Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Welcome to the Creative team talks podcast for Hillsong Creative.
[00:00:19] Hello, Hillsong Creative. My name is Mushiri Gateri. I am part of our creative team. I am based in Sydney, Australia.
[00:00:27] More specifically, actually at the Hills campus, I get to look after our creative technology team, our CT team. We look after the audio, video and lighting aspects effectively, the technical aspects pertaining to our creative team and love serving our team that way. Been part of our team for about, I think it'll be 20 years in May, which is an absolute privilege to be part of this team. I've met a lot of you along the way and to this day remain incredibly blown away at how God weaves stories of people from so many different places and many backgrounds and brings them together, unifying them under his name to be able to build his church. So if you are part of our team and in any capacity, thank you for who you are, thank you for what you bring to us. And hey, I look forward to meeting you someday. Hey, as we head into the weekend, I had a quick thought, a brief thought that I wanted to share. It's, I guess, more of a reminder than it is anything else, more than a profound new thought. It is a reminder. It is something that I find myself returning to more frequently.
[00:01:37] And I think it's something that, in a sense, speaks to maybe part of our human nature that I find is that as I get older, I probably need less instructing and I need more reminding, speaking to the fact that maybe a lot of life has to do with putting into practice what we already know. So bear with me if you've heard this before, but I would dare to say that it is something we need to hear more often and maybe even remind ourselves more often. So when Jesus was calling his disciples, and this is in the gospels, there's a statement he makes to paraphrase, he goes, come, follow me and I will make you fishes of men.
[00:02:17] And as simple a statement as that is, I think it holds an immense sense of profound revelation because he begins by calling them to himself before commissioning them to go and do or become anything that was facing the world. And I think in that one statement there, there's a reminder for us who find ourselves serving God's people, bringing our gifts and doing our best to be able to serve and build his house and partner with Christ to build his church.
[00:02:53] The reminder there is that we are first called to him.
[00:02:57] And it speaks to this idea that we are Christ followers first, before we're anything else.
[00:03:03] And I think in an area of church life that we're in. That is so activity intensive. There's a lot of activity, good activity. We get to bring our gifts, we get to serve, we get to collaborate, we get to partner with each other, to see and create environments that we see God move in, we get to, in a sense, express gifts that he's given to us and use them, which is a phenomenal thing, but never should it be at the expense of following Jesus. And I think that's the reminder for myself and I'd like to be put to us. Is that beyond the gifts, beyond the calling, to do lead worship, to mix, to run a camera, be a director, be a photographer, be a vocalist, whatever the case may be, there is a call to follow him and a call to be like him, and a call to be a disciple.
[00:03:55] And for us as a team, I'd like us in the most simplest of ways to be reminded of this, that before we bring whatever we bring to this team, may we bring ourselves to him, may we follow him, may we be found in him, and may our primary identity be one of our disciple.
[00:04:21] Like I said before, it's probably nothing most of us, if not all of us, have not heard before. But I dare to say it is something that we all need reminding every so often.
[00:04:32] It is easy. Human nature would take us to a place where we would find ourselves engaging in the activity and believing the activity is synonymous with following Christ.
[00:04:41] And whilst the activity is necessary, is important, is even a part of our journey in him. It is not the journey to him.
[00:04:49] Coming to him on our knees and coming to him as Christ followers, as disciples, because of the work of the cross, is our ultimate and our first calling.
[00:05:01] So as we go into the weekend to serve alongside each other and to serve our church and in a sense, to link arms with the rest of our church, to serve our community, let us first and foremost find ourselves at his feet as his people, as his disciples. And from that let us then turn and face our world and serve our people and bring our best and hone our skills and crafts and everything else we have. And I pray that he would look down on us and be proud and in a sense, bless our activity. From that perspective, he's a faithful God. He will take what we offer and he will do with it only what he can do.
[00:05:42] But may we be reminded that our calling, first and foremost, is to come to him. So as I finish here, I'd love to pray for us as we go into the weekend and just hopefully bring our hearts to a place of reminding and hopefully this here becomes. What I'm saying here is more than just a few words and a few niceties, hopefully takes hold as something the Holy Spirit would take and do a work in us that only he can do. So join me as we pray. Holy Spirit, we thank you that you illuminate and you bring light to what it is that you want us to see.
[00:06:16] And we pray that as we continue to serve and link arms and serve together and partner with you in building your church, I pray that you would remind us to seek you and to come to Jesus as his disciples and as his followers before anything else. May we draw our primary identity from being followers of Jesus before anything else. And I pray that in turn, you would bless what we do, bless the work of our hands, bless our gifts, take our gifts and our offerings, and do with them only what you can do. May they go further, may they reach more people.
[00:06:54] May innovation and creativity. May art and everything else flow from this place of gratitude that we are called your sons and daughters.
[00:07:05] We thank you for the gift of the cross and the gift of salvation.
[00:07:09] Bless this team. Go before us, take the work of our hands and may be unified, and may it reflect you in every way. We thank you for your calling. We thank you that we get to do this alongside you. And it's in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen and amen. Thank you and see you in a green room somewhere. Adios. Bye. Night.
