Church With A Difference – Pastor Joel Shaw

Do you have an image in your mind about what church is supposed to look like? There are many different types of churches, including a wide range of both traditional and modern. But they are all grappling to some extent with how to best care for one another.

Pastor Joel Shaw and his wife Candice, lead Tivoli Miracles Centre in in Ipswich, just to the west of Brisbane. They actually utilise an old drive in theatre as part of church life. It is definitely a unique and different style of church.

Their vision is to raise missionaries who are more intensely focussed on discipleship and evangelism. While a lot of what they do happens online, they also run a supernatural mission’s deployment school, equipping students with teaching and mobilising them to go out into the harvest and share the gospel.

Joel recently joined us on 20Twenty to share the story of how the drive in has been converted to become an evangelistic centre where people come for a miracles, and get saved. It has evolved into a wonderful kingdom opportunity.

“We have around 75,000 people that come through the gates every year,” says Joel. “It truly is an amazing opportunity. People drive into the ticket office and see a sign above them that says Miracle Centre Welcomes You – Expect a Miracle.”

Joel says the drive in is a blast from the past, and a great retro experience. People come from as far as Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast to be a part of the experience. But as a church running a drive in theatre, Joel says they are careful about what they screen.

“What we’re really aiming for is to make sure that its family friendly,” Joel says, “and that we have an opportunity to be able to share the gospel. It’s definitely something we wrestle with, and we don’t always get it right but we try our best.”

Joel aims to have a more intensified focus on the great commission than some of the other aspects of Christian service. “I would never have thought of myself as being an evangelist,” he says. “But I was part of a prayer group that started reaching out to people in the community. That is where the Lord ignited something in my heart.”

Joel already had a ministry as a worship leader, but he knew the great commission was for every single disciple. “To teach people to baptise in the name of the father, and also teach them to obey is something I’m incredibly passionate about. We’re starting to see a movement in our church where that’s becoming more commonplace.”

Joel believes the church should be a community that is known by its love. Jesus said that people would know His disciples by their love for one another. The purest form of church is a community that’s just been baptised, and is breaking bread together.

“Essentially, the great commission is to love the Lord,” says Joel, “and to love your neighbour as yourself. The Great Commission involves two aspects. It’s not just sowing seeds, but it’s actually preaching the gospel and making disciples.”

“I believe that’s the gaping hole,” Joel says. “We need to get back to the basics and make the main thing the main thing.”

Listen to the full message here: