care too much for stories or movies that don’t have a good ending.

But why are we so enchanted by movies, novels or fairy tales that have a good ending? And most good ending involves a transformation.

Like the ugly duckling becomes a beautiful swan.

Cinderella, the ill treated poor step daughter becomes queen.

Pinocchio becomes a real boy.

The frog becomes a prince.

The best ending is where hope beyond hope, the principle characters are all transformed into the very thing they never thought they could be!

Why is life so hard? What’s really going on here? Why do we long to have good endings? We have the answers.

The kingdom of this world is not the kingdom of God. We have an enemy of God, Satan who is the prince of this world. He rules over it but with usurped authority. Therefore what the world is now is not what God had meant it to be.

The good news we have as Christians is that God in the person of Jesus, through his life, death and resurrection, launched a divine invasion to overthrow evil, and establish his loving and powerful rule.

There is this desperately longing for certain things in all of us and the reason for that is simply that we are desperately longing for what was lost!

Now let us tell you what was lost:

Man had a divine purpose and authoritative role. He was significant, made to rule over the other living creatures created by God. Genesis 1:28.

After God created Adam and Eve he blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Occupy the earth and conquer it, subdue it. Rule over the other living creatures.”

Secondly, all of man’s needs were provided for. He enjoyed safety and security. He was completely cared for in the garden; had plenty to eat. Genesis 1:29.

Thirdly, man had a sense of belonging; One-on-one communion with God. Genesis 2:18. God also gave Eve to Adam. And Adam and Eve were to start a community. (It is not good for anyone to be alone! Aloneness easily leads to loneliness.) Man enjoyed intimacy – meaningful, open, sharing relationships!

We were made for God’s purpose; given authority and significance.

We were made for trusting in and depending on God to provide all of our needs. There was another tree in the Garden of Eden, the tree of life. God’s desire for us from day one is to have life, a life that has purpose and significance, based upon our willingness to trust and depend fully on him.

Thirdly, we were made for relating with God and with one another; for a life of belonging and intimate relationships.

When we say, “made for” we mean like a fish is made to swim in water and an eagle is made to soar in the air. All of you will have seen a fish flopping about when it taken out of water. Imagine the eagle in water and the fish out of it, and you will begin to have sense of what’s really going on here!

Every day people get wounded over and over again.

Instead of divine purpose and significance – which is what they are made for – people simply run in the rat race. The only way that they know how to have purpose and significance – is to get good grades, get a good qualification, get a good job, be a good person. Finally have a nice funeral, with many people turning up to pay their last respects.

The only measure of purpose and significance they know are material things: Two or more if you can afford it, bigger and bigger cars and houses, more important titles.

Instead of authority all they know is weaknesses and helplessness. They have no idea how to beat the system. So they pour all their hopes and dreams and lives into getting ahead with the system. Become a scholar, or be rich and famous. The other alternatives are not so nice, which is to oppress those who are weaker, like your maids or junior staff or the car park attendant or waitress who was slow in serving you.

Instead of being secure and having abundant resources, people now find that provisions and security cannot be taken for granted. Nowadays nothing is certain and for sure: In business, as an employed staff. It is the same.

Finally, instead of belonging and intimate relationships there is strife, and a lack of trust. Rejection has replaced acceptance. One of the strongest pressures in our society is peer pressure. We all share a fear of rejection!

Christians have the good news of God’s move of restoration in Christ Jesus although sometimes we are mistaken as the bearers of bad news for merely pointing out the truth about the fallen state of the world. But we know what has been lost and what people are desperately longing for. And we believe that the church has a key role to play in God’s plan of restoration.

NLV enjoys a rich Vineyard legacy and heritage. We are a new wine skin for something that God will uniquely accomplish through us for the people that he has prepared in advance for us. We will spend ourselves to equip our people to understand their purpose and significance in Christ. Vineyard’s adoption of the kingdom of God view is deeply rooted. Therefore the exercising of kingdom authority – doing the stuff that Jesus did including the works that are called signs and wonders will be a part of our new life.

In NLV we are fully convinced that if we live a life of faith, trust in and dependence on the Spirit, we will experience both kingdom breakthrough and God’s grace and favor – the abundant and full life promised by Jesus. We stand firmly on God’s promise His grace abounds to us, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good works. Have you not experienced this already with us?

NLV believes that Christian fellowship is not just something the church ought to provide, it is something necessary the church must provide. Vineyard’s value of relationship will always influence the way we do church. We will build community, and one that flows out of intimacy with the Father.

Read Acts 2:42-47. This is the Vineyard model. Meeting our desperate longing for what is lost! What the world is now is not what God had meant it to be. But in Christ Jesus all that was lost has been fully restored. We have the authority and infinite resources in the Holy Spirit. And God’s power is at work in us to transform us into the likeness of Jesus. What a great ending to our story.