Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Welcome to the creative team talks podcast for Hillsong Creative.
[00:00:18] Hello Hillsong Creative, it's Andrew here from our Gold coast campus. I'm incredibly blessed to lead our amazing creative team here, who are some of the most exceptional people you'll ever meet. So hi guys.
[00:00:33] I hope you're all well this week. I'm honored to get to take a few minutes to share with us something that I believe God's been challenging me about.
[00:00:42] It's the thought of how our Sundays and the rest of our week can work hand in hand to see our lives transformed.
[00:00:51] Have you ever noticed that Sunday afternoon naps just hit different?
[00:00:56] There's something about Sunday afternoon after church that takes the experience of napping and elevates it to its highest potential.
[00:01:05] I remember a number of years ago at our Brisbane downtown campus we'd had a big Sunday morning.
[00:01:12] We'd successfully bumped into our venue at the time, sat up, sound checked, rehearsed and led two great morning services before bumping out again.
[00:01:23] Needless to say, after all that, I was pretty spent. I felt like I had run the good race and finished well. So I came home, ate some lunch and I could feel my eyelids getting heavy as that inevitable Sunday afternoon nap came into view. I was ready for it, but knew I couldn't nap too long as I had a friend visiting from out of state who I was going to have dinner with.
[00:01:51] So as my head hit the pillow, I thought I should set an alarm. I also thought, nah, it'll be fine. It was only 03:00 p.m. how long was I going to sleep for my friends? That day I played a game called Nap roulette and that day I lost. When I opened my eyes, I noticed two things. One, I felt very well rested, and two, it was pitch black outside.
[00:02:19] I rolled over, checked my phone and saw that it was now 11:00 p.m.
[00:02:25] and I had texts and missed calls from my friend asking where on earth I was.
[00:02:31] So I did what any good friend would do. I rolled over and went back to sleep for another 8 hours. These days my wife and I have two preschool aged kids and I wish I could get that much sleep. Here's the thing. I had treated Sunday's service like the finish line in a race and I had checked out, which had caused me to miss out.
[00:02:56] My friend, who I was going to meet, was not saved and our time together could have been a great opportunity to share a little of what God had done in our services that morning.
[00:03:07] But I had checked out and missed out and if we're not intentional, we can do the same. We can treat the end of our Sunday gatherings as a finish line. After church, we can check out and miss out on the transformational work that God started in our gathering.
[00:03:27] If we're not intentional, we can come because we're a faithful team, bring our best because we're an excellent team, give our all because we're a generous team, pat each other on the back because we're an encouraging team, and then just leave it all behind.
[00:03:44] We can pack up, turn the lights off, and walk out the doors of our campus, no different to how we walked in.
[00:03:53] Allow me to state the obvious. This is not enough.
[00:03:58] We need more than this.
[00:04:00] We need worship. Encounters that don't leave us the same, but see us transformed into new creation.
[00:04:09] We need worship that's transformational.
[00:04:18] If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that playing a game of church means nothing. But following Jesus together as his church means everything.
[00:04:30] And that means we're intentional about allowing ourselves to be transformed into his likeness.
[00:04:39] If you're listening to this, you probably have a phone, and your phone probably has a calendar. And by default, that calendar probably starts the week on a Monday.
[00:04:50] For many centuries now, the traditional christian calendar has had Sunday as the start of the week.
[00:04:58] That's because Sunday is not the finish line of our week. It is the starting line. Leading our church in worship on a Sunday is not where our week ends, but where it begins. Because we hillsong creative are a Monday to Saturday people who are being transformed through a whole life of worshipping Jesus.
[00:05:22] And if we want our church to be like this, too, it starts with the lead worshippers. It starts with us Hillsong creative.
[00:05:33] So, practically, how do we actually do this?
[00:05:37] The Bible has some wisdom here.
[00:05:40] The first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke tell the incredible story of how a young girl named Maryland came to carry the long promised Messiah. As a newborn baby, Mary experiences miracles and wonders and signs from heaven. And after experiencing all of this, it might have been easy for Mary to simply get on with life, consumed by the day to day busyness of being a new parent and moving on from what God had done. Without intending to. But this actually wasn't the case. The Bible says in Luke 219. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. She pondered these things.
[00:06:30] The greek word here that's translated into ponder means to wrestle with, to rearrange, to place into order, is describing contemplative thinking that uses both the heart and the mind.
[00:06:47] Mary didn't leave these revelations of God's power and presence behind. But she carried them with her and allowed them to shape her inner world, the person she was becoming.
[00:07:00] So how can we, as Hillsong creative, also do this? How can we use this Sunday to treasure and to ponder?
[00:07:10] Here's a few ways. Firstly, if you're not scheduled to serve this Sunday, can I encourage you to attend church?
[00:07:18] Wear Jesus followers first before any position, on a roster or in a team. And part of that means we gather together regularly, even when we don't have a task to do.
[00:07:32] Secondly, come ready to capture. Come expectant that the Lord will speak through worship, through teaching and through community.
[00:07:41] And when that happens, we too, like Mary, can store up these treasures. This can look like saving songs from the service to a playlist you'll listen to in the week and ponder.
[00:07:55] This can look like listening during the teaching, actually listening and taking notes so that during the week we can ponder on what we've heard.
[00:08:04] When someone in our community shares encouragement or wisdom with you, write it down to read again and to ponder. I've kept so many words like these over the years and still come back to them today when I need wisdom and encouragement. So firstly, let's gather together. Secondly, come ready to capture. And thirdly, lastly, create margin in your week to ponder.
[00:08:32] What did you capture from Sunday? What is God saying to you? To us right now?
[00:08:39] Talk with him about it and ask his spirit to reveal new things to you. Let's ponder and allow our lives to be transformed. Let's follow Jesus together.
[00:08:51] Have the best Sunday hillsong creative. We'll see you soon.
