‘Every once in a while a shaft of blazing beauty seems to break out of nowhere and illuminate these companies: Word of God-shaped, Holy Spirit-created lives of sacrificial humility, incredible courage, heroic virtue, holy praise, joyful suffering, constant prayer, persevering obedience.’

During last week as my official last few days, it was a roller-coaster of events and emotions. The church gave us a wonderful last Sunday and truly awesome goodbye bash on Tuesday. On Sunday I taught my last sermon, David Chaput gave a wonderful tribute, the children led a special prayer for us, and then the church gathered round us to pray. Tuesday had people gathered from far and wide, tributes, a live jazz band, and generous gifts. We were blessed with so many generous gifts, words and memories. I’m still amazed by the heartfelt things that were said to both of us.

Though I am confident that becoming Senior Minister at Tonbridge Baptist Church is God’s will – a role I am thrilled to receive – I leave PBC with a deep mix of sadness and thanksgiving. As I had no idea how the journey would turn out at PBC, I’m sure the same will be true of our time at Tonbridge Baptist Church, and I look forward with expectation to see how God will move us all forwards into the things of His heart.

“You are not where you once were. You are not where you’re going to be. You are in a confusing zone. Welcome to The Land Between.” – Jeff Manion.

In this coming five-week series we will learn to encounter God’s goodness through life’s transitions. Based on a new book by author Jeff Manion, we’ll spend five weeks using the biblical story of the Israelites journey through the Sinai desert as a metaphor for being in a transitional space.

After enduring generations of slavery in Egypt, the descendants of Jacob travel through the wilderness (the land between) towards their new home in Canaan. They crave the food of their former home in Egypt and despise their present environment. They are unable to go back and incapable of moving forward. How can this ancient story provide wisdom for our journeys through transitions or even seasons of prolonged difficulty today?

October 3^rd 10am:             Complaint

October 10^th 10am:             Meltdown

October 17^th 10am:             Provision

October 24^th 10am:             Discipline

October 31^st 10am:             Growth

I got home and spoke to my daughter, about the fact this morning was the last time we’ll be at PBC for a couple of months. She looked bright eyed and excited before saying, ‘Great – we’re never going to church again. Great!’ When we replied, ‘Not quite darling, we’ll be visiting other churches,’ she said with a smile, ‘Great – we’ll go to other churches!’ I think that’s the definition of being easily pleased, and kind of sums up how I’m feeling as I recover from my burnout. If I never went to ‘big’ church again, and instead hung out with a few friends for prayer and the Christian walk, I feel like part of me would be ok with that. But I also know that there is a huge part of me – if it can be renewed and refreshed – that longs to learn a rhythm of living that helps me to be fully alive in the midst of leading a large church with all its potential, joys and sadness that it involves. God knows I need Him to replenish me and help me to recapture that first love for Him, as well as for his Body.

I aim to record lots of my sabbatical journey on here, and I hope you’ll consider staying for the ride. Right, now to finish all my e-mails, tidy the office, write a few letters and close the door…

John 21 is an awesome chapter – one of the most moving in the whole Bible. John writes it brilliantly and the small details of the charcoal fire, the net full of fish, the early morning dawn (resurrection and dawn go well together!), breakfast on the beach all paint a vivid picture that sets us up for Jesus’ interchange with Peter. What happens with Peter is what happens so often with us when Jesus gets our full attention, we’re not the same again.

I’ll be teaching on how Jesus deals with the marks we make with our lives – the bad marks and the good marks – and how we are all going to leave a mark, but the question is, whose mark is it going to be?

It was a precious time for me in the midst of a demanding ministry season to meet a great friend and to receive a huge dose of wisdom and guidance. We walked back to the station, sat on the steps outside Charing Cross and prayed, as London carried on its busy life around us.

When I reflect on the formational impact that the guidance and support of key friends like Derek has had in my life, I am left with a deep sense of gratitude to God for them, and it inspires me to also mentor and invest in others. In his excellent book, Courageous Leadership, Bill Hybels says ’Those of us who are more seasoned in leadership must order our lives in such a way that we can carve out time in the next generation of leaders. It is our responsibility. We imperil the church and the world if we don’t take that responsibility seriously…We must identify emerging leaders, invest in them, give them kingdom responsibilities, and coach them into effectiveness. Then we can each experience the thrill of watching them soar.’

Like the woman that Jesus defended, may we do what we can with what he has given us, and may we invest our lives in others so that we can see people grow, develop and soar.

In his usual fashion, Andy states that ”Direction, not intention, determines destination” in his book “Principle of the Path“. His analogy is of a journey: your intention (or vision) might be to get to London, but if your direction is south on the A21 towards Brighton, your destination has been decided. You’ll get to Brighton, not London. The person with the “purest” of intentions, can end up in the wrong destination if they are headed in the wrong direction. Likewise, a church leader can share a vision (intention), but the destination is ultimately decided by the direction or path the church is taking.

The only way to change our destination is to change “paths”. Andy recommends that leaders need to enable churches to realise the consequence of a vision and the need for change and a change of paths.To stay relevant every church has to change, but unless people are helped to know how, after hearing a vision each person will go back to work and do what they did yesterday, which will lead to the same results and destination as before and not the fulfilment of the vision. It’s a recipe for massive frustration if we have a dream of a different future but are actually behaving in ways that will prevent that destination being reached. So the vision of a church might be to impact every child in the village, but do nothing about meeting in the little huts it currently meets in. Or a church might have a vision for being relevant, but rarely uses normal everyday language on the platform. Or a church might have a vision for a multi-cultural community, but only gives a certain type of person time on the platform or opportunities for leadership.

There are signs and warnings to look out for:

• When the culture of the organisation is in conflict with the vision of the organisation, the vision is always trumped.
• If the leaders do not embody the agreed values (behaviours) of the organisation, a culture and path is determined that trumps the shared vision.
• An individual ministry’s model can compete with the stated vision. In a church, everybody can get behind the intention/vision, but the model within the church of how decisions are made, processes and who reports to who, what teams are operating etc are often left the same (because people fear and resist change). This means that model trumps vision and determines destination.

So what can we do? We need to examine where we are…Determine where we want to be and through the power of God, put yourself on the path that leads to that destination.

Andy recommends that leaders need to: 1) Paint a compelling picture (share the vision of what could be and what should be) 2)Examine the models already existing within the organisation and discern what is working, what needs adjusting and what needs to stop 3) Invest financially and prayerfully in that vision 4)Examine the daily behaviours within the organisation that works against the agreed vision.

This is why vision is hard to see become a reality. This is why so many churches in the UK fail to grow. Because vision is shared but necessary changes are not made. Because these steps involve challenging conversations and difficult decisions. But it is only through taking this stuff into account that a church will be helped towards reaching its intention/vision. May we at PBC passionately seek God’s vision for our church, have the courage to examine our models and behaviours and be willing to change anything that might be working against us achieving the vision.

On Christmas Day, Simon picked up the space seamlessly after our funny Dragon’s Den drama, building from the message of that drama into a short talk that would have spoke to the whole spectrum of people that had gathered; from those who have been to church for 90 years every week, to those who only go on Christmas Day. It’s a real challenge to layer and craft a message on a normal Sunday, so that the whole variety of people who gather are ‘fed’. It’s even more of a challenge on a Carols By Candlelight or Christmas Day service, yet arguably even more important because of how well attended these events are. Simon rose to the challenge and exceeded it.

We are very blessed to have him here as one of our Pastors for his wisdom, leadership, Godly heart and pastoral concern. These gifts are all expressed in his leadership responsibilities so well, whether its in his teaching, his input to the Eldership, his leadership over Youth and Children’s or his worship leading. He manages to juggle more roles than one person should be able to. It’s so exciting to think of how God will use Simon in his ministry over his lifetime.

We reflected on the events today as a Staff Team and captured some great learnings for next year which we’re going to pull into a report and present to the Elders. One of the main points was that this year was real evidence that planning early and empowering the right people in the right roles is the key in achieving a high standard at these services. So much stress that we had last year has been avoided this year by simply planning earlier. I am far less exhausted this year than I was last year, thanks to the great Staff Team at PBC and the wider PBC family. Next year we can consider having a dress rehearsal on the Wednesday night before the Sunday just to iron out last minute things and give us all a chance as those taking part to pray and prepare together.

Well done everyone, it’s a joy to serve with you.

Yesterday Rosie and the Day Center team pulled off an incredible feat. They fed dozens of guests for a full Christmas dinner, performed a pantomime, and then Father Christmas came and gave out gifts to everyone. I was asked to give a Christmas message, which I gladly did. It was a first airing of my Carols by Candlelight message.

Well, this Sunday I’m going to try to unpack why people might answer the question in that way. If that’s how you feel, I invite you to come along and hear. If your heart breaks that people feel that way, come along. If you have any suggestions or thoughts on this, please comment below.