Make Room - Pastor Al Gordon

Oh, it's wonderful to be with you. Thank

you so much. Uh what an honor to be together today. I bring greetings uh

together today. I bring greetings uh from London. And I just want to start um

from London. And I just want to start um by just saying I I love NCC. Uh I was here two years ago. I actually came back for the Renew Gathering in September.

And I have a church crush. If I'm

allowed a church crush on another church, um it's you guys. So, thank you for your welcome. And I just want to um take a moment uh to just honor uh Pastor

Mark. Um

Mark. Um I'm not many of you will know this, but Pastor Mark doesn't just pastor NCC, he has a an impact on so many young leaders

lives around the world and encouraging them. And uh if you um if you get hold

them. And uh if you um if you get hold of a copy of Spark and you flick to the thank yous at the back, you'll see a a whole section where I thank Pastor Mark.

And you'll think, why is Al thanking Pastor Mark? Um, but let me explain. It

Pastor Mark? Um, but let me explain. It

was a couple of years ago I visited NCC for the first time. And I was sitting having a coffee with Pastor Mark and and he was trying to encourage me to to write and I said, "Oh, I can't you the

Brits, we have a sort of a national sport of self-appreciation. You know, we sort of we really I think it's the it was losing America that it for us, you

know, that we just we've never got over it, you know.

And I said, "Oh no, I couldn't possibly I couldn't write a book. Oh no, there's no way. It'd be terrible. No one would

no way. It'd be terrible. No one would want to, you know, hear anything." And

Pastor Mike said this thing I'll never forget. He he gave me some wise advice.

forget. He he gave me some wise advice.

He said, "Look, you know, your your church, you could take 10 minutes and encourage someone on a Sunday at the back of church or you could maybe make your schedule available and have coffee with them and have a an hour with somebody, but you can only do a limited

number of that. your life is, you know, that there's there's there there's so many hours in a day. And he said, "But if you write down like eight hours of your best ideas and give them to someone, that will really help them

grow." And I was like, "Oh, that's

grow." And I was like, "Oh, that's annoyingly good." I Oh, you know,

annoyingly good." I Oh, you know, self-appreciation meets wisdom. And that's what I want you

meets wisdom. And that's what I want you to know with your pastor. You know this already, but he is a remarkable encourager of others. And I wonder if we might just honor Mark and Laura. Um they

are amazing.

Yes. Yes. We love you. Thank you so much. Um and all of you 30 years in.

much. Um and all of you 30 years in.

You're looking so young for 30 years in.

Uh I'm so excited to have been watching from a distance the celebrations. And

here's what I want to talk about a little bit today. You know, God has moved so powerfully through this community. the story of faithfulness,

community. the story of faithfulness, the miracles, the answers to prayer. And

I believe that you have not seen anything yet, that the best is yet to come. And that's what I want to talk

come. And that's what I want to talk about the next 30 years. How do you make room for God to move in the next 30

years? How do you make room for God to

years? How do you make room for God to move in NCC, in the city, in your life, in your neighborhood?

How can we position our hearts for the wind of the spirit to blow for God to begin to wash and move in our lives in a fresh way?

And I want I want to start by bringing greetings again from London. When I was here two years ago, I talked about um just how God had begun this this work in London. I remember sharing about the

London. I remember sharing about the Asbury outpouring and some of you will will remember this. I'd experienced how God had called us in our little church.

Just this sense of God saying, "Prepare the way. Get ready for what I'm going to

the way. Get ready for what I'm going to do." And I shared the story two years

do." And I shared the story two years ago of the Lord saying to me, um, Al, you've got 18 months to prepare your church for revival. I was like, oh, you

know, we we never do dates with the, you know, we don't sort of prophesy dates.

It's just like, you know, and I remember saying to the Holy Spirit, oh Lord, you know, I've taught prophetic seminars.

This is very awkward, you know. You

know, we don't do sort of on this date this the Lord will do this, but it's the Holy Spirit and I guess he's the Lord, right? He can do what he wants to do.

right? He can do what he wants to do.

So, it's not great to argue with God.

And I remember the Lord saying to me, you know, just get ready. Change your

heart. That's the hard bit. Change

nothing but your heart, the Lord said.

And two years on, we when I was here two years ago, was sharing some of those those stories of hope and what God was beginning to do in our city in London.

And I want to just bring an an encouragement to you this morning that God is on the move. And what you've seen the last 30 years, you ain't seen

nothing yet. That the spirit of God is

nothing yet. That the spirit of God is on the move. And if he can work in our little church in London, England, he can work in your amazing community here.

There's a sense what we've seen in London of God moving among the young.

You know, where we are in the neighborhood we're in probably is a bit similar. I think Mark and I were talking

similar. I think Mark and I were talking probably not dissimilar to how this neighborhood would have been like 30 years ago. It's a it's a pretty rough

years ago. It's a it's a pretty rough part of town. I think this was the murder capital at the time of of of of the kind of the city or certainly this part of the world. And uh similarly, the church which I lead is on a road which

was nicknamed murder mile because it had the highest murder rate in the UK. Uh

less than 1% attend church in our neighborhood. I mean really, really,

neighborhood. I mean really, really, really post-Christian, secular, you know, way ahead of where you guys are at in the nation. And God has begun this

work of turning the hearts of people, starting with the young, but the young heart as well back towards himself.

Hundreds have started to come to faith over the last couple of years. And it's

been supernatural. It's been sustained, and it's been sudden. I'll tell you one story of a young guy called Freddy. And

I heard this story as I was baptizing Freddy among dozens of other people that night. You know, a queue of young people

night. You know, a queue of young people wanting to get baptized, unprecedented for us. And so I always try and

for us. And so I always try and interview a couple of people who are getting baptized. You know, say, "What's

getting baptized. You know, say, "What's your story?" This is Freddy's story. And

your story?" This is Freddy's story. And

listen to this. Freddy, no church background, no experience of church, no contact, doesn't believe in God. 20 mid

20s during the pandemic rough time is living with his partner they get pregnant they lose the baby the relationship breaks up he is desperate hopeless bereft of hope and Freddy

tragically gets to the point where he thinks I can't carry on living anymore terrible terrible place to be and he decides to end his life he takes a a pedal cycle like a bicycle to the side

of the freeway where we are in East London big four-lane motorway heading out of town And in the middle of the night, he wakes. It's a dark night. He

waits for a wall of traffic to come.

With his push bike at the side of the road, he puts his foot on the pedal. He

looks up to heaven. Nothing there. Puts

his weight on the pedal to throw himself out in front of the traffic and end his life. At this point, two things happen

life. At this point, two things happen that are supernatural. The first is Freddy experiences a hand reaching out and grabbing him on the back of his neck. He's in the middle of nowhere.

neck. He's in the middle of nowhere.

There's no one around. and it lifts him up invisibly four meters through the air and pulls him on his back on the hard shoulder behind him and he's like there's no one there just supernaturally

someone's just gone bang lift him up and he's lying on his back not dead second thing he hears out loud an audible voice and again there's no one

around he just hears this voice say one word and it's a name that he'd never really heard before certainly not in this context the name was Jesus,

the name by which we're saved.

Freddy gets up off the ground, picks up his pedal cycle, walks home, Googles Jesus, Googles church, comes to church,

goes on an alpha course, and I hear about this story as I'm getting ready to put Freddy in the water.

Now, God is moving among a young, broken generation. And I think what God is ex

generation. And I think what God is ex doing in Freddy's life is prophetic for what God is going to do, not just with our young people, but our generation,

the church in this generation.

I love House of Prayer. We started House of Prayer. We stole that off you guys.

of Prayer. We stole that off you guys.

Um there's no copyright in the kingdom, right?

>> I hope there isn't cuz if not, I'm in trouble. But we started praying and we

trouble. But we started praying and we are really bad at prayer and God has been starting to to teach us how to pray. Uh you know humbling ourselves

pray. Uh you know humbling ourselves saying Lord we don't know what to do. I

love in Luke 11:1 it says this this this disciple came to Jesus said Lord teach us to pray and I love how in the gospel it records it just says a disciple came to Jesus. You notice in the gospels I'm

to Jesus. You notice in the gospels I'm sure Luke when he wrote the gospel everyone was like Luke could I just make some edit suggestions? You know when you say Matthew came to Jesus and said teach us to pray. I look really stupid. Could

you just put a disciple? Okay, I'll

cross that. Just a disciple. So a

disciple came to Jesus as a teach cuz we don't know how to pray. We don't

embarrassed about that. But two years ago we we we started to see the wind of the spirit moving in our community and this outpouring beginning in London. And

we started to get on our knees and pray and we don't know how to pray. So, we

gathered a couple other churches locally, repented as pastors, publicly said, "We're sorry, we've done it on our own. We've been prideful. We've been in

own. We've been prideful. We've been in competition and we got on our knees as pastors, and we we cried out to God for forgiveness and unity." Psalm 133 says, "Where brothers and sisters dwell in

unity. God commands blessing." So, we

unity. God commands blessing." So, we got on our knees and we opened the doors of our church that Monday night for a kind of house of prayer. We call it a joint prayer gathering. And and and it was like bringing all these three

churches together. our our joint our

churches together. our our joint our meetings our prayer meetings were maybe a dozen maybe 20 30 people so not many of us got together and pray God began to move in the most remarkable way among the young people praying I've got a

couple of photos to show you we open the doors of the church and the queue of young people wanting to pray was all the way down the street but it like deep people next photo like people just

standing desperate like young faces like I'm like who are these kids desperate to pray. And these meetings have been packed out. We do them every

couple of months. They go all night sometimes. Thousands of people joining

sometimes. Thousands of people joining us crying out for God. Next slide.

Crying out for God to meet with them.

And we're seeing this amazing move of God beginning to happen among young people. Now listen,

people. Now listen, some of you in the room are like, "This sounds great, so encouraging, but where's the data?" Like, if God was really moving, anyone love data? Anyone

like a data scientist? Some political

analysts in the room are like, "Show me the spreadsheet. Show me the graph." So

the spreadsheet. Show me the graph." So

there's a organization in the UK called Yuggov, which is what it's like our national polling gold standard. So the

elections are called based on Yuggov exit polls. And Yuggov recently did a

exit polls. And Yuggov recently did a study. They do it every year of 10,000

study. They do it every year of 10,000 people. Very very big poll. And one of

people. Very very big poll. And one of the questions they ask in this poll is do you believe in God? And they have like four categories. No, I don't believe in God. Maybe I believe in a higher power. I definitely don't believe

higher power. I definitely don't believe in God. It's quite weighted towards not

in God. It's quite weighted towards not believing in God. But there's one line which is yes, I believe there is a God.

And that normally is like we're a very post-Christian country up to now. And

and that has been a thing of like you know belief in God has been very low. So

let me show you this graph on the left of the graph. The blue line is belief in God 26% 2019 going the pandemic it jumps to 36%. But then pretty much

to 36%. But then pretty much consistently historically it's been 27 31 28 28. Then in 2022, 2023 when this move of the spirit begins in London, we

start to see a jump up to the point where now in 2025, 55% of Londoners are saying they now believe in God.

Now I tell you this to encourage you that God is able to move in a moment far more than you could ask or imagine, far more than you could

predict. So 30 years you've been doing

predict. So 30 years you've been doing the warm-up laps friends >> and I want to encourage you that suddenly supernaturally and

spontaneously to make room to get ready to like free up your seat you know to say let let me get somebody messy and young and invite them to church because you don't know what God is already

wanting to do. He's wanting to move in the lives of the Freddy's in your community, >> in the high school kids. You walk past, the the the nephews, the kids, the grandkids. God wants to move not just

grandkids. God wants to move not just among the young, but the young at heart.

And in the US, there is a spiritual hunger right now. I mean, I could show you data slides that are equivalent to this. Barner recently brought out a

this. Barner recently brought out a study where they looked at spiritual hunger. Young people returning to

hunger. Young people returning to church. Here the most regular committed

church. Here the most regular committed churchgoers now in the US are Gen Z people coming home Bible sales rocketing

through the young among young people signs of hope whether it's the Asbury outpouring but I we we said we said this like you know we don't think this is just like a one-off thing it's like the

water table is rising the weather is changing the tide is coming in and you should expect to see God begin to open up wells of his presence and his glory

in this moment. Just this past couple of weeks, uh, a university, SCU, that has many connections in this room. You Joel

and Nina, your daughter is SCU, right at the heart of this. Pastor Mark is on the board of SCU, wonderful university. They

begun to see an outpouring of the presence of God. Look it up. I mean,

extraordinary scenes, a a chapel gathering of young people just carried on for 10 days, worshiping and praying, miracles, healing, young people getting

set free, people coming to to know Jesus.

This is the thing. God is about to move, I believe, in this generation with great power and great love. Why? Because water

always flows to the lowest point.

And when a generation are on their knees and are desperate and are thirsty, the water will find its way to that place.

So the exam question I want to talk about this morning is how do we get ready? How do we make room for when God wants to move? The

last 30 years has been the warm-up lab.

How do you get ready and make room for God to move in the next 30 years? Now, I

want to talk to you for a moment about your life as well as corporately the church. Like, how do you make room in

church. Like, how do you make room in your life for when God begins to move among your family, among your neighbors, among your colleagues, up on the hill,

down in the valley, wherever you find yourself, when God begins to move, make room. Because here's the thing. When God

room. Because here's the thing. When God

is on the move, there are two things that can happen. One is that we get ready and we go with him and we respond and we stretch and we we do the things that God wants us to do. Or we can sit

back and watch others walk into the land of his promise and miss it. Leonard

Ravenhill has this quote. I love this.

He says this, "The opportunity of a lifetime needs to be seized during the lifetime of the opportunity.

Don't miss what God wants to do." How do we respond? We make room. first thing.

we respond? We make room. first thing.

So, I want to just suggest this morning that the spirit of God would help us to to get ready and make room for what he wants to do. And I'm going to pray.

Going to share four quick things and then we're going to have a chance to invite the Holy Spirit to do the work.

Does that sound all right?

>> Okay, let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your great love for this church, for the people of DC.

Thank you that you're working in this generation, that none of us here today by accident. And we pray today you teach

by accident. And we pray today you teach us, help us, encourage us, speak to us

in Jesus name. Amen.

four ways to make room when God moves.

And I want to go to John's gospel to look at this. If you have a Bible with you, you want to go to John chapter 5.

And I'll bring the verses up as we go through. But just have John chapter 5 19

through. But just have John chapter 5 19 and 20 on your phone or in your Bible.

We're going to look at those verses in particular because Jesus in these verses explains how as disciples we can respond when God

moves. And he gives us four clues.

moves. And he gives us four clues.

Number one, the first thing that we do is wait.

Wait.

Jesus is utterly dependent on the father. He does nothing by himself. John

father. He does nothing by himself. John

chapter 5 19 says, "The son can do nothing by himself."

You know, so often we are tempted to rush in and to fill the gaps and to manufacture in your walk with God when it doesn't feel like God is breaking through, to start to force it or or or

or to to kind of, I don't know, run ahead of God.

Well, the first thing God calls us actually to do is to wait.

Power comes when we wait upon the Lord.

When we give up control, we let the presence of God fill the room. When we

gather like this, don't be afraid of silence.

I'm waiting.

Jesus said this to his disciples. Luke

24:49. He said, "I'm going to send you what my father has promised, but stay, remain, wait, stay in the city until you've been clothed with power from on

high." Some of you today, your word is

high." Some of you today, your word is wait.

Wait. The most powerful spiritual investment you can make is to wait on the Lord. Time waiting is not time

the Lord. Time waiting is not time wasted. Isaiah 40:31, those who wait on

wasted. Isaiah 40:31, those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. You

so often we come to service at church, it's like worship, there's talk, we rush out, I don't know, you coffee and good things, hockey game, is that happening this morning? Yeah, there's things to

this morning? Yeah, there's things to catch up on. Like there's there's life happening. But let me encourage you when

happening. But let me encourage you when we gather like like a moment waiting.

You're coming forward, getting prayer, waiting on the Lord. It's like charging the battery of your soul. You know, when you get home tonight, you're not going to take your phone and just plug it in and then unplug it and put it back in

your bag. You plug it in and you leave

your bag. You plug it in and you leave it. Power comes when you wait on the

it. Power comes when you wait on the Lord. One of the first prayer gatherings

Lord. One of the first prayer gatherings we did, it was a young woman called Gina.

Gina works for the government science department. She actually works for the

department. She actually works for the number one scientist during the pandemic. Uh she would be the person

pandemic. Uh she would be the person each day, Gina, young woman in her 20s, she was in charge of calculating what we call the R rate, the reproduction rate of the virus. So every day on the news, I remember the really depressing thing

of like the R rate is like now, you know, this high or this. And it was Gina who'd be like calculating it. It's so

brainy. And Gina had had a rough life.

Super bright scientist, not a churchgoer. She had had cancer as a

churchgoer. She had had cancer as a child in her teens, early teens that had destroyed her spine. She had 51 tumors in her spinal column and her bones in

her spine had been eroded and kind of crumbled. Thankfully, God healed her

crumbled. Thankfully, God healed her through medicine. Doctors do an amazing

through medicine. Doctors do an amazing job. The drug treatment worked and she

job. The drug treatment worked and she was able to to get beat the cancer, but it left her in debilitating pain. She

was um essentially unable to move unaided. So, she was relying on either a

unaided. So, she was relying on either a wheelchair or sticks to move. absolute

agony. It would take her about an hour to get up in the morning with heat pads, painkillers, medication. She was just

painkillers, medication. She was just incredibly brave, no faith, no background. She went through a whole

background. She went through a whole load of stuff. And one day about 3 years ago, started to seek after God. She

started to ask God like, "What is it?

Where are you? Who are you in the midst of my suffering? Could I encounter?

Could I come to know God?" She found a way to church. And it was about 18 months ago, two years ago maybe now, that she turned up at church, and she came along to one of these joint prayer

gatherings, baby Christian. She'd made a commitment to follow Jesus a couple of months before, and she came along in in real agony. She said, "I'm not going to

real agony. She said, "I'm not going to stay very long." It was during Lent, actually, a and she got herself to church. She walked to the front of

church. She walked to the front of church with her sticks. She sat in a chair, and there was maybe a thousand people in the room. It was loud. We're

crying out to God. And she thought, "I'm going to stay for half an hour, then I'm going to go." But we gave this opportunity for prayer and we said if anyone would like to to wait on the Lord would would you just come and we'll pray

for you. Gina hobbled her way forward

for you. Gina hobbled her way forward and she got prayer and she was prayed for by a couple of our you know regular people in the congregation. Put a hand on her shoulder and she said what do you want to pray for Gina? And she said I

just want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I want to wait on the Lord. And

Spirit. I want to wait on the Lord. And

for 5 10 minutes they stood there put her hand on her shoulder and they just prayed for her. Come Holy Spirit. And

it's so easy to be like transactional like okay you know I'm done now she just waited didn't feel anything you just stood there

and then she went back to her seat and then after a while she was like I have mislaid my canes the sticks I normally walk with so she starts running

around the building trying to find her sticks and then she goes oh my goodness I'm moving without my sticks trying find my sticks ironically.

And she's experiencing no pain. No one

had prayed for her for healing. She just

waited in the presence of God. Now, she

comes up to me. This is my favorite conversation. One of my favorite

conversation. One of my favorite conversations ever. She comes up to me

conversations ever. She comes up to me at the end of the meeting as people are leaving. She says, "Al, I want to have a

leaving. She says, "Al, I want to have a moment with you. Could I just chat with you?" I said, "Sure." She says, "Look,

you?" I said, "Sure." She says, "Look, my name is Gina. I'm a scientist. I

don't want you to be alarmed, but I think I may have been healed tonight."

Now, because I'm a cynic and I'm British and that's a heady combination, I said, "Oh, that's so nice. Uh, go and check it out with your doctor and come back and see me in 3 weeks and let me know if

you've been healed or not." I was like I'd have been like kicked out of the disciples for lack of faith. I' been

like I'd have been like Jesus been like, "No, no, no, no, no." I was like, "Okay, go away. Sounds great. Go away." Anyhow,

go away. Sounds great. Go away." Anyhow,

3 weeks later, she comes back. She says,

"Al, it's me again. Do you me?" I was like, "No, I I'd completely forgotten the conversation." And she said, "Um,

the conversation." And she said, "Um, well, listen, I've been to the doctor.

Uh, you know, I was here at the prayer meeting and I've got the spine and, you know, all the things." And she said, "I've been to my doctor and my doctors told me two things. Number one, uh, I

seem to have grown an inch and a half."

Like, they put me through a CT scanner.

My spine is looking better than ever. I

don't know what's going on, but God seems to have healed me. So, number two, uh, I'm now no longer allowed to have free

parking in central London because the consequence of this healing is that I'm no longer registered disabled. I don't have sticks anymore.

disabled. I don't have sticks anymore.

My electric wheelchair is for sale.

And she said to me, this is this is great. She said she said, "Is there any

great. She said she said, "Is there any way like pastors you get loads of weird requests? Like if you have a weird

requests? Like if you have a weird request, by the way, go find Pastor Mark afterwards. Like if your mother has had

afterwards. Like if your mother has had puppies in Minnesota and you want someone to sell them, go see Pastor Mark afterwards. It happens all the time. So

afterwards. It happens all the time. So

she comes said, "Could you make an announcement at church and tell them there's an electric wheelchair for sale?

It's brand new. It's gathering dust in my hallway. I'm never going to need it."

my hallway. I'm never going to need it."

That's the kind of announcement I want to make at church, right? So good. You

see, power comes when you wait on the Lord. When you wait on the Lord, God is

Lord. When you wait on the Lord, God is able to heal and set free and encourage even the most desperate situations. So,

first thing I want to encourage you today, make room by waiting.

Just wait.

Learn to wait on the Lord. Push through

the uncomfortable barrier.

Let's help each other with that.

you when pastor Mark is here saying we're just going to pray don't kind of look at your watch or look at him saying come on you know let's just look at lift

our eyes to heaven and cultivate that attitude of just waiting second thing to make room is this that we would watch

look around you what do you see God doing in your life what do you see God doing in your family what do you see God doing in your neighbors lives in your colleagues lives at work. What do you

see God doing in the team you serve on at NCC? John 5:20 says this. Jesus says

at NCC? John 5:20 says this. Jesus says

he can only do what he sees his father doing. The father loves the son and

doing. The father loves the son and shows him all he does. You see, Jesus is watching the father and watching what the father is doing and responding to that. In the same way, I want us to to

that. In the same way, I want us to to capture that vision for the Christian life that we would respond only to what we see the father doing.

And you must say, I don't know what he's doing. I mean, you know, I can't see him

doing. I mean, you know, I can't see him doing anything. And Jesus says this

doing anything. And Jesus says this fascinating thing. He says, John 3:8, he

fascinating thing. He says, John 3:8, he says, "The wind," talking about the spirit blows wherever it pleases. So it

is with everyone born of the spirit. You

You can't see the wind, can you? You go

around the the the river here, you can't see the wind, but you can see the effect of the wind, can't you? You can see the wind moving on the water or the trees bending in the wind. It's the same with

the Holy Spirit. You can see the impact the Holy Spirit is having around you.

So, keep your eyes open for that, for God at work. Where is God wanting to move in your life, your work, your neighborhood? Watch out for signs of God

neighborhood? Watch out for signs of God at work.

I have a friend called Guy. He became a Christian in this move of the spirit couple of years ago.

His story is is remarkable. not a

Christian atheist, medic, lived over the road from the church. One night goes out on a big night out and they end up in the park. There's a big green park.

the park. There's a big green park.

They're sitting there with friends and he'd been given a watch by his his dad and family watch, you know, valuable family kind of heirloom. And that night he's out drinking heavily, has a big

night out, and they end up playing um like rugby, which is like soccer, not soccer. No, what do you call it?

soccer. No, what do you call it?

American football. It's like American football without the pads basically. So

it's it's like physical. Um we invented all the sports by the way. You guys

perfected them. But

so this guy is playing like this like version of football, rugby in the park and he he loses his watch and he's gutted. He gets up that morning atheist.

gutted. He gets up that morning atheist.

He goes to this park that's like a mile wide and he can't remember where he was and he's walking around and he says to the he cries out to God. He said I'm I'm you know God I don't believe in you.

Great prayer to start. you. I don't

believe in you, but if you're real, help me find my watch.

He looks down between his feet in the middle of the park, and guess what? He

sees his watch.

Picks it up, comes to church that night, gives his life to Jesus, and I have a conversation with at the back. He's

like, "I don't know that God is real.

All I know is that I was in the park."

And he tells me a story. And I was like, "Man, this is crazy. God is rescuing people." little feeble prayers crying

people." little feeble prayers crying out. Expect people to start to come to

out. Expect people to start to come to church with stories like that because when God's on the move, watch for signs of him working. So, second thing, watch.

Third thing, stretch. God always has more for you than the limits of your faith. John 5:20, Jesus continues, "He

faith. John 5:20, Jesus continues, "He will show him, meaning himself, even greater works than these so that you'll be amazed."

be amazed." God has greater works for you and I to do. So we come expectant to God for him

do. So we come expectant to God for him to stretch our faith. You know, I want to keep encouraging you. Don't settle

for 30 years of legacy. Press in for 30 years of expectancy that God has not yet started what he intends in the blessing and the story of NCC.

Like God is going to do far more in the future than he's done in the past. I

believe it. But it requires us to come expectant that he might stretch our faith. St. Augustine says this, "God is

faith. St. Augustine says this, "God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are often too full to receive them."

receive them." God will never force his way into your life. It requires you and I to come with

life. It requires you and I to come with open hands, without stretched arms. Just a little stretch is often what it requires for God to move. So, be

expectant that God will stretch you, stretch your faith. And even today, I wonder if there's things that you're afraid to pray for because you feel that it would be a stretch too far. It

doesn't require much with God.

Probably the most famous work of art in the world, one of the most famous works of art is Michelangelo's masterpiece on the ceiling of the Systeine Chapel depicting the creation of the world. And

if we bring this up, there's the most famous uh you know image that we've all seen is is God reaching out to to mankind. God's hand is on the right of

mankind. God's hand is on the right of the image there and Adam's hand is on the left of the image. This is the moment of creation when God sparks in

Adam life.

But you'll notice something that Adam's finger is not stretched out towards God.

And when this is first painted uh sort of apocryphal legend has it we know no way of knowing this that people came to Michelangelo and said look Michelangelo you've got it slightly wrong. If this is the moment of creation, surely the

fingers would touch. And then they began to analyze the picture. And if you were to take this anatomically, the an the sort of the way the finger on Adam's hand is aligned is is perfectly

aligned. So it doesn't require Adam to

aligned. So it doesn't require Adam to move anywhere. All it requires is Adam

move anywhere. All it requires is Adam just to stretch his finger. The smallest

movement.

You know, so often you think you have to move towards God for him to bless you or answer your prayer or spark something in your life when the answer is no. You

just need to stretch a little bit.

Stretch your faith. You remember Moses by the the sea and he's chased by Egypt and Pharaoh and the chariots and he's at the side of the sea. What does God require Moses to do? What does Moses

what what does he say? You remember

stretch out your hand, Moses. It's not

like part the waters or defeat the enemy. He just this little stretch Moses

enemy. He just this little stretch Moses and Moses have done this over and over like pick up the stick, stretch out a hand, do this, be obedient. It's not a big requirement God has. He does the omnipotence. All we do is the obedience.

omnipotence. All we do is the obedience.

So friend, can I encourage you today to stretch your hand?

The first time I heard of my imminent death was on a Sunday morning walking from church back to my house. I lived

over the road from the church and I walk out of the church and where we are a lot of people drink on the streets. A lot of like crime, a lot of drug dealing. 80%

of the hard drugs are sold from the churchyard uh in our in our part of the city. If I had commission on that, we'd

city. If I had commission on that, we'd be very very well off. Uh but that would not be right.

And I'm walking out of the church and there's a lady sitting on a bench and she calls over to me says, "Oh, pastor, it's great to see that you're still alive." And I didn't know if it was like

alive." And I didn't know if it was like some sort of Christian greeting like and also with you, you know, you you so I was intrigued. So I went over to her and

was intrigued. So I went over to her and I said to her, "Could you just unpack for me what you mean I'm still alive?"

And she said, "Oh, they didn't kill you."

you." I said, "Huh?"

Again, could you explain a little bit OF THE CONTEXT? WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS THIS.

THE CONTEXT? WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS THIS.

The police had done an operation that week where they'd shut down one of the major drug gangs that dealt from the churchyard. because it's a churchyard.

churchyard. because it's a churchyard.

The drug gang thought I was responsible.

I was somehow like an undercover cop uh uh and you know was involved in in in the drug gang uh in the kind of breaking with the police of the drug gang. And so

the apparently what happened is the drug gang had decided that they would try and take me out. They were planning to go to my house and kill me. And word had got through to this lady sitting on the bench. She was like, "Oh, it's good to

bench. She was like, "Oh, it's good to see you're still alive."

So for like two or three weeks, I was terrified.

I mean, I'd come out my front door. I'd

be like, it's like a sort of swap movie.

I'd be like the closest. I didn't have personal protection, but I was like, Lord Jesus, send the big angels.

And I took a different route to go to church. Even though it was across the

church. Even though it was across the street, I'd be going like one block, turning checking turning checking walking around, checking, and then I'd go to church through the back door, literally.

And then one Sunday morning, I see this guy walk in and I recognized him from being part of the guys who'd sit outside in the churchyard getting up to naughty business. And he comes in and he's

business. And he comes in and he's looking angry. Big guy looking really

looking angry. Big guy looking really angry. And he comes and he waits for me

angry. And he comes and he waits for me and he points at me all the way through the talk. I'm like, "This is really

the talk. I'm like, "This is really intimidating. Am I about to die?" I go

intimidating. Am I about to die?" I go over and see him at the end. And I'm

like, I took a bit of a team with me. I

said, "The worship team, would you guys just come come with me?" the Levites of the army, you know, they were no use whatsoever. I got to tell you, they just

whatsoever. I got to tell you, they just stood around like guys at the edge of a prize fighter ring. They're like,

"Putting money on him today, right?"

This guy squares up to me and gets ready to punch me. He's standing there. You

could tell his fists are clenched. He's

so angry. And my team are standing around going, "Woo! It's going to get literally people are starting to get their phones out and quietly filming.

In that moment, I was like, "Lord, help.

Help me.

I'm just going to stretch out my hand. I

don't know what to do. Help me." I said, "You have to speak right now. Holy

Spirit, this is an emergency." And I felt in that moment the grace of God, the spirit of God say to me, "Pray for his hip. There's something wrong with

his hip. There's something wrong with his hip."

his hip." I was like, "Oh, wow. Okay. This is

going to be one of these moments. we are

going to tell our grandkids about this moment, you know. So I go let me ranting and shouting and spitting into like the cross and and I said could I stop you there?

Is there something wrong with your hip?

Expecting glory to fall like the guy to go I do you know what happens? He stops

and he goes, "No, there's nothing wrong with my hip."

At this point, not only am I about to die, but I also look like a spiritual fraud. You know, I'm like, "Oh, no." The

fraud. You know, I'm like, "Oh, no." The

worship team like putting their cameras away. They're like, "Oh, this is so

away. They're like, "Oh, this is so disappointing."

disappointing." Anyhow, in that moment, it broke the moment. And actually, he left furious

moment. And actually, he left furious and he went out in the churchyard. I

remember him saying, shouting across the churchyard, "We're not going to get you now." I was with my youngest kid who's

now." I was with my youngest kid who's just 10. And he said, "I'm not going to

just 10. And he said, "I'm not going to get you now, but we'll get you later."

And I literally was sweating.

And I went a couple days later round the corner on my special route to get to church. And I bumped physically into the

church. And I bumped physically into the guy. This point I'm like, "Lord, into

guy. This point I'm like, "Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit."

And he says, "Priest." He knew I was a priest. He said, "Priest,

priest. He said, "Priest, can I ask you a question?

How did you know about my hip?

He said, "I've had a agony, painful hip for two years. I've not told anybody about it. No one. I've not even been to

about it. No one. I've not even been to the doctor. Every day I walk around on

the doctor. Every day I walk around on it, it's absolute agony. I've never

shared that with anybody. How did you know about my hip?" And I found myself saying this to him. I said, "Look, here's the deal."

This is word for word what I said. I

said, "Here's the deal. Jesus really

loves you. I have no idea why.

I promise you. I'm just being honest.

And I think he may want to heal your hip. He said, "Would you pray for me?" I

hip. He said, "Would you pray for me?" I

said, "Okay." I stretched out my hand, put it on his shoulder. I kept my eyes open to pray.

and prayed as far away as I could from the guy.

I said, "Lord Jesus, thank you that you love this guy. I have no idea why you love him, but I pray you'd heal his hip in Jesus name. Amen. I'll see you

later." And I literally ran. I didn't

later." And I literally ran. I didn't

stay. I ran about again 3 days later, I walked around the same corner. I bumped

into the guy again. He's got two friends with him this time. He says, "Priest, priest priest stop." He said, 'You know, you prayed

stop." He said, 'You know, you prayed for my hip. He said, 'I woke up the next morning and I haven't got any pain.

He said, tell the boys what you said about Jesus.

I said, well, I said to him, Jesus loves you. I don't know why. He said, you see

you. I don't know why. He said, you see that, guys? Jesus loves me.

that, guys? Jesus loves me.

And he told these friends, and the friends were like, well, could you pray for my job? I need a job. That one of the friends, the other guy said, I've got woman trouble. He said, I got woman trouble. I said, I'm I'm not Some things

trouble. I said, I'm I'm not Some things only come out by prayer and fasting. I'm

not doing relationships.

We're doing hips and jobs today.

So, we prayed for his friend who gets a job the next day. Literally, I walk through the churchyard. See these guys now? It's like a chain reaction of grace

now? It's like a chain reaction of grace >> in their lives. You see, sometimes all God requires from you and I is a little stretch, >> little bit of obedience.

And then finally, final thing Jesus tells us to do is to drink.

To drink deeply of the spirit of God, to wait, to watch, to stretch. But then, oh Lord, would you fill me?

It comes from God. God is the source.

It's God who raises the dead and gives life. Verse 21. But just as the father

life. Verse 21. But just as the father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. We live in a

generation where the primary need is not more people in churches, more churches full of people. The

primary need in this moment is more people full of the spirit of Jesus, full of the presence of God. And that's what I believe he wanted to do in you as a

community. That God would open a great

community. That God would open a great fountain. You know, I believe what we're

fountain. You know, I believe what we're seeing among the young, things like EU, the outpourings of God that we're starting to see among a generation are not to be confined just to those most on

their knees, but water will flow to the lowest point.

And if you're here today and you're thirsty for more of Jesus, could I encourage you to humble yourself and come with empty hands, stretch out your

life before God, wait on the Lord and watch what he will do and drink deeply of his love. You know, Ezekiel 47, that great prophetic picture of water flowing from the temple. You'll remember in that

prophetic word, it starts off ankle deep. And the longer Ezekiel walks with

deep. And the longer Ezekiel walks with the river of God, it gets knee deep and then it gets waist deep until it's shoulder deep and then it's too deep for him to stand and he's carried along by

the flood of God's grace. This is God's vision for your life, for NCC as a church that what started 30 years ago wouldn't simply be a a trickle that peters out, but it would be a river of

life that would start and flow. And the

longer you walk and the longer you wait and the more you stretch, the further you go walking with Jesus. Young people

in the room, you're stepping into legacy. Older people in the room, you're

legacy. Older people in the room, you're going to pray for blessing. That river

of life is going to get deeper and deeper and deeper until it becomes a great ocean of mercy for a thirsty generation. John 7:37 says this, "Let

generation. John 7:37 says this, "Let anyone, Jesus says, who's thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, the scripture said, rivers of living

water will flow from within them. So,

let me ask you a question. Are you

thirsty?

Are you jealous for God to move in this city? Do you know that the answer to

city? Do you know that the answer to most of the questions that we're crying out for is not more of this or more of that. It's more of Jesus

that. It's more of Jesus that we would humble ourselves in this days and pray.

And not only that, would you like to be filled?

Jesus doesn't make being filled with the spirit of God conditional. It's not for the ones at the front or the super keen Christians. You might be the plus one

Christians. You might be the plus one today. You might have been dragged along

today. You might have been dragged along by your godly spouse or your parents.

I met a guy at church who lost a bet. He

said, "I had to come along because I lost a bet. and I'm here. Became a

Christian that morning.

Like like maybe you're here and you don't yet know Jesus or or you know about him. You're not walking with him.

about him. You're not walking with him.

You're going through the motions.

But this is the thing. Jesus qualifies

this not with those who deserve it. But

look at Luke 11:13.

says, "How much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who deserve it, have earned it, are worthy of it, tithe, turn up on

time?"

time?" What does it say, friends, all who ask?

So, here's the question. Would you like to ask God to move in your life? Would

you like to make room?

Because when a group of people in a city like this and a church like this under the pastoral care of leaders like this move from being entertained and

performance and just doing church and learn to wait and watch and stretch and drink, well then my friends, the move of

God isn't just possible or likely. It

will in fact have already begun.

So let me encourage you this morning.

The same God who raised Jesus from the grave is here by his spirit.

He's not even started with your life yet. Glory to glory.

yet. Glory to glory.

I want to encourage you this morning to receive from him. So we're going to pray the most ancient prayer of the church today. Come Holy Spirit as we make room

today. Come Holy Spirit as we make room for him. So would you like to join me?

for him. So would you like to join me?

Why don't we stand together?

And I'm going to pray really quickly.

I'm just going to ask one simple prayer that we hold our hands out if you're comfortable and we just say to the Lord, would you come and fill our thirsty

hearts today? Come, Holy Spirit. You

hearts today? Come, Holy Spirit. You

don't have to, but it's sort of the opposite of having your pockets, your hands in your pockets with God. It's

like, well, you know, you receive by stretching out your hands.

So, come Holy Spirit this morning. We

pray.

We cry out for more of you. We wait on the Lord today.

And here's what I'm going to ask that we do. We're going to wait. We're going to

do. We're going to wait. We're going to worship. We'll come into land in a few

worship. We'll come into land in a few minutes. But if you're thirsty, if you

minutes. But if you're thirsty, if you want to make room for the Holy Spirit today in your life, you'll know because there'll be a kind of a sense of faith

and expectancy in your heart, a hunger for God.

If that's you this morning, if you'd like to receive from the Lord, even by faith, can I encourage you to come to the front right now? Just come. If

you're thirsty for more of the Lord, if you long for him to move in your life, in your family, in your kids' lives, in your community, in your work, in your career, just come right now. If the

prayer team, if you'd love to come as well, and we're simply going to pray that the spirit of God would fill you.

He already knows what he wants to do.

Young people, just receive from the Lord today. Now, prayer team, is there the

today. Now, prayer team, is there the prayer team can move around? Yeah. Just

just go pray for everyone. Is that all right? Just go lay a hand on them.

right? Just go lay a hand on them.

We might need a few more in the prayer team if that's okay.

If you're like if you say grace, if you're the one who says grace at the family meal, that's you're probably on the prayer team today.

Okay. Okay. Now, the rest of us, we're going to continue to wait. Let's hold

this space with the Lord. Just allow him to meet us. This is an upper room, friends.

So, come Holy Spirit. Come Lord Jesus with your love and your power.