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It's not about numbers ! · Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright

• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, brothers and sisters, and peace be with you.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: The words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: There was once a small community where the local church had recently closed.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: It had been there for generations.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Its little bell had called people to worship, to weddings and funerals, to Christmas carols and harvest thanksgiving.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Children had been baptized there.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Couples had promised their lives to one another there, and generations had gathered around the same communion table.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: However, the congregation had grown smaller and smaller.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually there were no longer enough people or resources to keep the church open, and so one Sunday morning the doors remained locked.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: A few weeks later a small group of villagers happened to meet outside the closed church.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: They stood there, talking about how strange it felt.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: One said it's so quiet now.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Another replied Yes, I miss the people singing.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then an elderly woman said something that changed the conversation.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: She said perhaps we have been thinking about church in the wrong way.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: They looked at her.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: She continued The building has closed, but the church is not closed.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So they began meeting together, not in a church building, but in one another's homes.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes there were only three or four of them.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: They prayed together.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: They read the scriptures.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: They shared their joys and worries.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: They remembered those who were sick.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: They encouraged one another.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Slowly they discovered something profound.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: God had not left when the building closed.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, they began to discover the truth of Jesus' words in today's gospel Matthew chapter eighteen verses fifteen to twenty For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is an extraordinary promise.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not say where hundreds are gathered I am there.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: He does not say where there is a magnificent building I am there.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: He does not say where everything is perfectly organized I am there.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: He says Where two or three are gathered in my name I am there among them.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three that is all.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of the most comforting promises Jesus ever made to his disciples.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps we look around our faith communities and remember what they used to be like.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps there were once hundreds, where there are now dozens.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps the community that once seemed strong is struggling to survive, and we can be tempted to think we are too small.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: We are not important enough.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: There aren't enough of us.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says something completely different to us.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do not measure my presence by your numbers.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Do not measure my presence by the size of your congregation.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Do not measure my presence by the grandeur of your building.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: If two or three gather in my name, I am there.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And make no mistake that changes everything.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now there is another important phrase in Jesus' promise.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't simply say where two or three are gathered I am there.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: He says where two or three are gathered in my name.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: That little phrase matters.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: We can gather for all sorts of reasons.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: We can gather because we are friends.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: We can gather because we share the same interests.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: We can gather because we want to complain about something.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yet gathering in Jesus' name means that Jesus is at the center.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: It means that we come not to try to get our own way, but to seek God's way.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: We come not simply to try to win an argument, but to find the truth.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: We come not to try to defend ourselves, but to discover how we might love one another.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: We come carrying our differences, our weaknesses, our disappointments, and we place them before Christ.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: And when Christ is at the centre, even a very small gathering can be some something very powerful indeed.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps that is one of the great challenges facing organized religion today.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: We live in a world obsessed with numbers.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: How many people attended?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: How many followers do we have?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: How many views?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: How many subscribers?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: How many people joined us?
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus never said that numbers were the measure of faithfulness.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the most important work of God's kingdom happens quietly.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: A grandmother praying for her children and grandchildren.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Two friends sitting together beside someone who is grieving.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Three people gathering in a living room to read the Bible.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: A small congregation quietly praying for its community.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: A handful of people visiting someone who is lonely.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: A couple forgiving one another after years of hurt.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: No cameras, no applause, no headlines.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Just a few people trying to live in the name of Jesus.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says I am there among them.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps there is something else that Jesus wants us to hear.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we underestimate what a small number of faithful people can do.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three people can pray.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three people can encourage someone who is struggling.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three people can visit the lonely.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three can visit a new ministry.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three can reconcile a broken relationship.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three can bring hope into a community.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three can keep the light of faith burning.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you ever find yourself concerned about the size or growth of your faith community, remember your strength does not depend upon how many people you have.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Your strength depends upon whose presence you have.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus promises you I am there among them.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: I urge you to remember if Christ is among us, we are never truly alone.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Two people can be enough to pray.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Three people can be enough to begin again.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: A small congregation can be enough to serve a community.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: A handful of faithful Christians can be enough to make a difference.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: So let us gather, let us pray, let us love, let us listen, let us encourage, let us serve, let us refuse to allow our differences to divide us.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And whether we are two or three, twenty or thirty, two hundred or two thousand, let us remember we are not gathered alone.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is among us, Christ is with us, Christ is at the centre, and wherever Christ is present, there is always hope.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Ironga Itenga Oteatua Tematua Tetama Mete Warua Tapu Amine.