Future Church Brisbane
Join Luke Kennedy and friends at Future Church in Brisbane, Australia.
Talks from our gatherings as well as deeper discussions and Application panels around the practicals of Following Jesus.
Future Church Brisbane
Show and Tell: Cultivating Faith Around the Table
This episode explores the significance of the dinner table in sharing Jesus and building community. We discuss how inviting others to share meals can facilitate deep conversations, engage young generations, and encourage personal faith experiences within safe and loving environments.
• Exploring the concept of "Show and Tell" in faith sharing
• The dinner table as a cultural hub for family discussions
• Insights on the importance of acceptance and belonging in faith communities
• How Jesus' ministry illustrates the power of invitation
• Emphasising the need for confidence in sharing faith with the next generation
• A personal story highlighting the impact of one invitation
• Encouraging listeners to invite friends to explore faith through Alpha
• Practical prayer for friends who need to be invited to the table
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Amazing. So, all right, are we ready to jump into the Bible? Yep, a few people down here are how are we feeling up in the back section? We're doing good, feeling good. Okay, amazing, all right, cool.
Speaker 1:Today I want to talk to you about a concept called show and tell, and this concept is really about how we share Jesus with other people. There's a show element and there's a tell element. Some of us feel more comfortable with one of those than the others, but actually it's both. It's both show and tell. And I want to talk to you about this concept of Jesus' invitation to the table. We'd say pull up a seat at the table, pull up a stump, come and sit with us at the table. That's Jesus' invitation and much of Jesus' ministry. What he gave to other people was around tables, over meals. That were really powerful and intentional times.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you guys, but in my home the most culture-forming, culture-building event in my house is the dinner table. Maybe bedtime too, but dinner time is probably our time together. It's sometimes a little bit chaotic. I don't know if anyone else has that experience, but it's a little bit chaotic around the house. All different kinds of cultures around family dinner tables, I'm sure even in this room maybe you're more of a steak and vegetable type family, knife and fork type family. For us, that's when I'm cooking. When Izumi's cooking, it might be more like, you know, chopsticks, and the Japanese side takes over and it's a beautiful thing. So we've got a. You know Kaylee's, two years old. She's learning to use chopsticks right now. It's very cute.
Speaker 1:But there's something. Most of the time our dinner tables are light, light and fun, a little bit of chaos sprinkled in. But sometimes around the dinner table we go really deep and I can't really choose or set up the times, but sometimes it just happens when we're sitting around the dinner table and someone will ask a question or say a comment and all of a sudden we're in deep territory and the kids don't want to leave the table because we're having this deep and meaningful together and an hour later the kids still don't want to leave the table. They want to keep telling stories, asking questions about our lives and what we were like before we got married and all of these things. The dinner table has been like a central place where we've taught our children about life, but not in a here's point number one, two and three, but sharing our lives together has informed them about how we want to live, and much of this is true with our Christian faith. In fact, recently there was a study done in the Journal of Adolescent Health and it found that young people teenagers who had frequent family dinners young people, teenagers who had frequent family dinners, five or more times a week, were three and a half times less likely to have abused prescription drugs or used an illegal drug, three times less likely to have used marijuana, two and a half times less likely to have started smoking. And that's a short list, but the list goes on and on and on. It's the people who sit around a table where there's a safe environment to talk about what's really going on in our lives, in a place where you know that you're accepted, you know that you are loved, a safe place. Those people are much more secure. That's the reality. We are trying to create that space in a church, in a community, together, where you can come, there's an invitation to come and sit at a table where there's not judgment, but we want to hear and interact with your story and we want to not preach at you, but we want to share what Jesus has done in our lives and that work will inevitably get into your heart and start changing you. We know that will. That was certainly my case.
Speaker 1:I came from a family that was pretty violent and I remember coming into church and people really loved me. I had a cowboy hat on. I was from Warwick, from the farm. We had lots of horses at our house. That was my environment. I came into Toowoomba, which I thought was the big smoke. I thought Toowoomba was so huge. And these city people I came in with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, a little bit arrogant, thinking these city people, they don't know what's up. And people just loved me, embraced me, accepted me, brought me in, said come and sit with me, would you come and sit with me? And I was thinking these people are really cool, but they really like me, what's up with that? And they accepted me. I remember people inviting me around to their house. I'm like 14, 15 years old. Youth leaders would bring me around their house and sit around a table with me and share their food and share the Scriptures with me and I felt like I finally I belonged somewhere. That's the power of the church. It's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1:In the first century this was often what was happening, because there was so many classes of people that you know, in the early church there was Roman citizens and there was people of the elites of the religious era and they were kind of up here and there was a lower people. And then if you were poor which most people were poor if you were like kind of an outcast, and most people were probably in that category, you got nothing. You would never sit at a table across from someone from a different socioeconomic class than you or a different status than you. But the church was so different because the church started turning all of that around and said we don't care where you come from, when you step into the church and you sit down at the table. We are all brothers and sisters. There is no more class, there is no more. That was revolutionary for the world. At that time, historian Rodney Stark not to be confused with Tony Stark said that Christianity revitalized life in Greco-Roman cities by providing new norms. They created a new normal and new kinds of social relationships able to cope with the many urgent urban problems. The world was blowing up, exploding, but the church right in the middle of that had a table that you were welcome to come and sit at. That was the church in the first century Power. That's our roots. That's where we come from as followers of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Why does this matter? Jesus' approach to reaching lost people is sometimes different than what we would imagine. I don't know if you've seen street preachers, maybe with a sign that says you know, turn or burn or something like that. Maybe you've had, like you've got these awkward experiences and I get this, like for Christians, this is probably the most awkward subject because you've seen it done poorly and don't want to be associated with that weirdness. Is anyone else? Am I preaching to myself here? Okay, one of the first times I went to Japan, I saw people waving these flags saying believe or Jesus or go to hell, and I went up to them and asked them has anyone ever come to Jesus because of these signs? They said not yet, but we're still going. And I remember many Japanese coming into our church and telling me the only experience I've ever had of a Christian was those nasty people telling me I was going to hell. I thought, wow, I'm sorry about that. Awful. Nothing of the love of God for these people, nothing of the heart of God. How close God is. We're going to find a different way, don't we? We're going to find a different message, and I believe we will.
Speaker 1:Jesus' strategy was many times sitting across the table from people very different than him and saying welcome on in the table. Tim Chesire's book A Meal with Jesus beautiful book. You might want to read that sometime. The table is a place where the broken find healing, the sinner find grace and the lost find home. The table is the gospel made tangible. The table is where the gospel becomes real, goes from theory to being felt. I feel the gospel when I sit across the table and eat from you and you share your life and I share mine. It becomes real and I see the Christians nervous about this.
Speaker 1:But what I've experienced is the next generation in Australia is desperately open and willing to engage us about Jesus. They love talking about Jesus. They want to us about Jesus. They love talking about Jesus. They want to talk about Jesus. I think 65% of the next generation, gen Z, said they would come to church if a friend invited them. That's the majority of people would come. Do you have 10 friends? Six of them will come if you just invited them next week. That's how open they are. And even if they're not open to church, they're certainly open to Jesus, the head of the church.
Speaker 1:So I would encourage you to Christians need to become confident, confident in our message. Do you actually believe? Let me talk to the Christians for a second. That's not everyone here, but let me talk to the Christians. Do you really believe that Jesus' way is the best way to live? Do you really believe that if you follow Jesus not just follow him as a way of life, but really receive his life and follow his life do you believe that is the essence of human flourishing? Do you believe that? Then why would we hold that? We must share that, we must show that and tell that. And I see this, I wonder, you know, even with our children. I think we're going to be confident to share with our children about Jesus. I hope that our parents here are becoming more and more confident about sharing Jesus with even our children.
Speaker 1:It starts at home sharing around the dinner table about Jesus. Is Jesus a topic at the dinner table at home? I hope he is, maybe not every night, but definitely, but definitely should be on the regular. At least we can pray together, say grace together. That's a very simple way we can introduce Jesus to our children. So simple, being thankful every day. I mean, izumi's father is not a Christian. Her mum is. He's very open, he's a wonderful man, but you know, every time he comes to spend time with us, he's the first one to say are we going to pray together? Can we hold hands, can we pray? It's so easy, so simple to sit around a table and pray together, bless the food, be thankful and share about Jesus. It's simple. I don't know if you know.
Speaker 1:Let me just take a little aside for a second. I just wanted to encourage the parents because I've been thinking about this. You know, more and more I'm hearing, even from people in our community certainly people just in general with young kids in Australia this low-grade anxiousness and nervousness that I'm going to screw up my kids. I feel this nervousness. I'm going to screw up my kids. I feel this nervousness. I'm a bad parent and I've been trying to really wrestle with this. Where on earth is this coming from? Where are you getting this from? And I look on social media and I see the parenting gurus and I'm looking at their lives and I'm looking at them and they have the same age kids as you. You know what that means. Right, they're in the same boat as you. We're not asking the ones who have had 25-year-old kids and looking back and saying this is what worked. We're asking ones that have a two-year-old child and they're expertly telling you what's working, but they only just figured it out last week.
Speaker 1:And I would just say, parents, be careful that you are not comparing yourself to someone's highlight reel or someone's expertise from the last three months and then feeling like you are terrible as a parent. Be careful of that. Don't let that into your heart. Don't let like a lack of confidence into your heart. That's not what you want to give your kids. I'm just a terrible parent. I'm always failing. No, you are chosen. Want to give your kids. I'm just a terrible parent, I'm always failing.
Speaker 1:No, you are chosen by God for your kids. You have to believe that God gave you those children. He has put them in your life. He's the one who decided you are the right parent for them. Be confident, you can keep learning. We're all going to keep learning. We're all going to keep learning. We're all going to make mistakes. But don't lose your confidence over some Instagram channel. Come on, you are chosen by God for your children. Be confident to lead them. Love them. You know what's right. Pray over your children. God will lead you.
Speaker 1:Learn from people, and there's a lot of people in this room who have been through the stuff that you're going through right now. A lot of people there's older couples. They're way, way ahead. How about you sit down with them around a dinner table and say what's working, what's not working? And the older I get and the more I talk to parents who have been through a little bit more, the more humble they are about what really works. Maybe there's not a list of 20 things or 10 things to make your kid. It's not that. It's two things that have been tested over 20 years, but they're amazing and you know they're working.
Speaker 1:I just wanted to encourage you. Don't lose your confidence, especially young parents. All the older people are nodding, by the way, because they want you to say yes, that's true, you get it. Okay. That's a little aside. Just wanted to encourage you, okay. So what are we going to do In church? We're going to open up the table here. We're going to open up the table. It was so nice to see the children worshipping with us as well this morning, wasn't it? That was cool. They're going to start doing that the eight-year-old plus group. So give them a shout out, give them a wave. They looked a little nervous today. I'm not sure what they're going to do, but they're going to get into it, they're going to get used to it. Open up the table. The power of an invite to the table could really change someone's life.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you this story. There's a girl that I know in Japan I met many, many years ago who was going through a very difficult time, who lived with her grandparents after her father died and then her grandparents didn't want them anymore, so they kicked them out of the house. So a young girl this is rare in Trin a young girl with her mum. They booted them out of the house. They've got nowhere to stay, and this young girl becomes incredibly angry angry at life and angry at her grandparents. So much so that, over the years, she starts working on a plan where she's going to kill her grandparents for leaving them for dead. Really Very tough situation.
Speaker 1:She decides that she's worked out a way that she's going to burn down the house of her grandparents. She walks past the house every day, she's looking at it and she's deciding I'm going to burn it down. Will I burn it down? Today? She has a friend at work. She's sitting at a workplace doing administration. Next door to her there's a girl, another girl, who goes to our church. And this girl, she feels this prompting from God I need to invite this girl to church. And she's wrestling with it. But she decides I'm going to invite her to church. And she says to her do you want to come to church with me? And the girl knows nothing about church, never heard about Jesus, never heard about church, knows nothing. And she's planning to burn down the house of her grandparents, to kill them. She says in her mind. She has this question am I going to burn down the house or am I going to go to church? That's what she's wrestling with. Well, thankfully the girl decides to come to church.
Speaker 1:She's sitting up the back of the church. I can still remember it. She's sitting up the back of the church and that day I just happened to be preaching on forgiveness. And that day I just happened to be preaching on forgiveness Start sharing about forgiveness, about how my brother was murdered and how we had to go through forgiveness in my family, and she's crying the whole service with her friend. At the end of the service. Her friend prays for her to receive Jesus into her life, receive God's forgiveness, and she decides that instead of killing her barren parents, she's going to forgive them.
Speaker 1:Powerful story. Later on she came on staff with us. Today I remember her wedding. I married her and her husband. He's from Texas Good old Texas boy legend, red hair legend, up there marrying them both. The start of a beautiful new family. Well, today those two lead a church together and I just thought, gosh, the power of one invite, one girl sitting next to one friend at work, saying being prompted by God and then actually taking a step of faith and inviting this girl. Her whole life, generations to come are different because of someone's invite. That's the power of inviting someone to the table. Now, that is a crazy story. Not every story is going to be like that, but it could be. It could be very powerful for them.
Speaker 1:Jesus told this story in Luke, chapter 14. I honestly looked for a different story so I couldn't use Luke, but this one, honestly, was just better. So when those who were reclining at the table heard these things, they said blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. But he said to him a man once gave a great banquet, invited many, and at the time of the banquet he sent servants to say those who have been invited come, for everything is now ready.
Speaker 1:But they all alike started making excuses Sounds familiar. They first said to him I've bought a field, I must go and see it. Such a funny thing to say I must go and see it, I'm going to have a look, not like he hadn't seen it before he bought it. Another said I have five yoke of auction and I'm going to examine them. I've got some cows, I'm going to go have a look at them. So funny, I don't know, maybe I just find that funny. And another one said at least he has a decent excuse. I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. What does that mean? Although I have heard that from many people, I'm now married and now we're going to step back from all community. I have heard that one before. Another said sorry, verse 21. So the servant came back and reported these things to the masters, and the master of the house became angry and he said to them go out quickly to the streets.
Speaker 1:Jesus was speaking this to you. None of those men who were invited, shall taste my banquet. You see, I'm sure this was very offensive to the people Jesus was speaking this to, because maybe some of the people in the crowd were the people who actually said those excuses and they were getting a little red in the face. Instead of saying, instead, of, jesus didn't say oh, you said no, but we'll keep working with you, man, I'll invite you again. Like, I understand you're busy, we'll come to you and you're already a believer, you're already an elite, you're already rich and wealthy and you've got everything you need, but we'll come and serve you and we'll beg you to come into the banquet.
Speaker 1:Jesus doesn't say that. He doesn't say it. He's saying there's a generation of people who already know that, who are already invited, who already have a place at the table, that are choosing not to come, that are choosing not to be at the table, and Jesus is saying to them okay. And then he's saying I'm going to turn my attention to those who have never heard. I'm going to go to the ones who everyone says they'll never come, all the ones in your mind that you say they're not the right type. I'm going to those ones and bring them all in. The ones who have never heard will have a seat at the table. That's 86% of Australia, by the way, have no connection to the church. Jesus cares about those ones. So what are we going to do about it? Guys, let me end with this Show and tell at the table.
Speaker 1:This is what Alpha Launch Night is all about. Okay, got a whoop-whoop at the front, okay. Okay, it's a safe place to explore faith in a nonjudgmental environment, around food with great friends. That's what Alpha is about. Okay, and I want to encourage our church. Okay, that Alpha is not about getting converts. It's about conversation, leading people to experience Jesus. Okay, inside of community, jesus is the one who's going to convert people to following him. Right, we are simply going to share a table with people, okay. So alpha is a tool to start conversations, not force conversions.
Speaker 1:Evangelism is not about having all the answers. It's about inviting people on a journey towards faith in Jesus. That Jesus is very much a part of. You're not doing this by yourself. It's also honoring the process that people are on. If you've got that graphic before that I showed.
Speaker 1:If we look at someone's journey of faith, okay, we've got a shallow end or an open end where it's like people just need to get their feet in the water, say like minus 10 on a scale of like following Jesus. That's not like I'm against following Jesus, that's like I don't know anything about Jesus. Okay, that's where a lot of people are okay. And then we come all the way across to maybe zero is a place where, okay, I know enough now where I'm going to put my trust in Jesus. Our Sunday gatherings are for everybody. We've got an open end. We've got lots of stuff for an open end. We've got a deeper end. I think we need to get deeper as well. That's great, but many times our Sunday gatherings are not really hitting this place right here. They're not really designed for people to have their questions answered in a very easy way. So we've got that next one, and this is what Alpha is like. Alpha sits right here. This Alpha is tailor-made for people to come and sit and explore faith. That's what it's for. So, rather than just saying, come and just, you fit into what we're doing here and just work it out we're not going to do that we're going to create another space where people can come in and be appropriately engaged at the stage of the journey that they're on. That's what we need to do so.
Speaker 1:Launching February 23. Okay, you can see the banners up here. February 23 is Alpha launch night. This is not the start of Alpha. This is a party about the launch of Alpha, okay. So here's the deal for you guys and for me is this will be the easiest invite for your friend of the whole year. We will not do anything that's more easy for you to invite a friend than this. It will be the best party that happens in Brisbane on that night will be here, okay, and even if your friend doesn't start Alpha the next week, you will lose no credibility. You will lose no social cred. You will not lose your friend. They will be okay. Okay, no harm, no fail. I had a great night. Not for me, cool. Maybe some other point, okay, but maybe your friend will come have a party, meet lots of great people.
Speaker 1:I will do maybe like an eight minute or so pitch a bit of story and why Alpha would be good for you. It's basically like why wouldn't you join? It's free food every night. Someone's excited for that. You're going to make lots of great friends and even if you don't believe in Jesus, at the end of it you're going to come away with a full belly and some new friends. Why wouldn't you, why wouldn't you come and hang out with us for the next eight weeks on a Sunday night here? So this place will be very similar to what we did, with Christmas tables, buffet style music, all different kinds of things. Nathan's going to do a dance at the front. It's going to be all kinds of things. It's going to be just a great night. We'll get some proper hooks before the night, don't worry, that rookie show. So I just want here's what I want you to do, here's what I'm asking for you to do Do you have a friend who would be interested in coming, not even to Alpha before even that, bring them to launch night. A simple invite to come and have a party about this thing called Alpha. We'll have a great night and you'll hear about what Alpha is about.
Speaker 1:And then the following Sunday night, the 30th of February, sunday night, here, we will start Alpha together. Yeah, 30th of February. That's what I said, didn't I? That was a test. You all failed, you passed. See, millie, you could have helped me out there before.
Speaker 1:No, it's not really so, I'm just joking. Is that the 1st of March? 2nd of March? Okay, they don't pay me for my dates. Guys, come on. 23rd will be. That's a short month, it's true, isn't it? February 28th is the last day. Okay, that's getting confusing. Should I say it one more time just to clarify? Well, it's obvious.
Speaker 1:Launch night is the 23rd of February. I think that's really all you need to worry about. Just bring someone to that. If your friend doesn't want to come, you've lost nothing. If your friend does want to come, the worst case for you is you're going to come to Sunday nights with them for eight weeks. Sit with your friend and explore faith together. That's the worst case. It's actually the best case, right? So what we're going to do now is just get really practical.
Speaker 1:I would like you to take a moment now to write down the name of a friend who might need to come to Alpha. Okay, I'm going to give you a minute and we who might need to come to Alpha Okay, I'm going to give you a minute and we're going to pray for them together. All right, who's a friend? This is like participation part of the day. Who's a friend? Have you got a phone? Have you got a pencil paper, something? Do you have a friend? The name, because I don't want you to walk out and even forget about it. I would love you to keep that name and pray over that name, because I believe God will give you an opportunity to, like that girl did next to her friend at work to invite them to this the easiest invite of the year Low ball invite. So easy, okay, come to a party with me. Do you have a friend? Write down their name. We're going to pray for them. If you don't have a friend, come see me after.
Speaker 1:I'll pray for you about getting some friends. Could be a family member, maybe someone that's actually said no in the past and maybe you've said no for them because at some point they were like no, but maybe God's saying invite them again, because maybe today's a different day. All right, you got your friend, okay. Or your family member. Can we pray for them? All right, god. Thank you, god. We lift up these people to you who need to experience your love, so I've got to pray wherever they are, even right now you begin working in their hearts, showing them who you are, showing them your grace and your love over their lives. Right now, I pray for us as believers in you, that I pray you give us courage to have a simple invite Simply invite people to come. Give us the courage, god, in that moment, of asking God. I pray for courage in that moment. I pray that this many, many people from our relational circles would come and experience a taste of who you are. We thank you for it, god. Pray over the 23rd, god, would be a day where so many people taste and see that you are good and pray for confidence in this church to show and tell. Show and tell you. Show who you are and tell who you are through our lives and through our words. Thank you, god, amen, amen, all right.
Speaker 1:Alphabrisbaneorg is our website. Okay, so we stole it. We commandeered it, so we will take on that. Okay, so you can register with your friend, because we'll cater. Okay, we'll cater, we'll make sure it's good. Our church has budgeted money for your friends to come and hear about Jesus. Okay, it's a priority for us, so we want to make it great for you. So please just register for you and your mate. That would be super helpful because it will be at tables. We'll have long tables. It will be a little bit classy.