I am so encouraged that the feedback has been awesome! Week one Larry Osborne spoke on thriving in Babylon from the book of Daniel.
Week two was a pastor swap with Norm Funk from Westside Church. He preached on the life of the disciples, and I preached at Westside on Revelation 9 (don’t get me started!).
Yesterday – week three – I was on vacation with my girls for March break, so we asked Andy Bannister to come from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, a ministry that has shaped my life and thinking ever since I first became a Christian. Andy preached on the emptiness of atheism and the meaning of life found in Jesus.
I am so thankful for each of these speakers and how they served the people of Village Church so well. It reminds us that God is alive and moving in our world outside of our city and even our country. From the Californian relaxed, wisdom personified style of Larry, to Norm’s amazing native-Vancouver, Bible teaching and apostolic gift, to Andy’s British brilliance (and accent) and philosophical-yet-practical worldview teaching, God uses all kinds of different people and ministries to equip the saints and reach people who don’t know Jesus.
There are different reasons for the 11 or 12 times a year that I don’t preach at Village (rest, giving our apprentices and others pastors opportunities for development, etc.) but it’s always bittersweet for me. Bitter in that I miss seeing all the faces, teaching, being able to pray with you about things you’re working through, etc. And sweet in that you get to hear from other great leaders and learn from them.
I have missed being with the Village family and can’t wait to get back with you all this coming Sunday – Easter Sunday at Langley Events Centre (which is going to be amazing!) – and yet I can’t help but think the last three weeks was important for us as a church. We heard from different types of teachers and leaders who love Jesus and model a life under him in such crazy different ways than myself and one another and that is a beautiful reminder to us that no church, or ministry, or movement is built on one person. A reminder that, in fact, we are all expendable. All replaceable. Because it’s not about us. It never was and it never will be. It’s about Jesus and he isn’t limited to the passions, gifts, or ideas of one person, or group of people. The power doesn’t come from us but through us. We’ve heard it a million times but it’s still true what the Apostle Paul said:
“After all, what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants who helped you to believe. Each one had a role given to them by the Lord: I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow. Because of this, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but the only one who is anything is God who makes it grow.” 1 Corinthians 3:5-7
I have been reminded the last few weeks, and I hope you have too, that Village Church is about Jesus and the work of the Spirit, not a pastor or a staff or a set of skills or gifts. And it’s about the people that make up the church. You didn’t stop serving, or gathering, or giving, or being on mission, or singing. And of course you shouldn’t! Because the church is you – the people – filled with the Spirit serving the God of the universe with the gifts and passions he’s given you for his glory.
When that happens that’s when we become unstoppable.