Sunday 5th March 2023 - The Second Space - Ian Harding

hello and a very warm welcome to C3 Sunderland online my name is Kat and along with my husband Ian we are the pastors here at C3 Sunderland and we're just so pleased to have you joining in with us wherever you're watching from today we pray that the message is going to build you up in your faith and draw you closer to Jesus we're a local church with a heart for our incredible City here in Sunderland and as a church our vision is to be a people who are for Christ for people and for our city and if you cut us in half our heartbeat is to help one another grow in our Vital connection to Jesus a vital connection to each other and our Vital connection to the world around us and to help us do that we've got some incredible things coming up in the life of our church that we'd love to let you know about um if you've not yet have the opportunity to get connected before then I'd really encourage you why not jump on our website Ai and fill out a quick 30 second form and it just means we can add you to our mailing list for everything that's coming up in the life of our church but firstly this coming Friday at 7 pm young adults if you feel like you fall into that category this invitation is for you we're going to be meeting at Spotlight in the city center for a couple of hours of hanging out building friendships and playing some pool together it's going to be really fun secondly um here in C3 Sunderland we're privileged to be connected to the global C3 Movement we have got a family church family all across the globe and on the 30th of March we are going to be hosting 24 hours of Prayer Day of Prayer together as a movement and within that 24 hours there are going to be two one hour prayer meetings one is going to be they're both taking place on Zoom one is going to be happening at 9 00 pm on Wednesday the 29th of March the second is it will be taking place place at 9 00 a.m on Thursday the 30th of March and you can find links and details to that all on our coming up page on our website if you're part of a group then we'd love to invite you with the Wednesday evening one straight after groups are going to be jumping on the zoom for that Hour of Prayer together so you can join us there you can join us at home however you would like to engage with that thirdly and finally on Easter Sunday the 9th of April 2023 this very year we are so excited to be hosting a night of worship an occasion to celebrate the resurrection and life of Jesus and this is going to be hosted at 1719 what used to be Holy Trinity Church down in the East end of town but we'd love to encourage you come and join us 5 p.m Sunday the 9th of April pop it in your diary it's going to be a powerful night of worship encounter really believing that God is going to move and do something in our midst that's only going to be in person it's not going to be online so we'd love to encourage you to come and join us there well without further Ado I'm going to hand over to Ian who is bringing our message for us today we're launching a brand new series called the second space we're really excited about what God's going to do in and through it as we open our hearts to him so without further Ado let's get into the word fantastic well um as cat has already said um we are beginning um a new teaching Series this morning which we are calling the second space so for those of you who love taking notes which I know is all of you obviously um [Music] I know it's just what you did this is hilarious I might in no way distracting at all awesome well I want to begin today by asking you a question how do you want your relationship with Jesus to look like in 30 years time so in 30 years I'm not asking how old you're going to be I can see some of you are already doing the mental maths that's like some of us like going ah yeah because when I was thinking about this question I'll be like ah I mean 30 years time with anything like I'll be retired but as a serious question what do you want your relationship with Jesus to look like 30 years from now so for me personally when I was thinking about this question and if I was to answer it for myself I know that it'd be filled with words like richer deeper more intimate more rooted overflowing with the love of Jesus that I'd be Freer Bolder more peaceful more generous and just like relationally rich with like spiritual Sons and Daughters you know people I've had the incredible privilege of pointing in some small way towards like the formation in Jesus and even by that point spiritual grandkids not just physical grandkids but spiritual grandkids where I you know I've been a I've been part of not just seeing like Sons and Daughters come to faith in Christ but also their own kids coming to faith in Christ as well and where I'm surrounded by people who I know is in love with Jesus as I am people who are learning to love Jesus deeper and Fuller and richer and not just about my life being rich but they're being a fruit in my life you know those kinds of people that sometimes I love these kinds of people and they're people that you spend time in their presence and you walk away just feeling taller you walk away feeling richer you walk away feeling more encouraged you walk away knowing that wherever you are that somehow Jesus has got it all covered and there are those people and when I reflect on this question I'm like Jesus if there's anything I want in the future I want to be that kind of person I want to be the kind of person that when someone leaves a conversation with me they are like you know what there's just something about being in the presence of Ian and not because of who Ian is there's something about being in the presence of Ian because Ian spends time with Jesus and he knows how to be with Jesus and he is becoming more like Jesus that when I walk out of that conversation with him I almost feel like I've just been in the presence of Jesus too and ultimately that's what the Bible says it says that you will be born again the Bible actually says that we have to be formed into the image of Christ the Bible is saying do you know what actually you should be a person who you not only Point people to Jesus but when people spend time with you it's like spending time with Jesus too which leads me to my next question how do we get there then how do we become those types of people and that's the subject of our Series this morning the second space and I believe today that God wants to introduce you to a second space and I want to make the point that Jesus wants to know you in more than one space Jesus has a second space for every single one of us and in that second space that is where Jesus wants to transform us and change us into people who are like him so let me Begin by defining what the second space is the second space is a place where what we hear from the word of God gets worked into our spirits so it's where the word of God goes from something that we hear to something that gets worked into us so that it transforms how we think what we believe and how we Act it is the opposite of the kinds of transformation that the world offers the world says don't change what you think don't change who you are just work on how you behave and as long as you come across as a decent human being you can be absolutely terrible on the inside it's absolutely fine as long as your brand looks good you're doing well my friend but what Jesus says is now I want to transform you from the inside out so where do we find this second space We Believe that the second space is found in groups I don't want to be as bold and as clear as that this morning that what we are talking about this morning is we are talking about the reason why groups matters to transform you into the person of Jesus we are saying that without the second space of groups you cannot be fully formed into the person of Christ that blood and I want to say but I also want to sort of say some things that I'm not saying as well as some things I am saying so what am I saying I'm saying that Jesus has designed you to actually meet him to encounter him to be formed by him in more than one space that there are two spaces that Jesus wants to meet you and encounter you and form you through now the first space I'm sure is probably very familiar to us the first space is Sunday Gathering this is why the Bible makes it really clear it says do not give up the habit of meeting as some are doing in other words we all need a first space we need a space where we worship together we need a space where we hear the word of God together we need a space where someone unpacks the word of God for us together we need a space where we can be ministered to but where we can also minister to each other but Sundays primarily are the space where we are ministered to the second space of groups is where we learn how to minister to one another and let me be really clear if all you ever experience is being ministered to you will become a consumer Christian you will become a Christian who only knows how to encounter God when when basically there's something in it for you and what the effect that will have on your relationship with Jesus is is whether you mean to or not you will begin to relate to Jesus transactionally in other words you will encounter Jesus only so far as you feel that Jesus can meet your need if it doesn't seem to you like there's anything actually in it for you you'll probably decide not to encounter Jesus there and I say that not to condemn anyone here I say that to say Jesus has so much more for every single one of us I say that to say that Jesus wants us to be the kinds of people that I mentioned at the beginning and it needs to begin I mean even Rebecca said it and this morning she talked about intentionality it needs to begin as we intentionally actually decide the word that is used most frequently in the Bible is discipleship discipleship means learning or apprenticing from Jesus we are designed not just to receive an encounter from Jesus we are designed to learn how to walk with Jesus and become like Jesus and then do the things that Jesus did that does not happen without us without us deliberately actually deciding that we want to belong in groups and we want to actually learn how to walk together now just in case you're wondering and thinking is here's the thing that you've just made up no it's not there's a Biblical foundation for it which is good news right because otherwise that I I have literally no like to stand on but I do believe that this dynamic in this pattern in this Paradigm is actually seen in scripture and I want to take you to a really famous passage and I want to show you where we see this Dynamic I also want to make playing we don't have time to go to it today but I really want to encourage you read Matthew 5 verses 1 and 2. and here's what you'll notice we all imagine that The Sermon on the Mount is just like Jesus speaking to loads of a crowd of people right but if you actually read Matthew 5 here's what it says loads of people gather as a crowd Around Jesus to come and hear him but then Jesus climbs up a mountain and it's only his disciples who follow him up there now don't get me wrong we're not talking about the 12 apostles here it's not like the servant on the mount was only to 12 people the people who actually heard the sermon amount was not the whole crowd it was the people who had deliberately decided to follow Jesus they were the ones who climbed up with him once again what you're seeing there is you're seeing the second space all of them were invited to hear but only the disciples stepped up the mountain to actually hear the full teaching we see this Dynamic once again in Matthew 13. with a very famous Parable it's called the parable of the sower you may be familiar with it and here's how it here and it begins with once again Jesus around a crowd and he's speaking to them and here's what he says first nine he's just told the parable and then he says these very interesting words he says anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand his disciples came and asked him why do you use Parables when you talk to the people he replied you are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven but others are not don't worry we'll get to that to those who listen to my teaching more understanding will be given and they will have an abundance of knowledge but for those who are not listening even what little understanding they have will be taken from them then jump to verse 15. for the hearts of these people are hardened and their ears cannot hear they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear and their hearts cannot understand and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them but Blaster your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear I tell you the truth this is Jesus speaking to his disciples many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but they didn't see it and they longed to hear what you hear but they didn't hear it now listen to this look at verse 18. now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds the context of this passage is that Jesus as we see so often in the gospels he's arrived in a town in Galilee and he goes up to sit quietly by a lake he's looking to spend time with him and the father and this behavior is typical of Jesus all throughout the gospels he's modeling clearly for us a life of withdrawing where he spends time listening to the voice of his Heavenly Father but I so often happens in the life of Jesus as soon as he turns up somewhere word gets around that Jesus is in town and so soon crowds gather around eager for Jesus to speak and so Jesus gets into a boat whilst all the people stand on the shore and then he tells him the parable the parable of the sorrow he describes how the sower throws seed on different types of soil and Jesus describes the differing results as well and then having told this story Jesus then finishes with these slightly odd words anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand I don't know about you but I'm like well everyone's got ears Jesus they're all here in this what do you mean interestingly other translations pick up on this same dynamic they say whoever has ears let them hear NIV the message says are you listening to this really listening and then the passion says this if you're able to understand this then you need to respond and then Jesus leaves no explanation no one packing at all and so you'd almost think is that the end of the story then but interestingly it's not and this is something I want to draw to your attention if we go back if we go back to verse 10 it says this his disciples came and asked him you'll notice he speaks to the crowd he says anyone who has ears let them hear and then Jesus leaves but notice what happens he leaves but the disciples follow him and those six simple words are the difference between them getting the explanation and them not his disciples came and asked him as I read that recently it made me think I wonder how many people heard the parable and I wonder how many people actually made the decision then to follow Jesus and ask the follow-up question and then I was just thinking about that I was thinking how many times have I sat in a Sunday service where I feel like God has spoken a word to me and God has said something to me and I've maybe even like you know like italicized it highlighted it you know either on in my journal um or like in my notes on my phone and then I'm like oh I'm definitely going to come back to that and then guess what happened the week happened and I never looked at it ever again and I knew in that moment the god the Holy Spirit was speaking to me something specific that was for me but then I didn't go and ask God about it I didn't follow up much like the people in this story I decided to stay in the place where I heard the word of God and I knew that God had spoken to me but I didn't take it any further nice and as I felt like as I Was preparing this message I felt like these words his disciples came and asked him I felt like um this was a word for some people here that you feel like God has been speaking to you about something and you've been wondering like what to do about it and you've not been clear about it and I feel like in this moment what Jesus is saying to you he's saying real simple he goes he wants you to intentionally spend some time come up to him and ask him and he has the word of wisdom the word that you need to hear so that you can go forward but what I love about this passage is I do love the disciples response because here's what this here's what their response shows us it shows that they understand something about how Jesus works they are showing us that here's how Jesus Works they've spent enough time with Jesus to know that sometimes with Jesus when he just teaches you something that's not where you're supposed to leave it what they understand about Jesus having spent time with him at this point is they know that sometimes the fact that they don't get it the fact that they don't see the fact that they don't understand they've realized Jesus is interested in a two-way conversation and that when we don't understand or when we don't get it or when we're unsure what we're supposed to do is come and ask Jesus and that is exactly what they do having spent time with Jesus they know it's not that Jesus is holding out on me it's that Jesus is inviting me to a deeper experience and he's not going to make me come to him he's going to invite me to come to him and if I want the deeper Revelation I need to decide that I need to come to him I need to go to Jesus and so therefore I wonder where in your discipleship as in like your formation of Jesus right now where would you say there are areas where you're like Jesus I don't get it maybe it is your finances you're like you know when we talk about it every single week um about like we want to become a generous people and you're like Jesus I'm all for becoming a generous person I want to be a more generous person Jesus but you know this whole like giving like a sizable portion of my income to you I just don't get it Jesus I don't understand why it's important like don't you want me to live blessed and if I give this money to you then there's less for me I want to encourage you take those questions to Jesus maybe it's maybe it's another area of your discipleship maybe it's to do with like your relationships and how you approach your relationships and you're like Jesus does it really matter does it really matter if if I'm actually dating a Christian or not I Think Jesus would say to you not again when we have a question like that's a legitimate question but it's also an invitation take that question to Jesus I think sometimes when we don't take questions to Jesus is because I think internally we already know the answer but we're like Jesus if I take it to you then I kind of have nowhere to turn because when you say no this is the way I call you to live then I'm then actually I'm like right I need to trust that you know better whereas if I don't bring it to you I can kind of just me me you and the Holy Spirit we can just return by that I don't know now and not to call anyone out I say I like to say like hands up I've definitely done that there's areas of my life where I've been like Jesus I think like you're calling me to like a 30 000 pound car Jesus just just give me a clear word maybe just like write no on a piece of paper around the house oh Jesus you've not done it laughs no but you know like all jokes aside that's what that's what we do isn't it like sometimes we play like almost like cat Mouse with Jesus Jesus unless I see a red traffic light then I'm it's all green it's all green it's go go go go go go you know like but can I say this in the most loving way until we are willing to be willing actually in submission and obedience to be fully formed by the word of God you know that the depth of relationship that you're really longing for we won't experience it because we're still allowing ourselves to be formed by something that isn't easier and often the plight the places and areas where Jesus wants to form us the most are the areas that were the way the most Twitchy about you know like when anyone brings it up in church like don't talk about that no I don't I'm not none I'm not listening and of course because you're polite and you're a lovely person like you're like but like in turn you're like moving on um so like the point I want to make is this is that because they choose to enter this second space they choose to invite Jesus to speak to them they're the ones who get Revelation yeah they're the ones who Jesus explains the parable to that's what we see in verse 18. says really clearly it says now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds and they're the only people that Jesus unpacks this Parable for now here's the thing about this We Believe myself and cat as we've been talking about this and after everything that we've been through over the past few years I feel that Jesus is globally highlighting this within the church that it's time for us as a local Church community to take seriously actually meeting in the second space because ultimately we're saying Jesus I want to be formed by you yeah Jesus I understand that there are forming forces all around me and therefore Sunday I hear the word of God it illuminates something in my spirit but actually it's only Revelation as it were isn't enough I am looking not just for Revelation I'm looking for transformation and transformation takes place in the second space but I do want to just today ask as we begin to wrap up today I want to leave us with just two questions and here they are number one do we let Revelation lead us somewhere deeper especially when it feels uncomfortable I don't know about you but sometimes when I read the Bible there are parts of the Bible I'd like to rewrite now I'm saying that as a pastor right I'm not gonna I'm not saying I will don't don't don't mishear what I'm not saying but if you ever come about across a bit of the Bible where you're like I'd like to skip over that chapter because I don't really like what it says or is that just me or you know to be honest with you it probably is just me and you're old you're all probably about Christians than I'm moving on they're by the grace of God but I want to show you like one of those uncomfortable moments from this particular chapter because there's a really uncomfortable moment I don't know if you I don't know if you missed it when we were reading it let's just listen to what Jesus actually says so this is him about he's just said you know anyone who has ears let them hear and then Jesus says this he replied you are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven but others are not I'm like okay Jesus you're messing with my theology I thought everyone can hear you is that not right there he goes to those who listen to my teaching more understanding will be given and they will have an abundance of knowledge but for those who are not listening even what little understanding they will have will be taken away from them like Jesus does that have to be there because it sounds really harsh but then to read that in isolation is actually to miss some of the Nuance of what Jesus is saying here because when we actually real when we actually read this you'll notice that in we have verse 15. and verse 15 is this quotation from Isaiah the prophet and let me read it to you again so you can kind of hear it here's what it says and this was Isaiah speaking about like these the Israelite people now remember they're God's chosen people they're the people who are supposed to hear God in cancer God know God all the rest of this kind of stuff then in verse 15 Isaiah this is Matthew quoting I'm Jesus quoting Isaiah and look at what Isaiah says in verse 15 for the hearts of these people are hardened and their ears cannot hear they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see their ears cannot hear and their hearts cannot understand they cannot turn to me and let me heal them now I think sometimes when we read scriptures like that we read it through the filter like God's wagging his finger but if you actually read it through the filter of a father the issue is I remember what this parable about the parable of slower as Jesus then goes on to explain what's it about it's about the condition of our heart so it's almost like Jesus foregrounds it here before he gets the explanation and he says look you need to hear everything that I just said in verses 11 and 12 within the context of verse 15. there are people there who they can't hear there are people there who can't see there are people who even the little understanding they have will be taken from them but it's not because it's my desire it's because I respect their choice they have chosen to harden their heart and now even when I speak truth to them truth bounces off them or they get offended by truth it was going so well but it's like this is about like 16 million years old so it's all good yeah I know we're doing really well this this week guys like the car got dinged up now I'm just throwing like technology on the floor casually and I believe that actually what we see here if we read this scripture correctly in context what Jesus is actually offering is Hope he's saying look you think that you'll never be able to hear me you think you'll never be able to see me you think you can't turn that means you can't change you can't be transformed you think that you can't be healed that what you have is beyond God's healing power actually what this demonstrates is what Jesus is trying to invite them into is he's saying no come into my second space come into the place of Revelation come into the place where you're actually deciding you know what I see the messiness of my heart I see the Brokenness of my heart I see the wounding that is in my heart that was not my fault that was of of other people's fault but Jesus I'm going to bring my broken wounded bleeding heart towards you and I am no longer gonna Harden my heart and build defense walls around it so that you can't speak into it because ultimately I believe that you have come so you may heal me that once that you have healed my heart you will allow me to be turned and transformed more into the person of Jesus and as the that happens I will go on this journey where I learn how to see you and where I learn how to see how you see I learned to get a vision that is your vision and I learned to hear the words that are your words and that not only do I hear those words I understand them and I put them into practice this is the power of the second space it's a place where we take the words of Christ and they're actually deeply richly formed into us I want to use like the imagery of this particular like Parable the image of this Parable is it's like the first places where Jesus sows the seed into our hearts the second space is where that seed goes down deep into the soil of our hearts and as it gets watered each week as it gets watered by the encouragement that someone brings to me by someone sharing a testimony of how God has worked in their lives how someone challenges me with the truth of the word of God and says Ian the way you think about this is wrong let me show you from scripture and me being not like offended by that but going Rico do you know what thank you brother for loving me enough to actually go do you know what you are unformed or you are misformed or you're misinformed or you're you know like deformed probably buy something that has happened to you whether it's your past where it's the whether it's like a word that somebody spoke over you whether it's by your church experience whatever it is Rico comes to me and he says Ian I believe that God wants to set you free because when God wants to hear you it's for one purpose alone he wants to set you free when God wants us to confront the broken tender parts of our heart it's not because he wants to expose us and he wants to as it were you know like expose our weakness in front of everybody it's that he wants to show us that our weakness is the place where God wants to come and pour His holy spirit so that he makes us strong so that he sets us free and so that we can actually begin to live out of people who we know we are being renewed day by day by the holy spirit of God in community with other people and you know what I will put up my hands and say I can't do this on my own you know me and Jesus having devotion time is awesome but it's not actually the dynamic that we see massively in scripture massively in scripture here's what we see that we are supposed to work this thing out in community the thing about this space is it's me talking to you that will do you some good but the real transformation is when you and me get in the conversation yeah yeah and again it's not about me sort of saying all right Carl you're misformed in this area I do want you to understand it's probably just as much recoil guy there's some areas in life you really need the Holy Spirit my friend yeah um no absolutely yeah my wife should say and I'm just gonna I've got one more minute and then just wrapping up the second question is this how practiced are you at listening at this point I would like to confess I'm on a journey actually I seem to be wired towards I've got loads of great ideas let me share them with everyone and then I don't know about you but like I'm getting better but there used to be like a season in my life where I'm like you know that when you listen to them and all the time in mind what's going on I've got this to say I've got this to say I've got this to say I'm like I'm I'm barely listening to what they're saying if I'm brutally honest I'm like but I have something to share it's like that kid you know like me me pick me pick me pick me I know I've got an idea I've got an idea and yeah it may not be in any way related to what the teacher asked me but I've got an idea you know like it's the kind of kid that drives me out of my how does that relate to anything we've just talked about it's like I don't know it was a cool idea wasn't it so I'm like no it takes us nowhere but what I love here is is How This Ends Verse 18 if we can get it back up and it says this now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds I love the fact that Jesus says let me explain this to you but once again it's an invitation he's going you're going to need to listen and his thing I also want to encourage you with don't give up just because on a first listen it doesn't make sense if you actually read this story properly like it is very much like the disciples this is great teaching Jesus excellent great teaching yep I get this completely but then when you look at their behavior particularly I think around the cross where they all deserve apart from John you're like yeah you didn't really get it did you not really it's not until acts in the Holy Spirit comes and for say someone like Peter he's gone through that really awkward moment where he's allowed the second space to be that space where Jesus comes to him and restores him and that's the other thing about the second space the second space is a place whereby like when we get it wrong it's actually supposed to be a place where we come back to Jesus and we get restored into relationship with Jesus now we don't have time to read it today but if you go and you read this the rest of this explanation and it's from verse 19 all the way to 23. it talks about the fact that this is really about the posture and the place of your heart and as we close up today I just want to ask you where's your heart at like where is your heart actually at with Jesus because right now what I'd like to do is I'd like to leave this in a moment of reflection I'd like to lead us in a moment where we can kind of like respond to Jesus foreign where in your heart is it broken where in your heart do you feel vulnerable where in your heart is it like you've built a no-go Zone around it even even to Jesus and let me say we all do this but right now I believe that Jesus wants to set you free [Music] you'll notice that it talks about seeing hearing turning and healing but I believe the way that it often actually works is is there's a kind of there's a beginning healing process that actually happens first where Jesus just breaks down some of the barriers and some of the walls and some of the pain and then he invites us to go on a journey with him so the healing isn't just a one-time thing It's actually an invitation into that second space where Jesus is gonna continue that deep healing work I just want to encourage you maybe to close your eyes right now [Music] I feel like there's some hearts in here that are the picture that I have is almost like of your heart weeping [Music] a sense for some people right here that the the wound that you received it was actually from church your church experience and so it feels deeper and it feels more painful [Music] I feel for some of you that the wounds that you have in your heart it's more a consistent thing it's like you're plagued by worry and anxiety and fear [Music] I just feel like the holy spirit is saying trust him with all your heart give him your heart all your heart and he wants to bring healing in this moment [Music] but his thing I think you need to respond Jesus is always the inviter but he will not push you where you do not wish to go so right now just as a as a sign that you're responding I I'd really like to encourage you to just put your hands out and just invite Jesus in just as a sign saying Jesus I invite you in Jesus come fill my heart with your peace Holy Spirit right now I pray for every single Broken Heart Holy Spirit I brought I pray for every single Wounded Heart in this place and Jesus I say that the wounding was not their fault but it is also your desire that they do not carry it for all their life so right now Holy Spirit Come and minister [Music] come and bring healing now I pray specifically that an overwhelming sense of your love and your security would fill each and every heart in this room in this place right now [Music] Holy Spirit you are sovereign and ruler of all right now I pray specifically that may the walls and the barriers of anxiety and fear be broken in in the name of Jesus May instead that heart be measured and focused and filtered on peace and love on Hope father God right now I pray for hope I pray there to be a Hope on the inside of people Lord God the hope that you have given us is an anchor for our soul right now I prophesy and I pray over some people hope in your heart a hope that fills you a hope that grows on the inside of you that lets you know that you are not alone [Music] Jesus you are inviting us into the second space [Music] and we say yes [Music] we say yes Jesus fullness shape us transform us in your name we pray amen amen