Culturally Relevant Without Selling Out | Good News People Week 3 | 17 May 2026 | Abi Lycett

``Am I standing like a Pharisee watching Jesus on the Sabbath heal somebody going, you can't heal on the Sabbath? Am I missing the whole point because I'm caught up in my eyes fixed on the wrong things? Or is my heart open to see and perceive what the Holy Spirit is doing in maybe the most unexpected places and the most unexpected people. Maybe it's not gonna look like what I thought it would look like, but am I willing to step into that place and to be led by the holy spirit, to be a person of his presence, and to join in with what he is already doing? [00:33:21] (43 seconds)  #OpenToHolySpirit

And when we become departed from that because our eyes are fixed to other places and we're becoming distracted, Actually, then what power is left in that? Then actually, don't we just start to look like the world again? Trying to make the world a better place in our own strength. That's a lot of pressure to carry. But actually, if we choose to partner with Jesus, one step at a time, one day at a time, committing to be people of his presence, committing to be people that know his peace, that know his love, that then walk in his peace, walk in his love, and share that with those around us. I think that's where the good news to our culture lies. [00:34:41] (45 seconds)  #WalkInHisPeace

Said a bit earlier on, I believe that God is in the business of transforming cultures, that he has the ability to transform culture. I do not think we have the ability to transform culture. I don't think we as individuals, as humanity, don't even think of us we as the church. If we as the church set our set our eyes on this is what we're gonna do, but we left God to the side, what power is in that? It has to be us led by the Holy Spirit. It has to be us as the church led by the Holy Spirit. [00:34:05] (37 seconds)  #SpiritLedChurch

but he is our safe place. He is our refuge. He is the rock on which we can stand. He is the one that will never change. And as I was thinking about that, I thought about the the story of the the wise man who built his house upon the rock. And then, you know, the wise man built his house upon a rock. Did anyone sing that as kids? That's part of my cultural upbringing. This is in from Matthew seven. I'm gonna read it because, you know, Jesus says it better than I could. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [00:29:21] (40 seconds)  #BuildOnTheRock

He met people where they were. He saw what the father was doing in them. He partnered with the holy spirit, and he met them with the good news that he brought. And that good news was good news of love, of joy, of peace, of kindness, of goodness, of grace, of mercy, not of condemnation, not of judgment. As I was thinking about what does it mean for us to be people that carry Jesus in that way? What does it mean for us to be the vessels of Jesus meeting people where they are in our culture? [00:25:33] (45 seconds)  #MeetPeopleWithGrace

And it just seems like a door is opening in people's worldview because culture is not quite so fixed on the, well, we can do it without God, and God was for before when we didn't know what was going on. And I think that is a beautiful a beautiful space to be in, to allow Jesus to come and step into being good news, not just for Jerusalem two thousand years ago, not just for the Jewish people two thousand years ago, but for everybody today in the world that we're living in, in the culture that we're living in. [00:16:42] (41 seconds)  #GoodNewsForToday

So what does it mean to to be people who live in the world, that are of culture, that enjoy culture, that see what God is doing in culture, that can see the the goodness that is entwined in the culture that we live in, in other people's cultures, who can see that, can enjoy that, can celebrate that, but also see that actually there is a hope that we hold that maybe the world is crying out for. And how do we share that? And how do we share that in a way that means it's heard and received? [00:23:29] (41 seconds)  #EngageCultureWithHope

God created us all in his image, and he created us all uniquely. Right? So as individuals, we are unique, beautifully created. So there is something in me that reflects God's character and nature that is in nobody else, and that's beautiful. But I also think that that is so true and exists on a cultural level of there is something in Ghanaian culture that reflects the truth and beauty and joy of Jesus because that culture is made of a collective of people that are made in the image of God, that cannot be reflected by any other culture. [00:06:01] (32 seconds)  #CreatedInGodsImage