The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 11th July 2010 by Robin Hawkins
"What Not To Do In Spain (Or King's!)"
Acts 20:22-24
This is going to be the last teaching I'm going to share with you before Julie & I leave for Spain. But unlike Paul, who told the Ephesians that they would never see him again, I am sure that, God willing, we will see you again, possibly 2 or 3 times a year. Our relationship is changing. but it is not the end of it. We are not leaving - rather you are sending us out to a new work in Spain. It's a work to which we've been asked by Newfrontiers to undertake, and one which the Lord has confirmed to us over an again is now His calling on our lives.
What I'd like to do in this time, is to share with you some of the things the Lord's been showing me about what we are to do and how we are to do it.
I'm still reading Acts in my daily readings, and the Lord has been underlining some principles to us. What is significant about them is that they are principles that we would all do well to take on board. They'll work here as well as in Spain.
We have already encountered opposition. When word got around in one of the English churches that Newfrontiers were starting to work in Spain, out came a number of caricatures of Newfrontiers - distorted views that one or two people have of us. We have to try and disarm these caricatures - because they're wrong. I realised too, that some church leaders would be very suspicious of us. You see, we've not been called to plant a church as such; but the Lord has promised that we will have a ministry to many churches. But how are we to develop this? Well, one thing I expect we'll do is to go and visit some of the churches within an hour or two of Zurgena. That's fairly local out in Spain!
So I realise we are going to have to be very careful how we "wave the Newfrontiers banner". Then the Lord showed me something I'd never seen before. He said "you've got to go as a servant. Go and serve!" Then I realised that when, in Luke 22:27, Jesus said, "I come among you as one who serves." He wasn't just being humble because that is His nature, He was carrying out a strategy to reach people. Jesus, of all people, could have come to us, and played the "God card". He could have come saying, "I'm God. I'm going to show you how to live your lives." It would have been true, but it wouldn't have got a good reaction from people. But instead, He came as a servant, lived the life, taught the values, and let people decide for themselves if they wanted what He had to offer.
We have a vision to promote New Testament Christianity. So did Jesus. So we can teach the values. Let them be seen as biblical and desirable; and people who are open will receive them and ask for more. In the meantime we can befriend and encourage. I said to one man, "We must get away from this caricature that Newfrontiers have arrived in Spain. All I can offer you is friendship - and if in the course of that friendship, you see something we have, that will be helpful in what you're doing for God - then that's great, we can bless each other."
In Acts 13:14, Luke tells us Paul and his companions entered the synagogue and sat down. They were happy just to sit there until God gave them opportunities to minister. So we're going to start by going along to the church nearest us, and tell the pastor, (whom fortunately we know quite well) we don't want to undermine you, but if we can help, serve, support you in any way, we're available. And we'll see where we go from there. Now I've spent a bit of time on this because it's so important here in King's also. The truth is, we are all called to be servants, but you'll never know how much of a servant you really are until people treat you like one!
But then there's a second big issue. In Acts 20:24 Paul asserts: "I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." This verse challenges me, but how much I think my life's worth is not the issue. The real issue is fulfilling the task that God has given us to do - and that's a challenge all of us are faced with - wherever we are. It's certainly not limited to those who go abroad. It's been said to us that Spain is the graveyard of missionaries. You can imagine how that encouraged Julie especially. But we'd sooner go and be buried doing what we believe God's called us to do than stay here enjoying a pleasant retirement in our comfort zones.
All of us, this side of glory, have a responsibility to fulfil the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. You'd be amazed at how many churches - never mind unbelievers - are poverty-stricken when it comes to enjoying the grace of God. People live under the fear of losing their salvation - as if it depended upon them! So they put themselves under laws and rules of how they should behave, and we impose rules for living on one another, and as a result, are filled each other with guilt and condemnation.
The grace of God comes to us through the Holy Spirit. He is the One who works salvation and faith in us. He is the One who keeps us - who have been truly born-again. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to change, and to be like Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us for ministry - to do the stuff! The Holy Spirit is the agent of God's grace to us. He reveals Jesus to us, and fills our hearts with praise and worship of Him.
Tony Thompson prophesied over me three time at the last P & F, telling Julie & I to focus on praying for people to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. When people get changed, the church will change. When people get filled with the Spirit, they'll be hungry for the Word of God. They're more likely then to receive what we teach about the values of NT church life. Thus we will be able to proclaim both the Spirit and the Word.
For this there needs to be a fresh hunger for the Holy Spirit. Another familiar passage spoke to me in a way I'd never seen before. In Acts 19:1-6, Paul meets these Ephesian disciples and notices something missing in their spiritual life. So he works back: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" "Nope - Never heard of Him!" "Well what baptism did you have?" John's baptism," they replied. So Paul explained the difference between John's baptism of repentance, and Christian baptism (Grace imparted to cut us off from the past, and to wash us inside). Then they submitted to being baptised again, and when Paul laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues!
What is remarkable is these disciples were teachable enough to receive this correction to what they'd been taught from a preacher they'd never met. They submitted to being re-baptised there and then; and were so hungry for the things of God that they not only allowed Paul to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit, but entered right into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I have rarely encountered such humility and spiritual hunger in 30yrs of ministry. Time was, if there was an opportunity to receive Holy Spirit ministry, the queues would be back down the aisles. I don't see so many people queuing these days.
So can I ask you to pray for spiritual hunger in Spain, but also here. Pray too for teachable hearts. But another area to pray into is for us to be put in contact with those who want help. Another passage the Lord spoke to me about was Paul's "Man From Macedonia". In Acts 16:9, Paul has this dream of a "Man From Macedonia standing and begging him to "Come on over to Macedonia and help us". There are pastors and churches along the Costas of Spain struggling and lonely and desperate for help. Pray for them to come and ask.
Lastly, in ch 20:22 we find Paul ".. compelled by the Holy Spirit, (I am) going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen there." Well, we are being compelled by the Holy Spirit to go to Spain, and we're not quite sure what's going to happen there either! We've been told how to go about it, and what to do to start with, but we're trusting that the Lord will open up the ministry He's got for us when we get there. Our prophetic mandate is that we have a "ministry of encouragement to churches up and down the coast". At the moment, there is some evidence of it, but it's early days, and it's very much a faith venture for us, and we desperately need your prayers. But I would say this, and I'll say more about it in two week's time, but it is all of you who over the years have taught us so much; and given us the experience that we can now take and hopefully pass onto others. We have truly shared partnership in the gospel, and I pray that we will continue to do so in the years ahead.
