Next 100

We've stated it before, and we'll say it again, we wanna be a faithful and fruitful church to the glory of Jesus, loving God, loving others, and making disciples.

This will involve healthy rhythms for us as individuals.

Supt, salt, scripture, Sunday.

We've talked about supping with the Lord, which is basically prayer, spending time with him.

We've talked about salt, which is a daily prayer that we want to say, Lord, help me be salty.

I know you've got good works for me to do.

I want to be part of what you are doing, seeing your kingdom come.

Scripture, we want to be daily in the word, being nurtured by our own time in the scriptures.

And Sunday, if possible, we want to, as an individual rhythm, make time on a Sunday to get together with God's people to worship and to learn and to serve.

And we do things together.

We've talked about our seven strategic keys, and that's really the basis of our sermon series for these first seven weeks of the year, Lord willing.

Last week was the importance of spiritual formation.

And this week, the second of our seven strategic keys is Next 100.

Next 100.

Well, it's said that there are seven signs of life.

Are you familiar with some of these seven signs of life that indicate whether an organism is alive or not?

Movement, respiration, sensitivity, nutrition, reproduction, excretion and growth.

When your young nephew Charlie turns 13 and he turns up, you haven't seen him for a year and he turns up to your family gathering, and he's a foot taller.

It means he's alive.

It's a sign of growth.

I remember when I was a kid, I used to have a competition with a tree in the front right corner of the yard.

The grandma and grandpa would come down from Brisbane, and they'd take a photo of me and it was a competition.

Who was taller?

And I remember one time going out there and that jolly tree was taller than me, so I went and snuck in and got some scissors.

And little did I know, I was helping that tree, and it grew to literally about 20 feet tall.

Growth is a sign of life.

Churches should grow, not all at the same time, at the same rate as each other, and not at all the time, but they should grow with new believers.

They should grow with refreshed believers over time.

So we have a strategic key, and it's called Next 100, and it's a key about handling church growth, because we expect it should happen, but we'll come back to that towards the end of this message.

Jesus has been baptized in Luke's Gospel, and he has been anointed by the Spirit, he's been taken out into the wilderness where he defeated the devil in the trial, the temptation in the wilderness.

He came back and he took the stroll from the prophet isaiah and he read out the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, and I've been anointed to go and preach the Gospel, and he declared the fact that it was on.

The mission of the Messiah had begun.

And then in chapter 5, it's time for him to go and call some of his disciples, and Will has read this for us.

Let me read again from verse 1, the first few verses.

One day, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Genese, right?

And that's the Sea of Galilee, the people were crowding around him and listening to the Word of God.

He saw at the water's edge two boats left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets.

He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put a little further out from shore.

Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

Do you want to be part of God's story?

As we work through this little vignette in the life of Jesus, I'd like to pose a few questions for us to ponder.

Do you want to be part of God's story?

That's the question that Simon, who is later to be known as Peter, has to ask himself when Jesus wants to commandeer his fishing vessel as a teaching outpost on the water.

Now, John's Gospel suggests that Simon, whose name has changed to Peter, Simon might have already had an introduction to Jesus from the beginning of John's Gospel, but we don't know exactly, no.

It certainly seems that it's a new relationship between Jesus and Peter.

This mysterious, charismatic, new rabbi who is causing a stir around Galilee wants to use something that belongs to Peter.

I guess, in essence, this was the first time that Peter was asked, Do you want to be part of God's story?

There are a bunch of intriguing characters who were asked the same question in the Bible in 1 Samuel 16, 18.

There is a person we only know as the unnamed servant of Saul.

King Saul is troubled spiritually, he's looking for comfort, and one of the servants answered, I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem, who knows how to play the liar.

He's a brave man and a warrior.

He speaks well and is a fine looking man, and the Lord is with him.

Who is that?

David.

David's name basically is given to Saul, given to us, given to the Bible grand story of salvation through an unnamed servant, who is prompted by the Spirit to speak up about a son of Jesse.

He got to be part of God's story.

Do you want to be part of God's story?

Remember the young boy with the fish and the loaves.

Jesus is teaching, and it's the story in John 6.

It's a lonely place.

There are at least 5,000 people there.

They all get hungry.

And he says to his disciples, get them something to eat.

They find a young boy who the question is posed to him, at least by the Spirit.

Do you want to be part of God's story?

What have you got to offer?

I've got some fish and some bread.

And so he does.

And we're still talking about that young boy now who said yes when God said, do you want to be part of my story?

I think one of the most important prayers we can pray is Lord put me in the game.

What do you think?

Lord put me in the game.

I want to be a man after God's own heart.

I want to be a woman after God's own heart.

I want to get in there, in your game.

I want to be doing something in the kingdom.

Do you want to be part of God's story?

Peter just made his boat available, didn't he?

He's like, I've got a fishing boat.

It's my professional tool.

But yeah, okay, you want to use it, you can.

Next, we're told Luke 5 verse 4.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.

Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything.

My question is, do you recognize the season you're in?

Do you recognize the season you are in?

Peter is a fisherman by profession and he understands that fishing is done at different times of the day, typically more profitably.

It might be dusk or dawn or night, early evening, early morning.

Peter knows that the Sea of Galilee, though a great place to fish, sometimes is whipped up by storms.

Really strong wind is hard to fish in.

Maybe at other times, rain, certain times of the tide.

They're just not times to fish with much success.

Sometimes the fish bite, sometimes they don't.

That's the life of a fisherman.

It's seasonal, both the real seasons and day to day.

And our life is pretty similar, I think.

Do you recognise the season you're in?

Have you discovered that God doesn't always make his presence known that loudly?

Anybody in a season like that?

We call them seasons of hiddenness.

God's still there, he's still there, but he's a little bit hidden.

It's like if you want to know where he is, you have to feel around and find the braille in the dark and think, I think you're here, but he is.

But other times, they're seasons of manifestation, aren't they?

And God is just everywhere for people who have eyes to see.

Miracles are happening, prayers are being answered in a timely fashion, amen.

chains are being broken, the kingdom is advancing.

Do you know the season that you're in?

Peter understands that sometimes you catch fish and other times you don't.

But this time, it's God in human flesh who's defining the season.

God in human flesh, Jesus says, now is the time to move your boat.

Now is the time to try something different.

And Peter recognizes at this early stage of their relationship, this is the master's voice.

He's worth listening to.

So question 3, do you recognize the master's voice?

Luke 5 says, but because you say so, I will let down the nets.

Jesus said, my sheep know my voice.

It's not always so easy to hear his voice, but it's certainly something you want to develop.

Amen.

As Christians, Jesus says, I do speak and you want to get better at knowing my voice.

It was the Lord's voice that signaled a change of season from hiddenness and maybe barrenness for Moses.

He had killed the Egyptian and he had 40 years in the wilderness.

And then the voice of God, who he would start to get to know much better, spoke to him from the bush and said, It's time, let's change seasons.

Do you recognize the master's voice?

B-Y-S-S-I-W, we've talked about this before.

It's a pretty important bunch of words.

Because you say so, I will.

God speaks, we listen.

And this leads into another sub-question under point 3, 3B, do you really want to be part of God's story?

Because you say so, I will is not something just that you say, what do you have to do?

You have to do it, you have to obey.

And that's what Peter does.

Question four, do you know what to do when God opens the floodgates of heaven?

Verse six, we're told, when they had done so, they went out.

They threw the net out on the other side.

They caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

Talk about a season change.

Talk about hiddenness to manifestation.

So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them.

And they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

Jesus knows stuff about his creation, doesn't he?

Jesus just knows stuff.

His directions are spot on.

These fishermen are about to have the catch of their lives.

And it's right next to a short season of barrenness, right next to no luck at all.

They have the best catch of their life.

And when God brings the blessing, I feel like this is so important to recognise, the work wasn't over, was it?

It was just the beginning.

The nets were so full, the boats risked sinking, the fish had to be processed, brought to shore, prepared, cooked, stored, transported, boats cleaned again.

Do you know what to do when God opens the floodgates of heaven?

Tim Keller says that classic line, there are two challenging things that can happen if you have an endeavour that you're trying to do of worth.

Either you'll fail, and that's hard to cop, and what's the other hard thing?

You succeed.

The two hardest things in life, Tim Keller says, are failure and success, because sometimes we're not ready for what success will bring.

Do you know what to do when God opens the floodgates of heaven?

He loves to pour out blessing on his people.

Sometimes we can get used to the season of hiddenness for so long, we think, oh, he doesn't even know who I am.

He does, and there's a blessing coming, but the timing is up to the Lord.

Question 5, do you know Jesus hasn't changed?

When Simon Peter saw this incredible miraculous catch, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, go away from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man.

For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken.

And so were James and John, who would seem probably owned the other boat, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid from now on, you will fish for people.

So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Simon is overwhelmed in the presence of God with his own unworthiness.

He is struck by his own sinfulness in the presence of Jesus.

And then Jesus, he falls on his knees and shows that reverence to the one who is holy, Jesus.

And then Jesus gives them the great takeaway of the whole event.

This is simply a metaphor for what they are all going to do with their lives.

They are not going to spend their lives catching fish anymore, but they are going to draw people into the kingdom of the heavens.

They are going to draw people into salvation.

And Jesus hasn't changed.

He hasn't changed from that fateful morning on the Sea of Galilee.

He is still other.

Amen.

He's still, he's just other.

He knows things that we don't know.

And he's holy in his presence.

It's not that he's so judgmental that you come into his presence and you're like, whoa, this guy is just a judge.

No, no, he he's holy and human beings in his presence are struck by their unholiness.

Amen.

That we are unworthy in his presence.

He is astonishing.

That hasn't changed.

No matter how many times you you see him at work, God can do the impossible and it always blows humans away.

He's seeking and saving lost people.

He hasn't changed doing that.

And he's multiplying his church.

Christ is filling his church.

Next 100 refers to something that God is doing through Christ by the Spirit in this church, which is his church.

He's filling it up with new people.

Some people, at least.

Some new believers, some renewed believers, and some redeployed believers in a new location.

Is that fair to say?

When we talk about Next 100 as a strategic key, we're talking about managing well the fish in the net.

That's what we're talking about.

The fish that Jesus is sending our way.

God is growing his church at NorthernLife.

We have, by God's grace, pretty much doubled in size, in attendance live and online in the last 12 months.

praise God.

He's doing a work amongst us.

And there's a mystery about it.

As soon as you think you understand why, it's hard to put your finger on it exactly.

Next 100 is a goal that we stated last July.

And what we basically said was, we want to do our very best to identify and welcome and get to know and integrate into the life of NorthernLife, the next 100 people God brings to this church.

We figured that if by December 2023, we have welcomed, as best we can, and integrated and loved and encouraged the next 100 people to NorthernLife, we will be a growing church.

And that would probably be a good thing.

So let me ask you these five questions again in light of next 100.

Do you want to be part of God's story?

Good answer.

I wasn't, I wasn't actually, that was a rhetorical question, but thank you for the answer.

Amen, Lord.

This might sound cheeky, but it's the truth.

We are supremely confident that unassuming people who are joining and will join our church are destined to fulfil very significant roles that God has planned for them to fulfil in the life of this church into the future.

You don't know that you're that person, but you are.

And the only reason I know this is from hindsight, because I've seen it happen before.

It's a lovely thing to watch in hindsight.

That seemingly random, yet life-changing encounter you had with that person who first, you remember the first time they turned up to church, you went, oh, hello, and you observed something unique about them, and you remember that.

Mike Richardson was like that.

I don't remember he turned up, and I think Helen or someone said, hey, come and sit next to Tony Hall.

And I want to go through a hundred stories of people who turn up to church, maybe on someone's arm, maybe because they've just seen the door and the cross out the front.

And they come to church, and they find a meaning and a purpose and a calling, amen?

God says, hey, well, I want you to be a weight-bearer, become a pillar of this church, a patriarch, a matriarch, as the years go by.

Who would have thought?

We don't know who those people are, but when we say next 100, we want to do a good job of welcoming who God has brought.

That's what we mean, because we expect God has a big story that he's writing.

And we've been praying for at least the last seven and a half years that we've been here.

God, send the right people that we don't know we need.

I think that's right.

Send the right people that have the giftedness that we will need in that next season that you know all about.

We have prayed hundreds of times that prayer.

So please know, if you're here and you have a sense of God's hand on your life, you're an answer to prayer.

We love having you part of this church.

Let me ask you the second question.

Do you recognize the season you're in?

We believe we're in a season of growth.

We have expected it, believed for it, prayed for it, prepared for it.

That's why often I'm the one doing it.

We put more seats out.

There's a few seats around left.

But we are expecting God to bring growth.

Not just because people walk in the door.

We're going out in ministry and in our lives day by day throughout the week.

But we expect God to do a work in this season that will give him glory.

I wonder what season you're in.

We were talking about it last night in the car.

What season are we in?

And it's like, you know, this part of it could be one thing, and then another part is like something else.

And you know, I think for us, we were like, you know, there's a part of our life that's a season of hiddenness, and that's okay.

God works in the hidden places.

So what about you?

Is it a season of mending you're in?

Have you been hurt?

Sideline, do you struggle to believe that God is still good?

Some of us are in that place.

You know, we just so hope that NorthernLife would be a church, a season for you that you believe again in God's goodness.

You believe again in your worth and what God has for you.

You believe again in church, because some of us have been really disappointed by church.

And as you find that purpose, may you connect with the next 100 if you are or aren't even part of that next 100.

Do you recognize the Master's voice?

Do you recognize the Master's voice?

I reckon in this whole idea of next 100, hearing God's voice is super important, because there will be somebody up there at a cup of tea, and they need you to go and make the connection to talk to them.

Because maybe no one's even spoken to them.

After this service, this is the classic thing that happens in a church.

The pastor's up there talking about how welcoming we are, and you're a new person, and you're at the back going, come on, let's see what happens.

No one's talking to me.

I'll give it two more minutes.

Okay, so if you see anyone doing that, get on them, say hi, say hi.

But I think the point is that the Holy Spirit's amongst us, and the Holy Spirit is knowing who can talk best to who.

Really.

He knows who he wants to link up in a new mentoring relationship, who he wants to just strike a friendship between.

It's exciting.

All my life as a pastor, I've trusted in God speaking and taking that hunch.

I had a hunch years ago that Virginia Matthews, who was in our home group, was meant to be on staff here.

And we used to say, Virginia is amazing.

Wouldn't it be great if she could be on staff?

And then it was like, maybe she could be.

And I waited, abided my time until I asked, and it was down at Hornsby South after a service, and I said, Virginia, would you ever think about coming on staff?

It wasn't even that clear about what it would be.

And she looked at me and she said, yes, I've been praying about it.

I think I'd like to.

I was like, who are you?

You're listening to the Master's voice or something?

But time and time again, I have had that experience where you think it's so scary to talk to someone because you say so I will, in obedience to the Lord, and he's just gone before.

Is there any hand in the room that says that's the way it works?

So often do you recognise the Master's voice?

Well, we need to, we need to, for the next 100 to work the way it should.

That means growing and integrating people into community.

Do you really want to be part of God's story?

Because you say so I will is what Peter responded.

He just cleaned his boat, right?

That's the context.

He just cleaned his boat.

It had been a bad night.

Oh, because you say so I will, Master.

Come on, boys, let's get the boat.

We'll go back out again.

That's the context.

Sometimes we don't want to do it, but we're called to obedience.

And as I was writing this, I was really just reminded of another relatively unknown guy, Ananias, who had a because you say so I will moment in Acts 9.

Saul has been blinded.

He's been confronted in a way by the risen, glorious Christ, had this amazing revelation.

Verse 8, let me read a bit.

Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he couldn't see.

So they let him by the hand into Damascus.

For three days, he was blind and didn't eat or drink anything.

In Damascus, there was a disciple named Ananias.

The Lord called to him in a vision.

Ananias, yes Lord, he answered.

The Lord told him, go to the house of Judas on strait Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul.

For he is praying in a vision.

He has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.

Ananias has a Moses moment.

Lord Ananias, I've heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem.

And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.

But the Lord said to Ananias, go, this man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

Because you say so, I will, right?

And then Ananias went to the house, entered it, placed his hands on Saul, and he said, brother, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here has sent me because I know my master's voice.

He sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

God's funny like that, isn't he?

He wants to use community to do his works.

Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he could see again.

He got up and was baptised.

And after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Because you say so, I will.

We play a part.

We play a part in the story that has many parts, God's story.

For years, I've felt this sense that God is painting his story at NorthernLife on the canvas of generations in the colours of the nations.

He's still doing it.

And he needs to meld together the parts of the canvas so he can keep painting his story.

And none of us will live long enough to be there for the whole 120 years of this story.

But he is painting a story and it is involving the next 100.

Do you know what to do when God opens the floodgates of heaven?

I honestly believe one of the problems with a lot of churches is that they have stopped believing that the fish are going to be in the net.

Is that fair?

Like most churches are in decline.

I'm not saying everything is.

There's no judgement in that.

It's just if you've been in decline for long enough, you can stop doing some of the basics.

And the most basic thing for a growing church is lift up Jesus really high because he says he's going to bring people under him.

So my genuine deep down belief is if you don't know what to do at a church, just keep lifting up Jesus.

Amen.

Just keep lifting him up in worship and in mission as much as you can and he will do something.

He loves churches that love his name.

He loves nothing more than a church is just like, Lord, we're weak, but you are strong and the gospel is powerful and it still is how people get saved.

So we're just going to keep lifting you up and talking about your great fame.

Do you expect God to open up the floodgates?

We do.

Leaders at church, Leanne and I, we're not the only leaders, but we're two people who play a role here.

And we've seen God do a significant work in church before.

We've seen it here.

We've seen a church grow from under 100 to 900 people that we cared for.

That's not a boast.

That's glory to God.

That's all glory to God.

And when we came here, it was five years and we didn't see much growth.

So God just like, if you ever think that it's about you, Jonathan Shanks, he's taught me that well and truly.

It is nothing about me.

I just have a little role to play like all of you guys.

But until you've seen it happen, that God can blow you away as a church.

We saw the offering, the budget go from 100,000 to over a million in five years at a church.

Smaller than us.

Now that's just, it's not what we're chasing.

It's not about dollars.

It doesn't have to grow.

But I think he wants to grow this church.

He wants us to have wisdom to know how to handle well with humility growth.

And in a growing church, this one thing's for sure, that next one hundred brings pain.

Because when that next one hundred comes, and I think it's about sixty or seventy people of the hundred are already here, everyone feels disenfranchised.

Because no one knows who's new.

And then someone says to you, are you new and you've been here ten years?

And you go, please.

Everyone feels like, oh, I don't even know my church anymore.

All these new people.

Hints forth with why people don't want to grow their churches, see their churches grow.

But it's an exciting season to have people ruffling your feathers in community because they're different and they've had different experiences.

But let's get back to that that foundational belief.

We've prayed for God to bring the increase.

We've preached the gospel.

We've shared the love of Christ.

And if he brings increase, we love who he brings in.

Amen.

And then keep loving the next group.

And then go, Lord, do you want us to plan a church?

Do you want us to give away more to whatever you want?

That's what this year is about.

This year is about, Lord, what is the next thing for us to take hold of that challenges us all?

And we all get to say, we got to play a role in God's story together at NorthernLife up there in Hornsby.

Like, it's fun.

It's what church should be.

I think God wants to fill the nets.

Favour and blessing are real, and they are to be received with gratitude and humility, and with appropriate generosity of spirit in return for all the Lord entrusts to us.

And Jesus hasn't changed, NorthernLife.

He is still other.

He is still other.

That's why I don't think you'll ever hear us calling Jesus our homeboy or something, because he's other.

He's other.

He's holy.

He's astonishing.

He seeks, and he saves.

He is the one who brings the growth.

And he multiplies his church throughout history.

He has done this to overflowing.

May we be a church who genuinely revere the name of Jesus and love him wholeheartedly and tell everyone everywhere about his good news.

Amen.

If you look at history, church growth in history, growth is not linear.

It comes in bunches of revival.

And you know what, having said all this, if this is the only growth we get and we go into a season of hiddenness, praise God, He's God.

But it doesn't mean until He tells us that, we get it ready and mend our nets.

Amen.

We get ready.

We fortify the boats and go, okay, how are we going to cope with growth?

And that's a segue into, are you coming to the safe church's induction today?

Because we've been working on systems.

That's why we have these systems that sometimes get pushed back, because we want to handle well the growth that God gives.

And growth sounds so impersonal.

That's why we say people are precious.

The precious lives filled with potential, filled with maybe multi-generational blessing.

It is a wonderful thing to be part of the church that is the body of Jesus Christ.

And that's who we are at NorthernLife.

And there are exciting times ahead.

Lord God, we thank you that you haven't changed.

You're the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

And your Son is the same.

And the Holy Spirit is the same.

And you're still calling your disciples to step out in obedience and put their nets on the other side, try something of second order change.

That's a little bit different.

Lord, we want to be your disciples who know your voice and respond with, because you say so I will.

And all the people say it.

Amen.

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