‘Win, Build, Send’ by Kim Hawtrey

Each month the ACL will feature one article from our archives.

The landscape of Sydney has changed drastically since the ACL was formed over 100 years ago, however the core business of Christian ministry remains the same. We hope these articles ‘from the vault’ will encourage and strengthen your faith and ministry.

This third article ‘from the vault’ was written by Dr Kim Hawtrey in 2002. Since then, there have been many changes in our city, but the need to share Christ remains, with undiminished urgency.

Kim outlines three simple, but crucial, things we need to be doing in Sydney to be faithful to the gospel.

Please join with us in praying that churches may be strengthened, Sydneysiders won to Christ, and God be glorified.

 


Dr Kim Hawtrey (in 2002)Win, Build, Send

The future matters. It matters to God. So it should matter to us too.

Evangelical Christians have a ‘future orientation’. To be future-oriented is one of the defining marks of evangelicalism. This term captures an important element of authentic Christianity, because Biblical religion is forward looking by its very nature.

This is not to say, of course, that evangelicals do not appreciate the past. Our faith is founded upon historical events, salvation history as recorded in the Scriptures. And we acknowledge the work of the great Reformers and missionaries who have gone before us.

Nor can evangelicals afford not to appreciate the present time in which we live. In Sydney, in 2002, we have many blessings for which we should thank God: a theological college which teaches the Bible, a vibrant network of churches, a Synod which knows the gospel, and an Archbishop who is committed to continuing evangelical leadership.

Yet even in recognising these things we are compelled to ask the next logical question: what about the future?

What kind of legacy will we leave to our children? And their children? Most importantly, will we be found faithful when the Lord Jesus returns?

In Luke 12, Jesus says, “be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet”.

If we are to be found ready when the Lord returns, and if our heart’s desire is to see the ministry of the gospel stronger than ever in this city – ten, twenty or fifty years from now – then we need to be doing three things –

First, we need to be

Winning Sydneysiders to Christ.

It must be our goal to tell the gospel to as many people as we can before the future judgment comes, as often as we can, and as faithfully as we should.

There is no other means by which the kingdom grows or by which the world can be changed.

Second, we must be

Building Biblical churches.

There can be no solid foundation for the future without the Word of God being centre-stage for, on the Last Day, all things will have passed away but his Word will stand.

And third, we need to be

Sending ambassadors for the gospel.

Just as Paul told Timothy to pass on the message to faithful young men, so too we must invest in the future by commissioning the next generation to carry on the work. The youth in our congregations today must become the gospel messengers of tomorrow.

Win. Build. Send. These three must constitute the key planks of an evangelical vision for the future of our church.

ACL’s core business is the future. It exists to support gospel growth and defend gospel truth, especially in the Anglican denomination and particularly in the Diocese of Sydney.

All this is because the future matters. It matters to God. Therefore, it should matter to us too.

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When he wrote this in 2002, Kim Hawtrey was the senior Evangelist with Impact Ministries, and also a member of the ACL’s Council.

Published in the April–May 2002 edition of ACL News. Download the original article as a PDF file.