Juntos 2023 | O Potencial da Semente

(Together 2023 – The Potential of the Seed | Day 1)

By Chris Kilby April 2023

Over the years the annual ‘Juntos’ conference for the Commission churches in the Iberian Peninsula has always been a key moment to gather and be sent with refreshed vision and a renewed commitment to our shared mission.

This year, however, felt like the start of something very new and exciting, whilst at the same time securely building on the very strong foundations that have been laid.

The theme for the conference was ‘The Potential of the Seed’, and in each of the sessions the combination of worship, the preached word, and the prophetic, all brought fresh insight into this metaphor that we see so often throughout scripture.

The worship team led by Maria João, Katie and Mario has always been hugely gifted, but there was a sense of God’s power and anointing on their leadership from the very first moment. Yes, people were pleased to be in the room to meet with each other, but there was a genuine sense of eagerness to meet with God, and we certainly did that, until the very last note!

In each session we also enjoyed video updates from some of the churches represented at the conference, as well as updates from Ranjit in India, Guy in the UK, and Iam in Rio. All the reports were so encouraging.

Andre Shore (Igreja Vida Nova, Porto, Portugal) spoke in the opening session, introducing the theme, reminding us that at creation seeds brought life and multiplication. The reality that every seed carries the DNA to bear fruit, but also reminding us that the type of seed really matters, because it determines the type of fruit that grows.

He brought us to the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and reminded us of the profound reality that Jesus has promised to be with us forever, and challenging us to dream of the potential of both an individual life, and a church, when we know that Jesus is with us. Knowing his presence is the key to our abundant fruitfulness. Not lights and smoke machines, but a light that changes everything. A presence that brings peace to an anxious generation, community to a lonely generation, and humble leadership to a generation that has experienced both narcissistic and abusive leadership.

Andre took us back to the garden of Eden, and compared the ‘good seed’ of a life lived in the presence of God to the ‘bad seed’ of lies and deception and ultimately death that came from the serpent. Tracing Genesis through the downward spiral through the days of Noah and Moses, we were eventually brought to the one who made a new and living way for us to enter God’s presence – Jesus – who by his blood made a way, who crushed the serpents head, and who invited us to be back in God’s presence, never to be separated again. An eternal promise which we can enjoy now, but will one day be experienced in all its fulness. Now knowing God’s presence with us, we can press on and fulfil the Great Commission, making disciples all around the globe, knowing Jesus is with us every day.

Guy Miller (Westminster Chapel, London, UK) took us back in to the gospel of Matthew, to consider the Parable of the Sower. He reminded us that it is in the heart of God for us to be fruit bearing, and that fruit will be in the nations. He highlighted the reality that some of our nations feel like ‘hard ground’, where things seem to struggle to take root and grow strong, whilst in other nations the gospel seems to bear quick fruit, but the roots are shallow. Guy then showed us how a sovereign God can take that which was hard and unfruitful and completely transform it. He gave the apostle Peter as an example. Peter who had denied Christ, yet when asked who he thought Jesus was, responded ‘You are the Christ, the son of the living God’, and that confession, coupled with the filling of the Spirit turned the hard ground of Peter’s heart soft. The story continued into Cornelius’s household, a gentile household, hard ground, but when the Holy Spirit came upon the room, hard ground turned soft.

From 1 Peter, Guy reminded us of three key aspects of our identity and mission that need to underpin us as we press forward:

Firstly, that we are ‘Elect’. That our lives our not random or accidental but chosen to be seed carriers with the potential to reproduce. He pointed to 1 John 3:9, that ‘God’s seed remains in them’, highlighting that the Greek word ‘sperma’ is the same concept as natural conception, which leads inevitably to multiplication and life. We all carry that divine seed, and can all bring forth life.

Secondly, Guy reminded us that the Christians being written to in 1 Peter were ‘Exiles’. They (and subsequently, we), are people who did not fit. The gospel is an offence, and we are foolish in the world’s eyes. The world says that ‘Science is King’, but we say ‘Jesus is king’. We make look like the weak, the side-lined, those out of kilter with culture, but we are those who have been entrusted with the message of life.

Lastly Guy reminded us that we, like seed, are ‘Scattered’. We have been sent into our communities and need to see ourselves as seed being liberally scattered. In Acts 11:19, following the stoning of Stephen, we read that ‘those who had been scattered ended up in Antioch’. Even though the first martyrdom may have looked like a defeat for the early church, it was God’s method of getting the message of the gospel from Jerusalem on to Syria, and ultimately out to the rest of the world.

As we gathered at the conference, we were aware that a large number of beautiful Brazilian believers have been scattered from Brazil and are being sown into Portugal. It is vital that they become workers in the harvest field and continue to scatter gospel seed. In the UK we now have approximately 4% of the population claiming to be bible believing Christians. In London that statistic had doubled to 8% because of the influx of South American, Asian, and African believers who have been scattered and sown into the UK. Not simply to bring their native cultures, but to help us bring Kingdom Culture!

One of the other highlights of the first day was an in-depth interview with church planters Phil and Christiana Bacon who are pioneering in Castro Urdiales in Northern Spain. Through building deep relationships and running language classes they are impacting one life at a time. It’s a discipleship model of such patience and faith and is beginning to bear fruit from the seeds they are sowing as people come to trust them and think of them as family. It was such an inspiring story of faith as we heard how they felt the prompting of God, and then took steps to leave what they had built in Valencia and begin again. They are genuine heroes of the faith who have walked a path of courageous obedience.

Towards the end of the day a prophetic word was brought from Isaiah 54. It was a personal challenge to one of the younger growing leaders at the conference, but also went on to have application for the team that is building our shared mission for the future. In particular there was an encouragement to continue to ‘spread out to the right and to the left’. If you imagine a map of Portugal, spreading right would mean across the Atlantic and growing influence and connection in South America, whereas spreading left would mean greater influence from Portugal and Spain into the rest of Catholic Southern Europe. It is certainly going to be exciting to partner with the Iberian team and see them press on with vigour!