Truth in a Post Truth World
Series: TRUTH
Speaker: Matthew Sleeman
Date: 14th August 2019
00:00:00 --> 00:00:08 Nearly 2 years ago, Pontius Pilate, when Jesus was on trial, asked the question, what is truth?
00:00:09 --> 00:00:13 Within John's Gospel, as John recounts that situation,
00:00:13 --> 00:00:17 Pilate's question hangs there on a theological level,
00:00:17 --> 00:00:22 as the one who is the truth is on trial before Pilate.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:27 Pontius Pilate's question also hangs there on a cultural level.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:34 Every culture we live in has its truth claims and has a truth culture.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:41 And what I'd like to do to begin with is to see if we can move this along.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 I'll hand that to Steve and see if he can move that along one for me.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:50 Going to look at changes in an Australian truth culture since 1999.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 Why pick 1999? It's the close of the old century.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 It gives us two decades to consider.
00:00:56 --> 00:01:03 And there are six areas that I think the truth culture of Australia has changed over those times.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:07 I wonder if you can think what's changed in Australia over the last 20 years
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 and see if I pick them up in my six here.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:16 First of all, do you remember the events of 9-11 and the subsequent terrorist threats
00:01:16 --> 00:01:21 that have poured cold water on what was the so-called end of history
00:01:21 --> 00:01:25 that was meant to have come with the end of the Cold War?
00:01:25 --> 00:01:30 Do you remember those Australian security announcements and adverts?
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 We're alert but not alarmed.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 I can never quite say that without a faux Australian accent.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:43 But I wonder, really, were you, are we, alert but not alarmed?
00:01:43 --> 00:01:48 Or is there a shadow edge of alarm that creeps in to our alertness?
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 Even yesterday's stabbing in Sydney, that immediate thought,
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 is this a terror plot?
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 Is this part of something bigger?
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 We are actually a bit alarmed.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 And fear, fear harms truth.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:09 Second of my events, the GFC, the global financial crisis of the years 2007 to 2008.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:13 Australia survived fairly well compared to other countries.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:19 But a speed bump on the road for individual narratives and national narratives
00:02:19 --> 00:02:23 of growing prosperity generation after generation.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:30 Fears, anxieties, uncertain working lives and patterns as a result.
00:02:32 --> 00:02:37 A heightened concern for self at a national level, at an individual level.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 Again, that harms truth.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:46 Third, digital revolutions, in the plural, and their radical effects on everyday life.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 Who's got a phone in their pocket here?
00:02:50 --> 00:02:50 Show of hands.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 Who's not got a phone in their pocket?
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 Much fewer of us.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:02 If we'd asked that 20 years ago, that would have been futuristic almost.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:03 Certainly 30 years ago.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:08 But now, the technologies are in our pockets and wrapped around our lives.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:15 And the sheer multiplicity of sources and amplifiers of news and counter news
00:03:15 --> 00:03:19 means that truth becomes harder to track.
00:03:20 --> 00:03:26 Fourth, and related, a shift, a continuing shift from character to personality.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:28 To personality politics.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:33 To personal rights-based agendas for society.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 We might think of particular instances like human sexuality.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:41 But they are just one marker of a wider turn.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:48 A turn in which personalized truth notions rise to the fore.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:50 That are harder to share.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:55 And which find it harder to coexist within a society.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:04 Fifth, a declining confidence in traditional institutions, trade unions, politicians,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:10 experts of all kinds, and churches included as well.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:15 Distrust that corrodes collective truth.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:21 Sixth and finally, what we might call the Anthropocene.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 A new age dawning.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:30 An age of human intervention on the planet that brings about weather extremities.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:35 Trigger thresholds crossed where climates change.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 What will be the effects of this kind of era?
00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 The effects will be many.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:48 But one of them will be a decline of confidence in human ability to control our lives.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:52 The decline of human measures of truth.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 Some good in that.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:59 But also some anti-biblical traits as well.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:04 If we were to summarize these, then there are four letters that could summarize them.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 The letters V-U-C-A.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 An old Cold War code.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:11 VUCA.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:13 The V stands for volatility.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:16 Things change.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 Increasingly so, compared to 20 years ago.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 Life is not as stable as it once was.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 The U stands for uncertainty.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 That change is unpredictable.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 Not easily predicted.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:34 The C.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:36 Life is complex.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:38 Multiple causes.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:40 Not easily unraveled.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 Certainly not easily controlled or manipulated by us.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 A complexity that eludes us in life.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:49 And the A.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:51 Things are ambiguous.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:57 Life and its individual life moments are often hazy.
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 With potential for misreading and misunderstanding.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 We live in a VUCA world.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 Even in the changes.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 Maybe particularly in the changes of the last 20 years.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:14 Where then can we go from this?
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 In a search for truth.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 Well, again, to track through four steps.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:22 And where this sits.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 And we come to Jesus himself.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:30 First of all, I point towards a book written in 1984 by Walsh and Middleton.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 Two writers called The Transforming Vision.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:39 In that book, they set the Christian worldview very clearly against a non-Christian worldview.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 A singular worldview of the wider world.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:47 A neat and confident transforming vision.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:55 Eleven years later, the two writers wrote a second book called Truth is Stranger Than It Used To Be.
00:06:55 --> 00:07:02 Suddenly, back in those days of the 1990s, people were beginning to talk about post-modernity.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Something changing.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 Something afoot.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 Even before our 20 years that we've just looked back on.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:11 A confusing choice.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 Truth as stranger than it used to be.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 But then we can jump forward to the year 2017.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 When fake news was declared to be the word of the year.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 Of course, that could be fake news in and of itself.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:27 Who would tell?
00:07:28 --> 00:07:33 But at that point, and it's not the title of a book, but rather a title of a book, I think ought to be written.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 Truth is a stranger who used to be.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:42 In a sudden overwhelming of choice, who do you trust?
00:07:43 --> 00:07:44 Who do you turn to?
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 Where is truth to be found?
00:07:48 --> 00:07:53 Well, truth is to be found where it always was to be found.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 Even to go back to Pontius Pilate 2 years ago.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:02 Truth is found in the disorienting stranger who needs to be heard.
00:08:02 --> 00:08:07 As theologian Michael Horton has described Jesus himself.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 The disorienting stranger.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:23 The stranger whom the spirit, God's Holy Spirit, has enabled Christians to recognize as the advocate, the ruler, at the fathers, at God's right hand.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:37 But we live in a culture, as Horton also says, where there is a fear of meeting the stranger, even if the stranger is God.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 We might say indeed, particularly when the stranger is God.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:52 This post-truth world, with all its VUCA-like qualities, is a world of fear of the truth.
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 Fear of the truth as the other.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:02 In that sense, it is a world no different to that of John's gospel.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:08 When the light came into the world, in the word of Jesus Christ himself.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:14 And the gospel, the good news of Jesus, points to him.
00:09:15 --> 00:09:20 A matter of relationship and not merely connection.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:26 In my next slide, I think we have, if we move on a few slides.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 Is the little pointer working?
00:09:28 --> 00:09:32 I'll take it back if it is, and see if I can run it from here.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:39 Here we have a city, known and loved.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:43 A city that I've driven many miles around just over the last week.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 That you know, and in which you live.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:55 I want to ask the question, in this post-truth world, what will make the good news about Jesus sticky?
00:09:56 --> 00:09:56 Sticky.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 Connecting in our culture.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:08 In the twilight of our age, what lights are going on?
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 And what lights are dimming?
00:10:11 --> 00:10:18 It can feel that the lights of Christianity are fading, aging, less numerous.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:26 The lights of non-religion shine brightly, senses after senses after senses.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:30 What I want to suggest tonight is this.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:35 We are well-schooled at a simple gospel.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 The good news of Jesus told simply.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:44 The gospel is true, but it can be too isolated.
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 Too isolated from the world we live in.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:51 Too instant for those who need time to understand it.
00:10:52 --> 00:11:00 Too inflexible for a city, for a world where truth is feared and not immediately accepted.
00:11:00 --> 00:11:05 What I want to propose here is a relational approach.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:16 An attendance to our relationships one with another that will grant or will increase the likelihood of granting this kind of increased stickiness.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:23 With that in mind, I want to turn to consider relationships.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 Relationships, we're used to them every day.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 But how can we get a handle on how we increase them?
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 How we nurture them?
00:11:32 --> 00:11:33 How we value them?
00:11:33 --> 00:11:34 And can grow in them?
00:11:35 --> 00:11:42 In this, I'm drawing on a book from 1993 written by Michael Schluter and David Lee called The R Factor.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:47 In this book, they wanted to say that relationships matter.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:53 They matter for the health of our society and for the life of our society.
00:11:54 --> 00:12:05 What they particularly pointed to was that proximity in relationship is a vital precursor if we are going to have a flourishing society.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:12 In pointing to this, they isolated five aspects of relationship.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 To be nurtured and to be maximized.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 Let me briefly run through them for us.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:24 First of all, they said that directness in relationships is really important.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 A relational proximity in contact.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 Ideally, eye to eye.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:34 With a felt sense of responsibility for the relationship.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:40 We might think of the Good Samaritan as he encounters the wounded man on the road.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 And sees there a fellow human being.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:50 There's a directness of relationship that causes him to act in a particular way.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 Truth then flourishes eye to eye.
00:12:55 --> 00:13:02 I want to suggest to those of us who might feel awash and a sea in a post-truth world.
00:13:02 --> 00:13:10 That our everyday relationships in their directness, in their contact, continue to matter.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 And indeed hold the seeds of where we want to go.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 In probing.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 Not only post-truth culture.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 But also the growth of the gospel within it.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:25 Second, I want to talk about continuity.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:32 That's the second of Schluter and Lee's five aspects of relationships.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 Relational proximity through time.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 Allowing the sustained time for a relationship to grow.
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 Again, this is something that we're used to.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 Relationships grow over time.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 Some of you I've met for the first time tonight.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 Our relationship will be thin.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 Some of you I've known for decades.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 Our relationship will be deeper and richer.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 And that is where I want to point us.
00:13:59 --> 00:14:05 Truth flourishes where people slow down and spend time together.
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 We might think of believers.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:12 How we use our gatherings, our services on Sundays.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 And the time beyond it.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:22 The relational answer to busy lives where people rush past one another.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 And truth suffers.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 Might be a contrarian one.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 At least at first hearing.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 To ask those who are busy.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 Working away.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 Raising children perhaps.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 Paying off a mortgage perhaps.
00:14:35 --> 00:14:41 Asking those busy people to slow down and spend time together.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:46 I guess many in northern Sydney are time poor.
00:14:47 --> 00:14:52 And some might also consider themselves to be church poor.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:59 Some others might be time poor and not consider themselves to be church poor.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:03 But relationships grow with directness and continuity.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:08 And thirdly with what Schluter and Lee call multiplexity.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 Not a visit to the cinema.
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 But rather to multiple life spheres.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 Getting to know someone.
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 Perhaps not just at church.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 But also at home.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 Not just at work.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 But also after work.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 To build trust in a person.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 And not just a contact.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 The truth flourishes.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 When our relationships flourish.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:29 When our relationships flourish.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:33 When we meet in different areas of life.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 This has a bearing on how we move through places.
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 How we live in our places.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 Not just our places at home.
00:15:43 --> 00:15:44 Where we sleep.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 Also our places of work.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 And other places.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 Where we encounter those around us.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:56 I wonder if we think about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 And evangelism happening in places.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 It always does so.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 And it happens ideally in relationships.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 Fourthly in these relational dimensions.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 Parity.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 Relational proximity in levels of power.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:15 To enable easier self-disclosure.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 Showing of ourselves.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 And cultivating of common ground.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 Truth flourishes.
00:16:23 --> 00:16:24 Human to human.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 On the level.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:30 Not necessarily in stark hierarchical terms.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 But as we open our lives.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 One to another.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 Fifth and finally.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 A commonality.
00:16:37 --> 00:16:41 A relational proximity in purpose.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 Which binds people together.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 As partners in a task.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 In a project.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 Truth flourishes.
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 Where people are shoulder to shoulder.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 Our church times.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:56 On Sundays.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:58 Our gathering times.
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 Our lingering times together.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 As times to feed lives.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 And equip lives.
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 Of gospel intentionality.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:13 That we would live our lives on purpose.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 For Jesus.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 Growing relationships for him.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 It's not accidental in this.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 That I picked upon the good Samaritan.
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 He engages in these kind of activities.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 In a parable way.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 If you remember that parable.
00:17:30 --> 00:17:33 He even engages in commonality.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 With the innkeeper.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 A risky partnership.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 A new relationship.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 A new relationship with that man.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:41 Because of the need before him.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 Following Jesus.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 Responding to his gospel.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:49 Invites us into relationships.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 What Schluter and Lee present here.
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 I think is an analysis for our relationships.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:57 And an audit for them as church members.
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 Do we know the lives of those around us?
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 Perhaps not the whole church.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 If we're in a big church.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 But are we in a relational group.
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06 A neighborhood.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 That's not geographically formed.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 But a small group.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 A small group that is outward looking.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 But also inward looking.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 Where relationships can increase.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 And can flourish.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 As I say in a large church.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 This might be a question of smaller groups.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 In a smaller group.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 In a small church.
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 It might be the church itself.
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 To entangle our lives.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 In this kind of way.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 What we need to consider next.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:40 I think.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 Is a sixth secret source.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 To add to those five dimensions.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 Another R factor.
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 The R factor of resurrection.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 Got here on the screen for us.
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 A timeline.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 Resurrection established at the first Easter.
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 As Jesus is raised from the dead.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 By God his father.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 On the third day after his death.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 As the first born.
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 From among the dead.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 The clue is in that first born.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 Not just for that first Easter.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 But Jesus is the second Adam.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:16 With others being raised to life.
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 In his slipstream.
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 As they turn to him.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 In repentance and faith.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 Putting their trust in him.
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 And aligning their lives with him.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 Which is the gospel going out.
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 Expended.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 Expanding grace of God.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 At work in lives.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:37 But also.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 The resurrection of all.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 Of all the dead.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45 Believer and unbeliever alike.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 In Acts chapter 10 verse 42.
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 Talking to Cornelius.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 Peter describes.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 Peter describes.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 How Jesus has been established.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 As the judge of the living.
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 And the dead.
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 Whoever dies tonight in Sydney.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 Whether they be a believer.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 Or an unbeliever.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 Is on a pathway.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 A trajectory.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 Towards resurrection.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 It's no.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 Underestimation.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 When in the latter chapters.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 Of the book of Acts.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 The hope of Israel.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 The hope of the Bible.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 The hope of the Old Testament.
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 Is described.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 As the resurrection.
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 Of the dead.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 The dead.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 Plural.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 When Jesus returns.
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 To raise the dead.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 To judgment.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 And believers.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 To restoration.
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 And eternal life.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 What does this sixth.
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 Secret source.
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 Give us.
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 I think it gives us.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:42 An everyday.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 End times.
00:20:44 --> 00:20:44 Edge.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 To our living.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 Giving you some words.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:48 On the sheet.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 From C.S.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:49 Lewis.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 His observation.
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 In the weight.
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 Of glory.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 When he says this.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 We live in a society.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 Of possible gods.
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 And goddesses.
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 Where there are.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 No ordinary people.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 You have never.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:03 Talked.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 To a mere.
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 Mortal.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 Each person.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 You have met today.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 Each person.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 With whom you relate.
00:21:12 --> 00:21:12 Is someone.
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 Who is heading.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 Towards.
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 Resurrection.
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 Whether they be a believer.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 Or not.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 This focus on the resurrection.
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 Doesn't deny the cross of Jesus.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 No far from it.
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 And it doesn't isolate.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 Jesus's saving work.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 But rather.
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 It crowns it.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 It crowns it.
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 Jesus died.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 That he might rise.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 And be us.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 Be the one at God's right hand.
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 The first.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:41 Born.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 Of the resurrection.
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 This focus on resurrection.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 Also gives us.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 An everyday.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 Integrated edge.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:50 That actually.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 You and I.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:52 Birthday.
00:21:53 --> 00:21:53 By birthday.
00:21:54 --> 00:21:54 Day.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:55 By day.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:56 Moment.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 By moment.
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 Are moving.
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 Towards.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 Our.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 Resurrection.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 Evangelism.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 And discipleship.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 Become on one.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 Continuum.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 Evangelism.
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 Isn't an optional.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 Extra.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 It's bound together.
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 In this relational.
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 Pursuit.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 For truth.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 In our churches.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 And beyond.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 In our lives.
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 In about 2007.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 Some sociologists.
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 Some Christian sociologists.
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 Came up with the term.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 Midi narrative.
00:22:29 --> 00:22:31 Midi narrative.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 What they were trying to describe.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 Was what was developing.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 And I think is increasing.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 In our societies.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:38 That people around us.
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 Have a small scale.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 Life project.
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 Concerning themselves.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 Their friends.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:45 And their families.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 It's their midi narrative.
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 Their local story.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 Perhaps consisting of.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 Good housing.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 Good schooling.
00:22:54 --> 00:22:54 For the kids.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 A good health system.
00:22:57 --> 00:22:57 A good pension.
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 At the end of a good job.
00:23:01 --> 00:23:01 That's.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:02 A midi narrative.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 Well all midi narratives.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 All the millions of them.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 That move around.
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 Sydney.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 And interact with one another.
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 All midi narratives.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 Meet.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:14 At.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 The resurrection.
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 And with that in mind.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 I think we need.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 A sharper.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 Better sense.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 Of gospel.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 Lifespan.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 Of what it means.
00:23:24 --> 00:23:24 To come.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:25 To Jesus.
00:23:26 --> 00:23:26 And.
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 To move.
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 From darkness.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 To light.
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 That enormous.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32 Step.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 Of new creation.
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 And with that in mind.
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 I want to move us.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 In the final section.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 To five thresholds.
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 Based on a book.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 You can see the reference there.
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 By Don Everts.
00:23:46 --> 00:23:46 And Doug.
00:23:47 --> 00:23:47 Shaw.
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 Five thresholds.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 Towards faith.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 If we think about the movement.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:55 From darkness to light.
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 Of becoming a Christian.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 It is an enormous.
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 Step.
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 If you have taken it.
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 You know something.
00:24:02 --> 00:24:02 Of that enormity.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 If you have not.
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 Yet taken it.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 Perhaps you sense.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:07 Something.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 Of that enormity.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 What this helpfully does.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 Is break it down.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:12 For us.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 Into five.
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 Thresholds.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 Five.
00:24:16 --> 00:24:16 Steps.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:17 To pass through.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 And if we are thinking.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 About.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 How to tell.
00:24:22 --> 00:24:22 The gospel.
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 Of Jesus.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 In the VUCA world.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 In which we live.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 Then I think.
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 These five steps.
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 Are helpful.
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 For us.
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 To understand.
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 What has happened.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:32 To us.
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 And us.
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 In evangelism.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 As we reach out.
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 With the gospel.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:38 To others.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 The first of these thresholds.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 Is trusting.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 A Christian.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 One of the first things.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 I think we need to take.
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 Is a truth.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:49 Inventory.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 If you're a believer.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 In Jesus Christ.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 Then look.
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 At your own life.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 Your own networks.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:57 Daily.
00:24:58 --> 00:24:58 Weekly.
00:24:59 --> 00:24:59 Monthly.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 Occasional.
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 To whom do I show.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:03 Face grace.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:04 By that I mean.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:05 Someone.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 At whom I will make eye contact.
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 And smile.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 To whom perhaps.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 Do we go a step further.
00:25:11 --> 00:25:13 And extend some sort of hospitality.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 Whether that be.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:15 Merely.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 During a work break.
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 When we might fetch.
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 Someone drink.
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 Or something.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 Bigger than that.
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 In our lives.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 Because that's where the seeds.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26 The first of these thresholds occur.
00:25:26 --> 00:25:28 As people encounter us.
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 With our faces.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 Turned towards them.
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 Even a world.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 Where there will be hostility.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 Towards Christians.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 It's surprising.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 How many non-Christians.
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 Know a Christian.
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 As we are scattered.
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 Into our wider world.
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 Week by week.
00:25:47 --> 00:25:49 Where are we.
00:25:49 --> 00:25:51 Developing an openness of face.
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 To the world around us.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 That people might make that first threshold step.
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 And trust me.
00:25:58 --> 00:25:58 Or you.
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 A Christian.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 The second of these thresholds.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 Involves.
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 Not just merely trusting.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 But becoming curious.
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 I wonder what kind of questions.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 You and I can ask.
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 That will provoke curiosity.
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 That opens doors.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 My best example of this.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 Is when I met my wife.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 She wasn't my wife at the time.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:25 Nor was she a Christian.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 At least I didn't think she was.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 And we went for lunch.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 The circumstances of how we got to go for lunch.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 Are neither here nor there.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:33 But over lunch.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34 I asked her what she studied.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 She was a university student.
00:26:37 --> 00:26:37 And she said.
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 Biological anthropology.
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 What do you say next for evangelism?
00:26:42 --> 00:26:45 I'm so thankful that God gave me this next question.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:46 I said.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 What's your view of human nature?
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 Are we apes with less body hair?
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 Or one step away from God?
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 To which she replied.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 I'm not religious.
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 And went on from there.
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 And then.
00:27:01 --> 00:27:01 When she's finished.
00:27:02 --> 00:27:02 She asked me.
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 What I thought.
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 That is the power.
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 Of questions.
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 When someone moves.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 From trusting a Christian.
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 To actually becoming curious.
00:27:13 --> 00:27:15 And some of us are very schooled.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 In answers.
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 In answers.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 To questions.
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 But what.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 These five threshold steps.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 Invite us to do.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 In a post-truth world.
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 Is to increase.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 Our ability.
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 To ask questions.
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 I've given you a couple of.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 References there.
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 To books.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:31 Which I think.
00:27:32 --> 00:27:32 That are helpful.
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 In this regard.
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 Kukul's book.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:36 Tactics.
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 Is directly addressing.
00:27:38 --> 00:27:40 The question of questions.
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 Daniel Strange's books.
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 Plugged in.
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 Addresses what he calls.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 Subversive fulfillment.
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 How the gospel.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 Will subvert.
00:27:49 --> 00:27:49 The hopes.
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51 Of those around us.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:51 And say.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 You cannot find.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 Your hopes.
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 And your desires.
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 In anything else.
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 Other than Jesus.
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 And at that point.
00:27:58 --> 00:28:00 As well as subversive.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:01 Destruction.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 If you like.
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 There's also subversive.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 Construction.
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 Fulfillment.
00:28:06 --> 00:28:08 That is the gospel.
00:28:08 --> 00:28:08 Of Jesus.
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 That will bring.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 Answers.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 But that's to jump.
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 Ahead of ourselves.
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 We're simply becoming.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 Curious at this point.
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 The third of these.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 Thresholds.
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 Is opening.
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 To change.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 Beyond curiosity.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:25 Now I'm thinking.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:26 Is there something.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 Here.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 That I might need.
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 To think about.
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 Something that might.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 Have a claim.
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 On myself.
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 Perhaps we need.
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 To ask ourselves.
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 Who is it in our lives.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 Who is quietly.
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 Becoming curious.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 Perhaps asking us.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 More questions.
00:28:43 --> 00:28:43 About ourselves.
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 As a Christian.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 The questions.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:46 Are beginning.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 To come to us.
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 Where can we.
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 Begin to share.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 Rumors.
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 Of providence.
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 Of God's.
00:28:54 --> 00:28:54 Good.
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 Acts.
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 In this world.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 Now let's understand.
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 Change.
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 When it comes to God.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 Is a beautiful thing.
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 But also a scary thing.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 Selling.
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 Everything.
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 And giving up everything.
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 To follow Christ.
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 Is a big step.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 This relational.
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 Program.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 This relational.
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 Audit.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 This relational.
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 Self-reflection.
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 That I'm trying to put before us.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 Invites us.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 To travel.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23 With people.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 With godly patience.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 But also.
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 Within those relationships.
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 Gently challenging.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 In a Jesus kind of way.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:33 Just as Jesus told parables.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 So too.
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 We.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:35 Perhaps.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 Will tell.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 Open-ended.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:38 Stories.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 Known as parables.
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 That will point.
00:29:42 --> 00:29:42 Towards Jesus.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 And his kingdom.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 The fourth step.
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 Someone who's open to change.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 Isn't perhaps yet.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 Seeking.
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 After.
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 God.
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 The fourth step.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 Is when.
00:29:55 --> 00:29:55 They.
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 Become.
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 A genuine.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 Seeker.
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 Someone who is more.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:00 Than.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 Curious.
00:30:01 --> 00:30:03 Someone who is more.
00:30:03 --> 00:30:03 Than.
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 Open to change.
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 Someone who says.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:06 Here.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 I'm beginning.
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 To sniff.
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 Something.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:09 Out.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 That I need.
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 To explore.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 And find.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 Out about.
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 This.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:15 I think.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:15 Is where.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 Our relational.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 Balance.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 Becomes.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 Important.
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 The importance.
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 Of us.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:19 Living.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:20 Out.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 The kingdom.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 Of God.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 Before them.
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 Do you remember.
00:30:23 --> 00:30:23 That small.
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 Relational group.
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 Where we're living.
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 In good relationship.
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 Perhaps.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 A small church.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:28 Or within.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 A larger church.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 A fellowship.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 Group.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 Of some kind.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 We talked about.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:33 That being.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 Outward facing.
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 The importance.
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 Of us.
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 Living.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 Out.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 The kingdom.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:38 Of God.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 Of showing.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 As well.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 As telling.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 The good news.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 The power.
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 Of bringing.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 People.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 Into our friendship.
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 Groups.
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 Into our lives.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 The power.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51 Of lives.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 Accompanying.
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 Words.
00:30:53 --> 00:30:53 Telling.
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 The good news.
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 And inviting.
00:30:57 --> 00:30:57 A seeker.
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 To commit.
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 To a quest.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 Not an endless.
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 Provarication.
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 A shrug at the shoulders.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 But a quest.
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 To see where this leads.
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 And the fifth.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 Of these steps.
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 Entering.
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 The kingdom.
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 Actually.
00:31:15 --> 00:31:15 Selling.
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 All.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:17 Moving.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 In.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19 And then.
00:31:19 --> 00:31:19 Looking.
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 Out.
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 At our existing.
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 Relational networks.
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 In a new way.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 As a new creation.
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 This will involve.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 Being relationally.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:29 Urgent.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 But at this point.
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 If we have been.
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 Travelling.
00:31:32 --> 00:31:32 Alongside.
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 Someone.
00:31:33 --> 00:31:33 Through those.
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 Previous.
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 Four thresholds.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 Then here is evangelism.
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 That doesn't just.
00:31:38 --> 00:31:38 Need to be.
00:31:38 --> 00:31:40 About events.
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 At our church.
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 And someone else.
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 Bringing someone.
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 To Christ.
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 But also.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:47 A relational basis.
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 Under which you.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:49 And I.
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 Can be evangelists.
00:31:52 --> 00:31:52 We.
00:31:53 --> 00:31:53 Can bring.
00:31:54 --> 00:31:54 People.
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 To Christ.
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 Where.
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 Does this.
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 Lead us.
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 And leave us.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 I want to suggest.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 That in this.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 Post.
00:32:04 --> 00:32:04 Truth.
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 World.
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 We have.
00:32:06 --> 00:32:08 In a relational.
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 Approach.
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 That is.
00:32:10 --> 00:32:10 Centred around.
00:32:10 --> 00:32:11 The resurrection.
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 Of Jesus.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:14 And where we are.
00:32:14 --> 00:32:14 All heading.
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 Something that is.
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 Urgent.
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 And lifeful.
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 That can be.
00:32:20 --> 00:32:20 A seed.
00:32:21 --> 00:32:21 Bed.
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 For growth.
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 That our churches.
00:32:23 --> 00:32:25 Can if you like.
00:32:25 --> 00:32:25 Be truth.
00:32:26 --> 00:32:26 Spots.
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 Bit like.
00:32:28 --> 00:32:28 Hot spots.
00:32:29 --> 00:32:29 You know.
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 When you log on.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 To someone's hot spot.
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 That people can come.
00:32:33 --> 00:32:35 And find truth spots.
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 Where they can begin.
00:32:36 --> 00:32:37 To relate.
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 And indeed.
00:32:39 --> 00:32:39 You and I.
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 As individual.
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 Believers.
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 Living relational.
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 Lives.
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46 Can be mobile.
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 Truth spots.
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 Moving.
00:32:49 --> 00:32:49 Through.
00:32:50 --> 00:32:50 This city.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:51 This city.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 Of post truth.
00:32:53 --> 00:32:53 This city.
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 Of so many.
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 Noises.
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 With the living.
00:32:58 --> 00:32:58 Word.
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 Of God.
00:32:59 --> 00:33:00 That grows.
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 What do we have here?
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 I think we have.
00:33:04 --> 00:33:04 Realism.
00:33:04 --> 00:33:06 About change.
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 That evangelism.
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 Sometimes involves.
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 People traveling.
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 With us.
00:33:12 --> 00:33:13 Relationally.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 And we have.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 In these five.
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 Thresholds.
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 Smaller.
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 Steps.
00:33:18 --> 00:33:18 To change.
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 As we walk.
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 Alongside people.
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 As we talk.
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 Into their.
00:33:24 --> 00:33:24 Midi.
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 Narratives.
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 As the gospel.
00:33:27 --> 00:33:27 Becomes.
00:33:28 --> 00:33:28 More.
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 Personal.
00:33:30 --> 00:33:30 More.
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 Manageable.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 Even.
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 Perhaps.
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 More attractive.
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 In closing.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 We have.
00:33:37 --> 00:33:37 A framework.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 To help us.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:39 See people.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:40 As.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 Whole.
00:33:41 --> 00:33:41 People.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 Both.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 Ourselves.
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 And others.
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 If you're.
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 A Christian.
00:33:46 --> 00:33:46 You are.
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 A sinner.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:47 Who has.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 Become.
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 A saint.
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 But we are.
00:33:51 --> 00:33:51 All.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 Also.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 Sufferers.
00:33:54 --> 00:33:55 And the gospel.
00:33:56 --> 00:33:56 Speaks.
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 Into our lives.
00:33:58 --> 00:33:58 As a whole.
00:34:00 --> 00:34:00 Truth.
00:34:01 --> 00:34:02 Is not.
00:34:02 --> 00:34:02 Over.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 The gospel.
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 Will outlive.
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 This secular world.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 Which is.
00:34:08 --> 00:34:08 Haunted.
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 By.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:11 Jesus.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:13 At God's right hand.
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 That is hunted.
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 By Jesus.
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 Who will judge.
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 The world.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 That is limited.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:21 By Jesus.
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 Who will return.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 To judge.
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 The world.
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 And to raise.
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 The dead.
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 The gospel.
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 Will outlive.
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 The secular.
00:34:33 --> 00:34:33 Meantime.
00:34:34 --> 00:34:35 Let's live.
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 Word fed.
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 Spirit.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 Empowered.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:38 Lives.
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 And let's throw this open.
00:34:40 --> 00:34:40 For questions.
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 Thank you.
00:34:42 --> 00:34:55 We are going to do that.
00:34:55 --> 00:34:55 We are going to throw it open.
00:34:55 --> 00:34:56 Questions.
00:34:56 --> 00:34:56 What you might want to do.
00:34:56 --> 00:34:57 Is just turn to someone.
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58 Beside you right now.
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 And.
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 Just quickly.
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 Engage them.
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 About sort of.
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 Something that impacted you.
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 Something that landed.
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 For you right now.
00:35:06 --> 00:35:08 There is also a number.
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08 You might want to write it down.
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 I am not sure if it is on the screen yet.
00:35:10 --> 00:35:16 But it is 0480123976.
00:35:17 --> 00:35:17 If you want to text.
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 A question in.
00:35:21 --> 00:35:24 0480123976.
00:35:25 --> 00:35:25 So quickly.
00:35:26 --> 00:35:26 Engage with.
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 Someone around you.
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 Someone you came with.
00:35:29 --> 00:35:31 About something that impacted you.
00:35:31 --> 00:35:31 Something that stood out.
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 And then.
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 We will launch into some questions.
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 And you can text the.
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 Person's question next to you.
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 Can't you?
00:35:37 --> 00:35:37 You can.
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39 You can text someone else's question.
00:35:39 --> 00:35:41 I have a friend.
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42 Yeah.
00:35:42 --> 00:35:45 I have a friend.
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 Thank you.
00:35:46 --> 00:35:46 Thank you.
00:35:59 --> 00:35:59 Thank you.
00:36:00 --> 00:36:00 Thank you.