Reaching the UnreachedAn annual conference for churches trying to reach out in the hard places of our land

Matthew presents Jesus as a new Moses bringing a new exodus and a new kingdom, creating a new community and a new covenant. Jesus has gone up a mountain to teach his new community just like Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the law. And so we might suppose we were about to get a new law or a new ethic. But, no, Jesus says he’s not bringing a new law, but fulfilling the old law (5:17-18).

In Deuteronomy 4:5-6 God said that if Israel lived under his law then the nations would realise that it was good to live in God’s kingdom. But most of the time Israel didn’t do a good job of living under God’s law. Instead of drawing the nations to God, Israel brought God’s name into disgrace (vv. 13).

But Jesus is creating a new community for his new age with the law written on their hearts (in fulfilment of Jeremiah 31:31-34). This community will live in a way that brings light to the world and glory to God (vv. 14-16).

This is the way the community of Jesus is to live (v. 19). It’s not just an impossible ethic to make us despair and drive us to Jesus. This is the way we are to live. This is how we will be light in our city.

And so Jesus makes it very practical.

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Imagine a City

Imagine a city in which:

• people resort to vio lence to settle disputes
• people readily shout abuse at one another and rain down curses on one another
• people get mad when someone cuts them up in traffic or when the call centre cuts them off

Imagine a city in which:

• it is common to find someone distraught because their partner has been unfaithful
• husbands boast of their faithfulness, but openly go to strip clubs or secretly use po rnography
• children blame themselves for their parents divorce

Imagine a city in which:

• people say one thing, but do another
• people have to swear on their mother’s grave because no-one trusts anyone else
• you are always suspicious of your motives

Imagine a city in which:

• people stab you in the back when they get the chance
• people always demand their rights
• disagreements escalate into feuds

Welcome to our city. Welcome to Sheffield.

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These notes are from a talk by Duncan Forbes at the recent Reaching the Unreached [http://www.reachingtheunreached.org.uk/] conference in Barnsley. They are my notes from a talk so they may not accurately represent what Duncan intended.

3. God has sovereignly arranged deprived neighbourhoods for our benefit

‘From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.’ (Acts 17:26-27) Everything and everyone has told me I need to escape my council estate. But if I know that God has arranged my council estate and he has arranged for me to live there so that I would search for God then it will change my attitude. It means we cannot complain about our up-bringing. God arranged that I would be a scared kid living high up in a tower block with a sick mother so that I would find him. If I had grown up somewhere else then I might not be a Christian now. God arranged my deprived neighbourhood for my benefit. And not only is the estate given to us by God to save us, but also to make like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29). It is his means of sanctification in my life.

It is important that we proclaim this because many people cannot stand living on their estate. Many of us have seen ministries grow only to see them die back because people have moved on. It is not always wrong to leave an estate, but we must not see it as an enemy to be avoided. It changes everything if we view our council estate as God’s means to save us and make us like Jesus. This will help people stay on the estates and cope with hardships. (continue reading…)

These notes are from a talk by Duncan Forbes at the recent Reaching the Unreached [http://www.reachingtheunreached.org.uk/] conference in Barnsley. They are my notes from a talk so they may not accurately represent what Duncan intended. Duncan grew up on an estate in south London and is now planting a church there.

Living on a council estate does my head in. It is hard to cope. It is not where I want to live. The most helpful doctrine to me in helping me live on my estate is the sovereignty of God. It is will help people continue living on your estate. It will help people continue in ministry in deprived areas.

Here is a council estate view of God, albeit a generalization:

God does exist, but he is not control of everything. God has a dealt me a set of cards and now it is my job to do the best I can with the set of cards he’s given me. I’m going to take care of number one and my family, because no-one else is going to care for me. Life is a big struggle. We are trying to take care of ourselves. But this is tough. We commit sins along the way. We need to protect ourselves so we have a vicious dog or carry a knife. We feel like a victim. We spend our life being aggressive towards injustice. ‘Are you going to take that?’ we ask each other. It sometimes leads to vigilante attacks because no-one else is going to establish justice. So we set ourselves up as God. We want to be the person in control. We want to be the provider, the judge, the avenger, the enforcer.

But the Bible teaches that God is in control. He is the Provider, the Judge, the Avenger, the Enforcer.

So we need to correct people’s view of God.

Here are some aspects of the sovereignty of God that are important to proclaim in deprived areas.

1. God is in charge

We know this, but we all act at times as if this is not true.

Consider Psalm 2. Other people think they are in charge (2). But God laughs at them (4). And God declares that he has installed his King (6). God is in charge. Jesus is installed at the right hand of the Father and he is running things.

Some people think the youth on their estate are in charge and they are afraid. Or people think the council or the police are in charge and it can make them feel unsettled. But the truth is that the estate is run by God. This is a great source of comfort for people. (continue reading…)

Where you get your information, knowledge and beliefs says a lot about who you are. Do your beliefs come from the Internet, your newspaper, your mum, your workmates? What you believe depends on your priorities.

So your worldview matters; but the way you apply and share your worldview matters as well. Knowledge can be shared – and if you happen to be in the circles where accurate knowledge is shared you will do well.

Many want people to benefit from knowledge and they will pass that on. But some will share knowledge only with people in their own circle.

We have the privilege of knowing the truth – because we have God’s word. How we use that knowledge will have a profound effect on those we choose to share it with and those we withhold it from.

We are called to “Go … and make disciples of all nations.” Our decisions about where we do or do not take that Gospel will have a profound effect on the information, knowledge and beliefs people around us acquire.

So, where should we place the boundaries for Gospel proclamation?