It’s time to be flexible

You probably know the famous words in Isaiah chapter 54:

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; …. Isaiah 54:2-3 NIV

One version has it like this: “Increase is coming, so enlarge your tent, and add extensions to your dwelling. Hold nothing back”

Before I retired I used to be a Building Contractor, and I know what it is like to “add extensions to your dwelling”. One of the reasons for people needing an extension was to provide an extra bedroom because “increase was coming” – a baby was due.

It’s interesting how often clients would look at the proposed plans, and then visualise the finished extension – decorated and fully kitted out with the kitchen or bathroom they had set their hearts on – but they gave little thought to the steps needed to take place to get from start to finish. There is going to be some adjustment for them to make…..

At first it’s just small stuff, maybe mildly irritating. They can’t park their car where they used to because of materials stacked, groundwork’s going on, machinery in the way. If they’re at home in the day they are going to have to get used to builders outside their window working away all day….maybe even a radio to listen to that they didn’t choose!

No matter how hard the builders try, there will be some mess, dust, mud and dirt. But at least the client can step inside their home, wipe their feet, shut the door and keep all of that messy stuff outside….. until……

Until the breakthrough. This is the point where the external wall of the house has to be broken through to connect the extension to the main house. If the room you are connecting into is the existing kitchen then units may have to be moved, perhaps even the cooker or the sink. There is going to be mess and dirt inside the house now. If it’s a two storey extension there is going to be a room upstairs as well that is disrupted and out of action. Stuff is going to have to be boxed up and packed away and furniture moved. Dust is going to travel… This is when the Builder finds out how flexible the client is! (It’s tempting to tell some stories, but I shall resist).

The point for us is that Increase is coming and so we need to be a flexible people in order to not just accommodate, but to fully engage with what God is going to do. I used the picture of a bricks and mortar extension on the side of a house to make a point, but the extension that Church needs to make is not on their building. We need to be prepared to extend who we are and how we function. And while a building to meet in might be a useful tool, that is all it is – a tool. (For some churches the building may well be a millstone – a waste of resources and a diversion of time, energy and focus).

I believe that increase is coming. But it is not a case of myriads of people suddenly finding their way into our churches. The increase will only come as we go to where the people are. Most of what we do as believers and kingdom extenders will need to be outside the safe walls of our building – whether that’s a church building or a home that you meet in.

The gospel is not attractional (probably not a real word but you know what I mean). The gospel is incarnational. It never was meant to be about us setting up shop (Church) and hoping to attract people. It was always meant to be about us living among people and bringing the gospel to them wherever they are. Jesus came and lived among people. He didn’t set up in a building in Jerusalem and wait for people to find their way to Him. He found His way to them. He still does. No one ever “found” Jesus. He found them, just as He found you and me. And the best bit, the exciting bit is that He wants to partner with us in the adventure of finding people – people who are ripe, people who are ready to be found by Jesus.

I believe that increase is waiting to happen. There are people now who need little encouragement to fall willingly into the arms of Jesus. But we have to find them as we live among people. This is enlarging the tent. This is adding extensions to our dwelling. Our dwelling is the Church (and I don’t mean a building) and some of these extensions will be quite different to what we have assumed Church was meant to look like. It’s going to be messy at times. It will mean change. Things will be different probably permanently. We need to be flexible. “Hold nothing back”

If this is worth pursuing (and it is) it is worth doing well. And we will only do it well when we let Holy Spirit lead and direct ….a bit like in the book of Acts. Well a lot like in the book of Acts. And if He leads, we are going to have to be flexible from now on. It’s time to light some fires 🔥 🔥 (Below are details of the upcoming course that I promise to share this week)

• FIRE-STARTERS Course.
• Starting third week in September (exact day to be finalised)
• A practical ‘hands on’ course
• Plenty of opportunity for feedback and discussion
• Become a Fire-starter in the Kingdom of God
• Do what Jesus was doing (and still is!) Jn. 14 v 12
• Know your identity in Christ and your authority in Him
• Share the gospel easily and in a non religious way
• Healing not-yet-Christians; power evangelism that works
• Prophecy – how Jesus speaks to non believers

This will be a 5 week course with a practical outing at the end. It will be run in Hexham, in the evening – venue to be confirmed in the week commencing 13th September. Each weekly session will be 2 hours. Tea/coffee/soft drinks/ biscuits provided. If you wish to join this course can you please email me at williamskev2020@gmail.com and let me know if there is a night that you can’t possibly do (not because you have some other social arrangement). I will try to fit round as many people as possible but I can’t guarantee to make it possible for you to come. There will be no charge.