Our theme for advent this year has been God’s unlimited love. We’ve asked the question: How far does God’s love reach? And we concluded that no one is beyond the reach of God’s love. The social outcast is not beyond God’s love; the religiously pious are not beyond God’s love; the morally fallen are not beyond God’s love; the spiritually confused are not beyond God’s unlimited love.
We’ve reflected on its character. We’ve discovered that this love:
#1 Knows no boundaries
Jer. 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn with cords of loving kindness
#2 Forgives all sin
Num.4:18 `The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.
#3 Compassionate and renewed
Lam.3:23-24 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
#4 Unfailing
Exod.35:13 "In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
Two more things that we should know about God’s love.
#1 It is inclusive
Because it knows no boundaries, because no one is beyond its reach, the love of God includes everyone. From shepherds to wise men, from the outsider to the insider; No person who has ever lived, no person who is living, and no person who is yet to live could ever be described as being beyond God’s love.
This is what some writers have called the scandal of God’s grace. That no one, no matter what they have done or what they might do, is beyond God’s love.
The psalmist has it right when he asks: Where can I go to get away from you?
There is no escape.
To religious people God’s unlimited love is always going to be scandalous. Why should the bad get the same opportunity as the good? Why should the murderer be welcomed alongside the victim? You may of course not see it quite that way. You may have no problem with the lavish, unlimited reach of God’s love. But where the love of God goes, forgiveness goes too.
The scandal is may not be in the reach of God’s love as much as it is in the forgiveness that it offers.
“Amazing love”, wrote Graham Kendrick, “how can it be, the Son of God given for me
My debt he pays, and my death he dies, that I might live.”
#2 It’s exclusive
Whilst the love of God is unlimited in its reach it is not unlimited in its application. Philip Yancey makes this point when he asks his friend: You ask me about forgiveness now, but will you even want it later, especially if it involves repentance?
The application is exclusive because it requires you to take up the offer. But this is not an offer that you simply accept or reject without consequences. This is an offer that you must take seriously, that you must consider carefully. Your whole destiny rests on your response to this offer. It’s not an offer to be taken lightly.
John, in his gospel, makes this very point when he says: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
You can respond in:
#1 Wonder
Wonder at what God has done for you. Wonder at how God unfolded his plan for your redemption through the birth of a child. Wonder at the simple fact that you oculd mean this much to the creator of the universe that he would come into your world, take your pain, shape your future.
#2 Worship
You could respond in worship. You could fall to your knees, weep for your mistakes, or cry in joy for your freedom that this birth announces. Worship is always a good response. No matter what the situation or the circumstances, worship is always appropriate. You could worship
#3 You could bring gifts
The wise men brought offerings, interesting offerings. What offering might you bring?
In He chose the nails, Max Lucado asks this question: What will you leave at the cross? He talks about bringing your bad moments, your mad moments, your anxious moments and your final moment.
#4 Receive
Whatever else you do in response to the nativity, you have to decide to receive what is offered or to reject it. You cannot sit on the fence and see which way the wind blows.
The birth of Jesus announces to the world that God is still involved in human history, still involved in that which he began and still at work drawing history itself to its conclusion.
So here lies a baby, the sign of God’s unlimited love. The choice is always yours, has always been yours, to do with that sign what you will.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
God's unlimited love: How far does it reach?
How far does God’s love reach? Is anyone excluded? Is it possible for someone to be so far from God that they are beyond the reach of his love?
Perhaps our question is more personal. Can I move so far away from God that I move beyond the reach of his love for me?
Perhaps our question is more like, “How does Jesus being born bring God’s love closer to the people around me who seem to live their lives oblivious to the love God has for them?”
So how far does God’s love reach?
#1 The spiritually far from God
In Matthew chapter 2 we read about the visit of the mysterious magi from the east. I know that generally speaking the church likes to think of these characters simply as “wise men”, possibly kings, certainly not astrologers. But this is possibly closer to the truth. The "Magi” cannot be identified with precision. By NT times, the term loosely covered a wide variety of men interested in dreams, astrology, magic, books thought to contain mysterious references to the future, and the like. In Acts 13 we meet Elymas the sorcerer or magon, who opposes Paul and tries to turn the proconsul from the faith.
Not all stargazers are open to the purposes of God or willing to take a journey of discovery with him.
Apparently these men, these magi came to Bethlehem spurred on by astrological calculations. But they had probably built up their expectation of a kingly figure by working through assorted Jewish books.
I guess you might call them the spiritually confused, although I don’t suppose they saw themselves in that light. But however they saw themselves, God loved them, and called to them.
Maybe they were not so far from God after all.
Whether you dabble at the edge of faith or dabble with the spiritually suspect, God’s love is never that far away from where you are.
#2 The morally far
If God’s love can reach way out east to people who are watching stars, who else can he reach?
How about the morally far from God.
Jesus became known as the friend of sinners. Depending upon which side of the religious divide you stood, this was either an insult (why do you mix with such rejects), or a comfort (someone like Jesus is willing to spend time in my company).
For Jesus it was a choice. He spoke of the need the sick had for a doctor, he spoke of coming to save those who had found themselves lost.
When he met Zacchaeus, it was Jesus who chose to share his company. He was no a reluctant guest in the house of a sinner, but he chose to be there. In John’s gospel we see Jesus presented with a case of adultery and asked to offer a judgment. Instead he offers forgiveness and a chance to start again, to change a lifestyle rather than end a life.
Jesus was known as one who would spend time with prostitutes, not a great reputation to have. But the love of God doesn’t worry about reputations, it only worries about people. People matter to God. Lost people, morally bankrupt people, matter to God.
#3 The social outcast
“The prostitute” points us towards another group of people who are well within reach of the love of God.
The social outcast.
In NT times there were people who were persona non grata as far as the religious community were concerned. Grouped together as publicans and sinners these people were thought to be beyond the reach of God. Among the list were the tax-collectors.
Working for a foreign government collecting unfair taxes on their behalf, and usually adding a little, or a lot, of commission on the side, these men were not well liked to say the least. They would have had few, if any, friends in so-called polite society. I doubt very much that they would have been welcomed at the Temple in Jerusalem or even at their local synagogue. But the love of God reaches out to even these outcasts.
As Jesus walked along the road one day he saw a tax-collector called Levi and he said to him, “Come and follow me.” And he did. He followed Jesus and he did two other things of great significance. First he threw a party for all his outcast friends and invited Jesus to be there. We don’t know how many responded to the invitation, we don’t know how many of those who came were changed by their encounter with Jesus, but we know that Jesus would have loved them just as he had loved Levi.
And the second thing Levi did? He wrote the gospel that bears his name, not Levi but Matthew. Can you imagine the New Testament without Matthew’s gospel? The stories we wouldn’t have, the insight into God’s fulfillment of his promises that would be missed.
The social outcast turned storyteller and all because the love of God reaches even the social outcast.
#4 The religiously far
Some people are very religious but far from God. Perhaps Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to meet Jesus one night, would fall into that category. He knew a lot about God, but did he truly know God? He came with questions, and he got some answers. He didn’t seem to grasp the answers, at least not straightaway, but he came.
Many religious people were unwilling to even ask the question, but Jesus still loved them, spoke to them about God’s love and purposes. Even when they rejected him and sought his life, he still loved them.
For God so loved the world, is how John 3:16 begins. It’s a verse that many within the church know well. It speaks about the all-encompassing love of God. If you are part of the world, then you are included in the range of God’s love, you are not beyond his reach. As Max Lucado puts it: it doesn’t say for God so loved the Europeans, it says for God so loved the world.
No matter what you think about yourself, no matter what you’ve said about God, no matter what you might have done, you are not beyond the reach of the love of God. Jesus invite you to come to the manger at wonder at the journey he made all the way from heaven to live on earth so that you could experience the love of God first hand.
And as you wonder at the baby in the trough, remember too the man on the cross. Remember that this baby grew to be this man who gave up his life that having seen God’s love you might understand his forgiveness.
Perhaps our question is more personal. Can I move so far away from God that I move beyond the reach of his love for me?
Perhaps our question is more like, “How does Jesus being born bring God’s love closer to the people around me who seem to live their lives oblivious to the love God has for them?”
So how far does God’s love reach?
#1 The spiritually far from God
In Matthew chapter 2 we read about the visit of the mysterious magi from the east. I know that generally speaking the church likes to think of these characters simply as “wise men”, possibly kings, certainly not astrologers. But this is possibly closer to the truth. The "Magi” cannot be identified with precision. By NT times, the term loosely covered a wide variety of men interested in dreams, astrology, magic, books thought to contain mysterious references to the future, and the like. In Acts 13 we meet Elymas the sorcerer or magon, who opposes Paul and tries to turn the proconsul from the faith.
Not all stargazers are open to the purposes of God or willing to take a journey of discovery with him.
Apparently these men, these magi came to Bethlehem spurred on by astrological calculations. But they had probably built up their expectation of a kingly figure by working through assorted Jewish books.
I guess you might call them the spiritually confused, although I don’t suppose they saw themselves in that light. But however they saw themselves, God loved them, and called to them.
Maybe they were not so far from God after all.
Whether you dabble at the edge of faith or dabble with the spiritually suspect, God’s love is never that far away from where you are.
#2 The morally far
If God’s love can reach way out east to people who are watching stars, who else can he reach?
How about the morally far from God.
Jesus became known as the friend of sinners. Depending upon which side of the religious divide you stood, this was either an insult (why do you mix with such rejects), or a comfort (someone like Jesus is willing to spend time in my company).
For Jesus it was a choice. He spoke of the need the sick had for a doctor, he spoke of coming to save those who had found themselves lost.
When he met Zacchaeus, it was Jesus who chose to share his company. He was no a reluctant guest in the house of a sinner, but he chose to be there. In John’s gospel we see Jesus presented with a case of adultery and asked to offer a judgment. Instead he offers forgiveness and a chance to start again, to change a lifestyle rather than end a life.
Jesus was known as one who would spend time with prostitutes, not a great reputation to have. But the love of God doesn’t worry about reputations, it only worries about people. People matter to God. Lost people, morally bankrupt people, matter to God.
#3 The social outcast
“The prostitute” points us towards another group of people who are well within reach of the love of God.
The social outcast.
In NT times there were people who were persona non grata as far as the religious community were concerned. Grouped together as publicans and sinners these people were thought to be beyond the reach of God. Among the list were the tax-collectors.
Working for a foreign government collecting unfair taxes on their behalf, and usually adding a little, or a lot, of commission on the side, these men were not well liked to say the least. They would have had few, if any, friends in so-called polite society. I doubt very much that they would have been welcomed at the Temple in Jerusalem or even at their local synagogue. But the love of God reaches out to even these outcasts.
As Jesus walked along the road one day he saw a tax-collector called Levi and he said to him, “Come and follow me.” And he did. He followed Jesus and he did two other things of great significance. First he threw a party for all his outcast friends and invited Jesus to be there. We don’t know how many responded to the invitation, we don’t know how many of those who came were changed by their encounter with Jesus, but we know that Jesus would have loved them just as he had loved Levi.
And the second thing Levi did? He wrote the gospel that bears his name, not Levi but Matthew. Can you imagine the New Testament without Matthew’s gospel? The stories we wouldn’t have, the insight into God’s fulfillment of his promises that would be missed.
The social outcast turned storyteller and all because the love of God reaches even the social outcast.
#4 The religiously far
Some people are very religious but far from God. Perhaps Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to meet Jesus one night, would fall into that category. He knew a lot about God, but did he truly know God? He came with questions, and he got some answers. He didn’t seem to grasp the answers, at least not straightaway, but he came.
Many religious people were unwilling to even ask the question, but Jesus still loved them, spoke to them about God’s love and purposes. Even when they rejected him and sought his life, he still loved them.
For God so loved the world, is how John 3:16 begins. It’s a verse that many within the church know well. It speaks about the all-encompassing love of God. If you are part of the world, then you are included in the range of God’s love, you are not beyond his reach. As Max Lucado puts it: it doesn’t say for God so loved the Europeans, it says for God so loved the world.
No matter what you think about yourself, no matter what you’ve said about God, no matter what you might have done, you are not beyond the reach of the love of God. Jesus invite you to come to the manger at wonder at the journey he made all the way from heaven to live on earth so that you could experience the love of God first hand.
And as you wonder at the baby in the trough, remember too the man on the cross. Remember that this baby grew to be this man who gave up his life that having seen God’s love you might understand his forgiveness.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Thoughts on God's unlimited love
This year our Advent theme is "Love unlimited". We're talking here about Barry White's backing group, but the unlimited love that God has shown us through his SOn, Jesus. Here are some opening thoughts about God's unlimited love.
Here is what we want to know. We want to know how long God’s love will endure… Does God really love us forever? Not just on… Sunday when our shoes are shined and our hair is fixed. We want to know… how does God feel when I’m a jerk? Not when I’m peppy and positive and ready to tackle world hunger. Not then. I know how he feels about me then. Even I like me then.
I want to know how he feels about me when I snap at anything that moves, when my thoughts are gutter-level, when my tongue is sharp enough to slice a rock. How does God feel about me then?…
Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us?
God answered our question before we asked it. So we’d see his answer, he lit the sky with a star. So we’d hear it, he filled the night with a choir; and so we’d believe it, he did what no man had ever dreamed. He became flesh and dwelt among us.
He placed his hand on the shoulder of humanity and said, “You’re something special”.
Max Lucado In the Grip of Grace from One Incredible Moment
A love promised
How would you describe God? If someone asked you for a single sentence description of his character what would you highlight? Eight times in the Old Testament he is described like this: slow to anger and abounding in love. Seven of the eight times it adds: gracious and compassionate. That God is holy, the righteous judge of all people, creator and sustainer of the universe is also true, yet there is something about compassion, grace, and love that just seems to say more.
Four characteristics of this promised love
#1 Knows no boundaries
Jer. 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn with cords of loving kindness
#2 Forgives all sin
Num.4:18 The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.
#3 Compassionate and renewed
Lam.3:23-24 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
#4 Unfailing
Exod.35:13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.
A love revealed
Matthew tells us that all this happened to fulfil what was spoken through the prophets.
The birth of Jesus is a revelation of God’s love for us. God loves us so much that he is willing to become one of us. To experience life as we experience it, to set aside his glory, majesty and even his rights as God, and experience humanity. God loves us so much that not only did he become one of us, but he also died for each of us.
While we were still rebels, Christ died for us, says Paul.
A love poured out
We are:
Loved unconditionally
Loved eternally
Loved individually
Here is what we want to know. We want to know how long God’s love will endure… Does God really love us forever? Not just on… Sunday when our shoes are shined and our hair is fixed. We want to know… how does God feel when I’m a jerk? Not when I’m peppy and positive and ready to tackle world hunger. Not then. I know how he feels about me then. Even I like me then.
I want to know how he feels about me when I snap at anything that moves, when my thoughts are gutter-level, when my tongue is sharp enough to slice a rock. How does God feel about me then?…
Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us?
God answered our question before we asked it. So we’d see his answer, he lit the sky with a star. So we’d hear it, he filled the night with a choir; and so we’d believe it, he did what no man had ever dreamed. He became flesh and dwelt among us.
He placed his hand on the shoulder of humanity and said, “You’re something special”.
Max Lucado In the Grip of Grace from One Incredible Moment
A love promised
How would you describe God? If someone asked you for a single sentence description of his character what would you highlight? Eight times in the Old Testament he is described like this: slow to anger and abounding in love. Seven of the eight times it adds: gracious and compassionate. That God is holy, the righteous judge of all people, creator and sustainer of the universe is also true, yet there is something about compassion, grace, and love that just seems to say more.
Four characteristics of this promised love
#1 Knows no boundaries
Jer. 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn with cords of loving kindness
#2 Forgives all sin
Num.4:18 The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.
#3 Compassionate and renewed
Lam.3:23-24 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
#4 Unfailing
Exod.35:13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.
A love revealed
Matthew tells us that all this happened to fulfil what was spoken through the prophets.
The birth of Jesus is a revelation of God’s love for us. God loves us so much that he is willing to become one of us. To experience life as we experience it, to set aside his glory, majesty and even his rights as God, and experience humanity. God loves us so much that not only did he become one of us, but he also died for each of us.
While we were still rebels, Christ died for us, says Paul.
A love poured out
We are:
Loved unconditionally
Loved eternally
Loved individually
Sunday, December 3, 2006
The unfinished story
Whichever way you look at it, the story of the early church seems incomplete at the end of the book of Acts. Even Paul acknowledges that although he is compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, he doesn’t what will happen as a result of going there. He just knows that trouble is ahead. And what of Peter and the other apostles and leaders? Is their story over, or is it still unfolding, just not recorded.
But maybe there is a more subtle message in the incompleteness of the story.
There is always more to do.
There is always more to do than there are resources to meet the need. There is always more to do than there are people to do it. There is always more to do than there is time in which to do it. There is always more to do.
There is always more to do because the story isn’t finished. The church is still here, and Jesus is still in the business of building the church he began. The story did not finish with Paul arriving in Rome, and won’t be finished until he says it’s finished.
There is always more to do because God is not finished in this place.
The problem is that sometimes the job seems to be too much, too overwhelming, too big.
What to do?
What to do when the task looks too big
#1 Remember God’s plan: Acts 1:8 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth
When we can’t, God can and does: When we get to the end of our resources, we have a God who has more resources at his disposal than we can imagine.
#2 Jesus builds the church
As we’ve looked at the early church we’ve thought about its foundations: continuity, promise, power and purpose. We’ve thought about what it means to build a great church characterised by: Devotion to Biblical teaching and standards, devoted to God, devoted to each other and that has great outcomes. And we said that in the end great churches are: Passionate about God; Passionate about each other; Passionate about the world.
But let’s not forget: Jesus builds the church not you and me. We’re involved, we’ve been invited to play a part, but we are not the master-builders.
Three questions to ask:
#1 What is Jesus doing, how can we be involved?
I know it actually two questions, but let’s ask it as one question in two parts!
Where do we see God actively at work in our community? And then ask how can we be involved.
#2 What are the “God given” opportunities before us?
This is closely linked to the first question, because if God is at work in our communities then that surely presents opportunities to us. But I’m thinking here about future things that we can see coming our way. The Wixams and Shortstown building projects; the village care scheme; being a school governor, a parish councillor. There are all sorts of ways to be involved in our communities. No treading water while we wait for new homes to be built.
#3 What is our mandate?
1.Go and make disciples: A great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission makes great Christians.
2. Preach the gospel (Luke 24)
3. Love each other
4. Be personally transformed
5. Be encouragers
When the task looks big, we need all the encouragement we can get!
But maybe there is a more subtle message in the incompleteness of the story.
There is always more to do.
There is always more to do than there are resources to meet the need. There is always more to do than there are people to do it. There is always more to do than there is time in which to do it. There is always more to do.
There is always more to do because the story isn’t finished. The church is still here, and Jesus is still in the business of building the church he began. The story did not finish with Paul arriving in Rome, and won’t be finished until he says it’s finished.
There is always more to do because God is not finished in this place.
The problem is that sometimes the job seems to be too much, too overwhelming, too big.
What to do?
What to do when the task looks too big
#1 Remember God’s plan: Acts 1:8 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth
When we can’t, God can and does: When we get to the end of our resources, we have a God who has more resources at his disposal than we can imagine.
#2 Jesus builds the church
As we’ve looked at the early church we’ve thought about its foundations: continuity, promise, power and purpose. We’ve thought about what it means to build a great church characterised by: Devotion to Biblical teaching and standards, devoted to God, devoted to each other and that has great outcomes. And we said that in the end great churches are: Passionate about God; Passionate about each other; Passionate about the world.
But let’s not forget: Jesus builds the church not you and me. We’re involved, we’ve been invited to play a part, but we are not the master-builders.
Three questions to ask:
#1 What is Jesus doing, how can we be involved?
I know it actually two questions, but let’s ask it as one question in two parts!
Where do we see God actively at work in our community? And then ask how can we be involved.
#2 What are the “God given” opportunities before us?
This is closely linked to the first question, because if God is at work in our communities then that surely presents opportunities to us. But I’m thinking here about future things that we can see coming our way. The Wixams and Shortstown building projects; the village care scheme; being a school governor, a parish councillor. There are all sorts of ways to be involved in our communities. No treading water while we wait for new homes to be built.
#3 What is our mandate?
1.Go and make disciples: A great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission makes great Christians.
2. Preach the gospel (Luke 24)
3. Love each other
4. Be personally transformed
5. Be encouragers
When the task looks big, we need all the encouragement we can get!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Priorities, plans and prompts
This part of Acts begins with Paul and Barnabas setting off to visit the churches God had planted through them during the first great missionary journey. The disagreement about John Mark (that appears to have been resolved some later time) causes Paul and Barnabas to part company. So it is that we find Paul with new companions travelling through the region of Phrygia.
This second great journey was yet another step in God’s big plan for reaching the world. Through Paul, churches are, for the first time, established in what we call Europe. Not that Paul saw it that way, they were just in another province of the empire at the time. It’s interesting to note that if Paul had a specific agenda in mind it seems to be to plant a church in the administrative capital of the provinces of the Roma Empire (Thessalonica in Macedonia, Corinth in Achaia, and Ephesus in Asia).
On this particular journey Paul tries to go south-west into Asia but God stops him. He tries north into Bithynia but again God stops him. How, we don’t know. We’re not told. Anything we say about how God, by his Spirit, prevented Paul from entering these two regions is pure speculation. What we do know is that God was not ignoring the people of either place, but that he had another agenda for this particular journey at this particular time.
Church history is full of stories of people who, in the pursuit of God’s agenda, ended up in a place that was not originally on their itinerary. Livingstone tried to go to China, but God sent him to Africa instead. Carey set out for Polynesia but ended up in India, Jim Elliot found himself in Ecuador after several years wondering if it would be elsewhere.
How God guides us is of far less importance than our willingness to follow and walk with him as we are guided.
God’s double guidance
One writer uses the term “double guidance” to describe God’s leading of Paul to Macedonia. He argues that God applies prohibition and restraint to hold Paul back from Asia and Bithynia, and permission and constraint to draw him towards Macedonia.
The key is that during the period of prohibition and restraint, Paul does not sit still. Now I’m sure that if we looked hard and long enough we could come up with a very workable argument for not doing anything until we are absolutely clear about what God wants us definitely to do. But it seems to me that there is an equally strong argument that says: continue to do what honours God and fulfils the great commission where you are as you seek God’s guidance about the specific next step.
So Paul ministers wherever he goes, trusting that God will reveal the next step in either a negative way the Spirit of God would not let them…, or positive way so we concluded that God wanted us to go and preach the message in Macedonia.
God’s combined guidance
Guidance is not just a matter of spirituality it is connected with practicality too. It is this combination of factors that plays an important role in Paul’s progress. We shouldn’t just separate out the spiritual prohibition and permission parts of the story without thinking about the discussion they had together and the travelling they continued to do as they sought God’s clear direction. Luke tells us that Paul and his companions travelled throughout the region of Phrygia having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. They didn’t sit still. What they did, we’re not told—in fact there seems to be an awful lot of things we are not told in this story. We do know that instead of sitting back and wondering “where next?” they headed north but found that door closed to them also.
It’s this leaning on doors style of approach that I want us to think about. We can’t go south, perhaps it’s north. We can’t go north perhaps it’s west. It turns out to be west. There are times when God will guide you through circumstances.
God’s collective guidance
In v10 they conclude that God is pointing them towards Macedonia. It’s not rocket science. To you and I it might seem ridiculous that they even discussed it: A clear vision; A man from Macedonia; Come and help us. Seems pretty clear to me. But they talked it through and together they concluded. If it’s important to do this when things appear so obvious, how much more important is it when things are less than clear?
Conclusion
How God guides us is of far less importance than our willingness to follow and walk with him as we are guided.
Because of the obedience of Paul and his companions, the gospel went west into Europe. Europe, at one time, was the source for missionary activity through the modern era of history. How significant was Paul’s second journey? How significant was God’s guidance on that journey?
What is important is that God’s purpose for the church to reach the world is being worked out. Through the obedience of his followers, Jesus continues to build his church and the gates of hell still fail to close over it.
As one commentator says:
Christian response to the call of God is never a trivial thing. Indeed, as in this instance, great issues and untold blessings may depend on it.
This second great journey was yet another step in God’s big plan for reaching the world. Through Paul, churches are, for the first time, established in what we call Europe. Not that Paul saw it that way, they were just in another province of the empire at the time. It’s interesting to note that if Paul had a specific agenda in mind it seems to be to plant a church in the administrative capital of the provinces of the Roma Empire (Thessalonica in Macedonia, Corinth in Achaia, and Ephesus in Asia).
On this particular journey Paul tries to go south-west into Asia but God stops him. He tries north into Bithynia but again God stops him. How, we don’t know. We’re not told. Anything we say about how God, by his Spirit, prevented Paul from entering these two regions is pure speculation. What we do know is that God was not ignoring the people of either place, but that he had another agenda for this particular journey at this particular time.
Church history is full of stories of people who, in the pursuit of God’s agenda, ended up in a place that was not originally on their itinerary. Livingstone tried to go to China, but God sent him to Africa instead. Carey set out for Polynesia but ended up in India, Jim Elliot found himself in Ecuador after several years wondering if it would be elsewhere.
How God guides us is of far less importance than our willingness to follow and walk with him as we are guided.
God’s double guidance
One writer uses the term “double guidance” to describe God’s leading of Paul to Macedonia. He argues that God applies prohibition and restraint to hold Paul back from Asia and Bithynia, and permission and constraint to draw him towards Macedonia.
The key is that during the period of prohibition and restraint, Paul does not sit still. Now I’m sure that if we looked hard and long enough we could come up with a very workable argument for not doing anything until we are absolutely clear about what God wants us definitely to do. But it seems to me that there is an equally strong argument that says: continue to do what honours God and fulfils the great commission where you are as you seek God’s guidance about the specific next step.
So Paul ministers wherever he goes, trusting that God will reveal the next step in either a negative way the Spirit of God would not let them…, or positive way so we concluded that God wanted us to go and preach the message in Macedonia.
God’s combined guidance
Guidance is not just a matter of spirituality it is connected with practicality too. It is this combination of factors that plays an important role in Paul’s progress. We shouldn’t just separate out the spiritual prohibition and permission parts of the story without thinking about the discussion they had together and the travelling they continued to do as they sought God’s clear direction. Luke tells us that Paul and his companions travelled throughout the region of Phrygia having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. They didn’t sit still. What they did, we’re not told—in fact there seems to be an awful lot of things we are not told in this story. We do know that instead of sitting back and wondering “where next?” they headed north but found that door closed to them also.
It’s this leaning on doors style of approach that I want us to think about. We can’t go south, perhaps it’s north. We can’t go north perhaps it’s west. It turns out to be west. There are times when God will guide you through circumstances.
God’s collective guidance
In v10 they conclude that God is pointing them towards Macedonia. It’s not rocket science. To you and I it might seem ridiculous that they even discussed it: A clear vision; A man from Macedonia; Come and help us. Seems pretty clear to me. But they talked it through and together they concluded. If it’s important to do this when things appear so obvious, how much more important is it when things are less than clear?
Conclusion
How God guides us is of far less importance than our willingness to follow and walk with him as we are guided.
Because of the obedience of Paul and his companions, the gospel went west into Europe. Europe, at one time, was the source for missionary activity through the modern era of history. How significant was Paul’s second journey? How significant was God’s guidance on that journey?
What is important is that God’s purpose for the church to reach the world is being worked out. Through the obedience of his followers, Jesus continues to build his church and the gates of hell still fail to close over it.
As one commentator says:
Christian response to the call of God is never a trivial thing. Indeed, as in this instance, great issues and untold blessings may depend on it.
Monday, October 30, 2006
God's Big Plan: The Scattered Church
Although the early church had faced opposition from the religious leaders in Jerusalem, the death of Stephen precipitated a new, more intense wave of persecution. But while persecution may throw the church into confusion it doesn’t throw God into confusion. As the early church scatters Luke tells us the story of the next step in the fulfilment of the command of Jesus to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Interestingly it’s through the scattered church, not the centralised, Apostle led church of Jerusalem that this new phase comes about. There is no sense of Philip being commissioned to go to Samaria, it’s just the place where he arrives as the church scatters.
In was through those who had been scattered by the persecution that followed Stephens’ death that the gospel was preached in Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. It was from Cyprus that a group of believers travelled to Antioch and preached to the Gentiles, and it was the church in Antioch that commissioned Paul and Barnabas to set off on their first world mission trip.
Evangelism was never meant to be centred on the few who had the gift, on the few who had been with Jesus, but was always meant to involve every person.
What you need to know about persecution!
#1 It’s inevitable
Luke 21:12ff "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.
John 15:18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
2Tim.3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
#2 It can’t separate you from God’s love
Rom. 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
#3 It’s a step towards character
Suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character (Rom.5:3)
Responding to persecution
Whatever form it takes, persecution comes to us all. Our response must be integrated into our lifestyle as followers of Jesus. Our response might be to withdraw, to consolidate what we have and to erect barriers to keep us safe from the outside world. But there’s a problem with that. The outside world is the reason we are here. Whether we face persecution or not, the mission goes on. God is building his church, Jesus is actively transforming lives and he invites, he calls, he commands us to be partners with him.
Lessons from the scattered church
Lesson #1: You can bring the gospel to a new community
As we have seen, this mission trip focused on one person, Philip. One person available to God, doing what he could do. Not an apostle, specially commissioned, just an ordinary member of the church. Yes, Philip was one of the group along with Stephen who was chosen in Acts 6, but he was chosen for his faithful life to serve food. He wasn’t set apart as an evangelist or missionary. He just ended up being one because he found himself in a place where the local didn’t know Jesus.
Lesson #2: The gospel crosses old barriers
I wonder if Philip went to Samaria because he knew no self-respecting Jewish authority would follow him there. Perhaps he felt a common bond of rejection with the Samaritans. Whatever the reason, by seeking simply to serve God, he ended up sharing Jesus across an old barrier.
Lesson #3: Evangelism isn’t the preserve of the apostles
And it’s not the preserve of the deacons either!
We’ve already talked about this a little, but the truth is that God looks for the available heart. I’m sure you know the illustration that if an evangelist preached every night and through his or her ministry 1,000 people became Christians each night, in three years a million people would become Christians.
Sounds impressive.
The population of the world is 6,000 times that.
On the other hand, if just one person reaches one other person in one year, and then those two reach two more, and those four reach four more… in a single generation the whole world can be reached.
If we always leave evangelism to those whom we think have the gift, then we’re in danger of abandoning whole generations.
Lesson #4: You can’t keep the kingdom down
The statistics keep telling us that fewer and fewer people go to church today than in previous generations. Our own experience convinces us that people are harder to reach than ever before, that they have more doubts, more questions and less interest in traditional faith values.
But the kingdom still grows.
Lesson #5: The scattered church needs to be a connected church too
Acts 7 presents all sorts of problems and challenges to the church. What actually happened when Philip preached, did the people actually get born-again, actually become fully fledged Christ-followers, or did that have to wait until the apostles came? Are there several phases to conversion, is an experience of the Holy Spirit always a separate experience?
What we must remember is that Acts is a description of what happened not a prescription for what will or should happen all the time.
Perhaps the apostles realised that if the church were to remain connected then they would need to go and be seen to be blessing this new congregation of believers. They needed to make a public statement that Paul would later articulate as there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free.
An old barrier was broken, but old prejudices would take a while to dismantle.
Interestingly it’s through the scattered church, not the centralised, Apostle led church of Jerusalem that this new phase comes about. There is no sense of Philip being commissioned to go to Samaria, it’s just the place where he arrives as the church scatters.
In was through those who had been scattered by the persecution that followed Stephens’ death that the gospel was preached in Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. It was from Cyprus that a group of believers travelled to Antioch and preached to the Gentiles, and it was the church in Antioch that commissioned Paul and Barnabas to set off on their first world mission trip.
Evangelism was never meant to be centred on the few who had the gift, on the few who had been with Jesus, but was always meant to involve every person.
What you need to know about persecution!
#1 It’s inevitable
Luke 21:12ff "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.
John 15:18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
2Tim.3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
#2 It can’t separate you from God’s love
Rom. 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
#3 It’s a step towards character
Suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character (Rom.5:3)
Responding to persecution
Whatever form it takes, persecution comes to us all. Our response must be integrated into our lifestyle as followers of Jesus. Our response might be to withdraw, to consolidate what we have and to erect barriers to keep us safe from the outside world. But there’s a problem with that. The outside world is the reason we are here. Whether we face persecution or not, the mission goes on. God is building his church, Jesus is actively transforming lives and he invites, he calls, he commands us to be partners with him.
Lessons from the scattered church
Lesson #1: You can bring the gospel to a new community
As we have seen, this mission trip focused on one person, Philip. One person available to God, doing what he could do. Not an apostle, specially commissioned, just an ordinary member of the church. Yes, Philip was one of the group along with Stephen who was chosen in Acts 6, but he was chosen for his faithful life to serve food. He wasn’t set apart as an evangelist or missionary. He just ended up being one because he found himself in a place where the local didn’t know Jesus.
Lesson #2: The gospel crosses old barriers
I wonder if Philip went to Samaria because he knew no self-respecting Jewish authority would follow him there. Perhaps he felt a common bond of rejection with the Samaritans. Whatever the reason, by seeking simply to serve God, he ended up sharing Jesus across an old barrier.
Lesson #3: Evangelism isn’t the preserve of the apostles
And it’s not the preserve of the deacons either!
We’ve already talked about this a little, but the truth is that God looks for the available heart. I’m sure you know the illustration that if an evangelist preached every night and through his or her ministry 1,000 people became Christians each night, in three years a million people would become Christians.
Sounds impressive.
The population of the world is 6,000 times that.
On the other hand, if just one person reaches one other person in one year, and then those two reach two more, and those four reach four more… in a single generation the whole world can be reached.
If we always leave evangelism to those whom we think have the gift, then we’re in danger of abandoning whole generations.
Lesson #4: You can’t keep the kingdom down
The statistics keep telling us that fewer and fewer people go to church today than in previous generations. Our own experience convinces us that people are harder to reach than ever before, that they have more doubts, more questions and less interest in traditional faith values.
But the kingdom still grows.
Lesson #5: The scattered church needs to be a connected church too
Acts 7 presents all sorts of problems and challenges to the church. What actually happened when Philip preached, did the people actually get born-again, actually become fully fledged Christ-followers, or did that have to wait until the apostles came? Are there several phases to conversion, is an experience of the Holy Spirit always a separate experience?
What we must remember is that Acts is a description of what happened not a prescription for what will or should happen all the time.
Perhaps the apostles realised that if the church were to remain connected then they would need to go and be seen to be blessing this new congregation of believers. They needed to make a public statement that Paul would later articulate as there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free.
An old barrier was broken, but old prejudices would take a while to dismantle.
Sunday, October 1, 2006
God's Big Plan: Build Great Churches
I’m so grateful that Jesus promised to build his church rather than ask me to do it! I’m also grateful that he’s invited us to be a part of what he builds and to be the agency through which he does the building.
That Jesus builds his church is made clear from Luke’s introduction to Acts and to the story of the early church as it unfolds. So the only conclusion we can come to is that Jesus will and does build his church. But what kind of church does he build? Moreover, what kind of church does he want to build with us and through us?
I believe the answer is quite simple. He wants to build a great church.
I think the early church was a great church. It was not a perfect church. But it was a great church. And I believe that Jesus still builds and still wants to build great churches.
A great church has to do with character and commitment, with the discipleship of its members and the choices it makes in ministry and mission. A great church not only has a great hope in Jesus Christ and the gospel of Jesus, but it has a great influence and a great ministry in and to its community.
I believe that God’s call is to build a great church not a big church. If big comes as a by-product of being great then that’s… great. But I don’t want to be a part of big a church that is not a great church.
The characteristics of a Great Church
#1 Devoted to biblical teaching and standards
You must never violate the principles of God in order to gain the blessing of God. " (Andy Stanley)
In other words there can be no bending of the rules, no stretching of the point, no shortcuts to God’s blessing. We cannot live one message and preach another. And that goes for principles of friendship and family as much as it goes for the moral teaching of the Bible.
In Eph.4 Paul calls us to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. He characterises this in terms of humility, gentleness, patience and love.
Two keys to this lifestyle
Key #1: Consistent Exposure
By this I simply mean reading and seeking to understand the word of God. In Psalm 119, the writer asks this question:
How can a young man keep his way pure?
To which he offers the simple answer: By living according to your word
God’s charge to Joshua was: Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Key #2: Disciplined Choices
I will walk in my house with blameless heart.
I will set before my eyes no vile thing. (Ps.102)
In a visual age, this is one of the most challenging verses of the whole Bible.
Life is full of choices, you make choices everyday, the challenge is to make good choices, to make godly choices.
#2 Devoted to each other
Committed relationships require:
Jesus said love would be the hallmark of being his followers. Paul talks of love as the greatest spiritual gift we can have.
In the New Testament church these committed relationships were expressed through:
There is no social class, no caste system, no “in” crowd and no “out” crowd
A great church has a positive reputation. To be highly regarded did not mean that people were queuing up to join, far from it.
#3 Devoted to God
The early church devoted themselves to prayer and the breaking of bread.
A great church is built by a great God who builds great people. God is not in the business of “fixing up” people, he’s not a repairman. He’s a life changing, heart renewing, freedom granting, grace outpouring God. As he commits himself to us, he calls us to commit ourselves to him…If you will be my people, I will be your God, rings out from the Old Testament. Throughout Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and others, God speaks passionately about his relationship with the people he loves.
#4 Great outcomes
What is this great outcome? Growth. Lives transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have the greatest message that carries the greatest possibilities for the greatness changes in the lives of every single human being on the planet.
In Acts 2 we are told that the Lord added daily those who were being saved.
Think about it. A daily addition to the church. Can you imagine what that might look like for the church in Bedford? For us?
Conclusion
Great churches are characterised by three things. They are:
If God only builds great churches, then we are a great church, but we can become greater. I don’t want to be part of a big church if that means not being part of a great church. I do want to be a part of a great church.
But a great church needs great people. Great in God’s hands, great in God’s eyes.
Do you want to be a part of a great church too?
If God’s big plan is to build great churches then I want us to be a great church, built by the great God, to bring great change.
Friday, September 22, 2006
God's Big Plan: Being available
Reading: Acts 8:26-35
Paul posed a very interesting question in his letter to the church in Rome when he asked: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Rom.10:14)
To this we might add: “How can they believe when they see no evidence? In an age when experience plays a big part in determining what a person believes, we need to understand that that we have a call to reveal Jesus through being his followers and doing what is in line with what he is doing.
For the Ethiopian in his chariot, although he was reading, he still wanted to “see”.
God’s preparation
This is a God-ordained meeting (v26 and v29)
The Ethiopian official was “ready” (he’d been up to Jerusalem to worship).
This meeting didn’t just happen. God was at work in both lives. He brought them together, he opened the heart of the Ethiopian official, and he put Philip alongside him.
Sometimes all we are doing is connecting with the people with whom God is already connecting.
God’s inclusive love
But there’s a problem. He’s a eunuch, and eunuchs would not be allowed into the temple if Deuteronomy 23 were being strictly enforced. It’s possible that he was allowed in on the basis of God’s word of acceptance in Isaiah 56, but it’s also possible that eunuch was simply a way of saying he was a high-ranking official.
Whatever the physical condition of this man, it is clear that he’s on a spiritual journey. He’s been to worship, he’s reading a copy of Isaiah and he’s got questions (v34).
God’s revelation
God shows himself through Philip, as he explains the meaning and significance of the passage from Isaiah.
Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Learning from Philip’s approach
Philip began with where the Ethiopian was in his journey.
What might this mean for the people you know? What happens when you begin in the wrong place? How might it change your approach to sharing your faith with others?
Philip was: available, attentive (to both the leading of the Spirit and the questions of the Ethiopian), and able (to explain)
Paul posed a very interesting question in his letter to the church in Rome when he asked: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Rom.10:14)
To this we might add: “How can they believe when they see no evidence? In an age when experience plays a big part in determining what a person believes, we need to understand that that we have a call to reveal Jesus through being his followers and doing what is in line with what he is doing.
For the Ethiopian in his chariot, although he was reading, he still wanted to “see”.
God’s preparation
This is a God-ordained meeting (v26 and v29)
The Ethiopian official was “ready” (he’d been up to Jerusalem to worship).
This meeting didn’t just happen. God was at work in both lives. He brought them together, he opened the heart of the Ethiopian official, and he put Philip alongside him.
Sometimes all we are doing is connecting with the people with whom God is already connecting.
God’s inclusive love
But there’s a problem. He’s a eunuch, and eunuchs would not be allowed into the temple if Deuteronomy 23 were being strictly enforced. It’s possible that he was allowed in on the basis of God’s word of acceptance in Isaiah 56, but it’s also possible that eunuch was simply a way of saying he was a high-ranking official.
Whatever the physical condition of this man, it is clear that he’s on a spiritual journey. He’s been to worship, he’s reading a copy of Isaiah and he’s got questions (v34).
God’s revelation
God shows himself through Philip, as he explains the meaning and significance of the passage from Isaiah.
Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Learning from Philip’s approach
Philip began with where the Ethiopian was in his journey.
What might this mean for the people you know? What happens when you begin in the wrong place? How might it change your approach to sharing your faith with others?
Philip was: available, attentive (to both the leading of the Spirit and the questions of the Ethiopian), and able (to explain)
Be a part of God's Big Plan
Reading: Acts 2:1-8
Although this reading is usually reserved for Pentecost, we're going to look at it in terms of God's big plan, and the part we can play. But before we do that, let's ask a simple question:
How can you be a part of God’s plan today?
As you think about this, think about the simple, ordinary things that you can do to be part of God's big plan in our community right now. It might mean becoming a good neighbour, or doing something unexpected for someone. It might mean becoming a friend or getting involved in a free car wash. All sorts of things are possible.
Here are some ideas:
Just walk across the room • Seek to serve • Show kindness • Show mercy • Pay attention • Share your story • Listen to someone else’s story • Ask open questions • Be natural • Let God lead you • Giveaway time • Ask God for opportunities • Get involved in something outside of church • Be generous • Be a good neighbour • Pray for someone • Be available • Spend time with the missing • Do what’s doable • Exploit the ordinary
In Acts1:8 Jesus told the disciples that they would be his witnesses all over the world. But how does that connect with God's big plan and the events of the Day of Pentecost?
God’s Big Plan
When you read the story of what happended in Acts 2, you see three things:
1. Includes everyone: Nobody was excluded from the events. Everyone was included.
2. These events brought great change : A small group became a very large group. Structures would have to change, leadership would have to change, almost everything would face the challenge of change.
3. It's the only way forward: There would be no going back to how it used to be. Some of the disciples might have longed for the cosy feeling of the smaller group, but that was never going to come back now that the church had exploded in growth. Things were going to be different and forward was the only way to go.
How do we respond?
Look back at your answer to the question: How can you be a part of God's big plan.
Look back at the list above.
Look back at the The words of Jesus: You shall be my witnesses
Although this reading is usually reserved for Pentecost, we're going to look at it in terms of God's big plan, and the part we can play. But before we do that, let's ask a simple question:
How can you be a part of God’s plan today?
As you think about this, think about the simple, ordinary things that you can do to be part of God's big plan in our community right now. It might mean becoming a good neighbour, or doing something unexpected for someone. It might mean becoming a friend or getting involved in a free car wash. All sorts of things are possible.
Here are some ideas:
Just walk across the room • Seek to serve • Show kindness • Show mercy • Pay attention • Share your story • Listen to someone else’s story • Ask open questions • Be natural • Let God lead you • Giveaway time • Ask God for opportunities • Get involved in something outside of church • Be generous • Be a good neighbour • Pray for someone • Be available • Spend time with the missing • Do what’s doable • Exploit the ordinaryIn Acts1:8 Jesus told the disciples that they would be his witnesses all over the world. But how does that connect with God's big plan and the events of the Day of Pentecost?
God’s Big Plan
When you read the story of what happended in Acts 2, you see three things:
1. Includes everyone: Nobody was excluded from the events. Everyone was included.
2. These events brought great change : A small group became a very large group. Structures would have to change, leadership would have to change, almost everything would face the challenge of change.
3. It's the only way forward: There would be no going back to how it used to be. Some of the disciples might have longed for the cosy feeling of the smaller group, but that was never going to come back now that the church had exploded in growth. Things were going to be different and forward was the only way to go.
How do we respond?
Look back at your answer to the question: How can you be a part of God's big plan.
Look back at the list above.
Look back at the The words of Jesus: You shall be my witnesses
Sunday, September 3, 2006
The Cry of the Examined Heart
CH Spurgeon called Psalm 139: One of the most notable of the sacred hymns.
He said: It sings the omniscience and omnipresence of God.
Whilst most of us have never found ourselves being cross-examined in a courtroom, most us have probably been interviewed at some time or another. Being open to scrutiny isn’t always a pleasant experience. To have the details of our lives examined by someone who knows us is one thing, to allow God, the all-knowing (omniscient), ever-present (omnipresent) God to do this is to allow him to expose our innermost thoughts and feelings. In so doing you’d think we’d become vulnerable, but in fact we become free. Not because we can do nothing about who we are, but because the only solution that can give us any hope is the grace of God. A grace that means in knowing us for who we truly are, God accepts us as we are and offers us the power to live differently.
In the act of knowing, and of being known, David rejoices. He rejoices because he knows what it means to be “in God’s hands”.
The foundation for examination
#1 Searched and known
In detail (when I sit, rise)
In depth (thoughts and ways)
In darkness (What I think will be hidden will be revealed, even the darkness is like daytime to you.)
#2 Created with care
With wonder
In secret
With purpose
The cry of the examined heart
#1 The cry to be known
There is both good and bad news about being known by God.
When the Bible teaches that God is all-knowing it is not saying that he is bright, or that he is sharp. It is not even saying that he is a genius. What the Bible is getting at is that God simply knows it all, he knows everything. No question can confound him, no dilemma can confuse him, no event can surprise him. Nothing is news to God.
As we are known, we can respond in a number of ways.
First we can try to ignore it. Carry on as if what we think God doesn’t see and doesn’t know, isn’t seen or known. Like a child who thinks you can’t see him when he closes his eyes, we close our eyes and try to convince ourselves that God isn’t looking and cannot see.
The second way is to acknowledge, to confess our failure and allow God to forgive us in accordance with his great promise to do so.
#2 The cry for justice
As David expresses his desire to see the wicked slain there is a cry for justice that is common to the examined heart.
It’s not a cry that arises from a self of self-righteous importance, but from a sense of the injustice of sin on the world. A sense of the failure and falleness of humanity.
#3 The cry for God’s leading
Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the light”. He called people to follow, and he offered forgiveness and reconciliation to all who come and be his disciples.
The examined heart is willing to ask God:
What next in my character?
What next in my circumstances?
What next in my service for God?
The examined heart is willing to see itself made for a purpose.
He said: It sings the omniscience and omnipresence of God.
Whilst most of us have never found ourselves being cross-examined in a courtroom, most us have probably been interviewed at some time or another. Being open to scrutiny isn’t always a pleasant experience. To have the details of our lives examined by someone who knows us is one thing, to allow God, the all-knowing (omniscient), ever-present (omnipresent) God to do this is to allow him to expose our innermost thoughts and feelings. In so doing you’d think we’d become vulnerable, but in fact we become free. Not because we can do nothing about who we are, but because the only solution that can give us any hope is the grace of God. A grace that means in knowing us for who we truly are, God accepts us as we are and offers us the power to live differently.
In the act of knowing, and of being known, David rejoices. He rejoices because he knows what it means to be “in God’s hands”.
The foundation for examination
#1 Searched and known
In detail (when I sit, rise)
In depth (thoughts and ways)
In darkness (What I think will be hidden will be revealed, even the darkness is like daytime to you.)
#2 Created with care
With wonder
In secret
With purpose
The cry of the examined heart
#1 The cry to be known
There is both good and bad news about being known by God.
When the Bible teaches that God is all-knowing it is not saying that he is bright, or that he is sharp. It is not even saying that he is a genius. What the Bible is getting at is that God simply knows it all, he knows everything. No question can confound him, no dilemma can confuse him, no event can surprise him. Nothing is news to God.
As we are known, we can respond in a number of ways.
First we can try to ignore it. Carry on as if what we think God doesn’t see and doesn’t know, isn’t seen or known. Like a child who thinks you can’t see him when he closes his eyes, we close our eyes and try to convince ourselves that God isn’t looking and cannot see.
The second way is to acknowledge, to confess our failure and allow God to forgive us in accordance with his great promise to do so.
#2 The cry for justice
As David expresses his desire to see the wicked slain there is a cry for justice that is common to the examined heart.
It’s not a cry that arises from a self of self-righteous importance, but from a sense of the injustice of sin on the world. A sense of the failure and falleness of humanity.
#3 The cry for God’s leading
Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the light”. He called people to follow, and he offered forgiveness and reconciliation to all who come and be his disciples.
The examined heart is willing to ask God:
What next in my character?
What next in my circumstances?
What next in my service for God?
The examined heart is willing to see itself made for a purpose.
Friday, September 1, 2006
Wixams & Shortstown
If you are looking for information about the new developments at The Wixamas, then visit here. This is the main developers site.
There is also information on the Mid-Beds website here.
I can't find much about Shortstown, but you can keep checking the Bellway Homes site for developments in the Northern Home Counties.
There is also information on the Mid-Beds website here.
I can't find much about Shortstown, but you can keep checking the Bellway Homes site for developments in the Northern Home Counties.
Give thanks, with a grateful heart
At the beginning of July we noticed a challenge in our budget. There was a growing gap between our budgeted income and our actual giving. Although we weren't spending as much as we anticipated, our falling income was enough of a concern for us to decide we needed to take action. So we began to pray and set a date for a special offerings, a Gift Day. The response was remarkable.
On the day we raised nearly £10,000, a truly awesome response from everyone. Every single extra gift given that day made an important contribution to the budget of the church, but it said so much more. It said we are ready to rise to a challenge. If we can respondd to this challenge in this way, what challenges will God offer us to rise to next? I believe we are more ready to respond than we may have realsied before. We know that a lot of homes are coming to our area, and this is a great boost to our faith in respect of what God will do in our midst in the coming years.
It's a thrill to see the rising expectations and the extension of prayer that has continued beyond addressing the early financial need. Of course we now face the challenge of investing these extra gifts in the kingdom, and the ongoing challenge of bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse (Mal.3). But it's an exciting time for us, and we can all give thanks with grateful hearts that God has used these events to stir our faith and move us forward in our walk with him.
On the day we raised nearly £10,000, a truly awesome response from everyone. Every single extra gift given that day made an important contribution to the budget of the church, but it said so much more. It said we are ready to rise to a challenge. If we can respondd to this challenge in this way, what challenges will God offer us to rise to next? I believe we are more ready to respond than we may have realsied before. We know that a lot of homes are coming to our area, and this is a great boost to our faith in respect of what God will do in our midst in the coming years.
It's a thrill to see the rising expectations and the extension of prayer that has continued beyond addressing the early financial need. Of course we now face the challenge of investing these extra gifts in the kingdom, and the ongoing challenge of bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse (Mal.3). But it's an exciting time for us, and we can all give thanks with grateful hearts that God has used these events to stir our faith and move us forward in our walk with him.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Normal Service will resume...
Okay, so the summer is coming to a close and things are returning to "normality". I haven't been posting sermon outlines because I haven't been preaching through most of August.
Over the next few weeks we'll post some thoughts about the future and the developments that are coming to our neighbourhood.
Over the next few weeks we'll post some thoughts about the future and the developments that are coming to our neighbourhood.
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
The cry of the committed heart
The Bible uses the word heart more than 900 times, almost never literally; The heart is regarded (as in the modern usage) as the seat of the affections (e.g., Gen 18:5; Ps 62:10) but also as the seat of the intellect (e.g., Gen 6:5) and of the will (e.g., Ps 119:2). Often it signifies the innermost being (e.g., Gen 6:6).
All that we are comes from the heart, it is the centre of our being: character, personality, will and mind are all located in the heart.
How do you define a committed heart?
If it’s just about blind obedience, then all you’re likely to have is a fanatical heart. It never questions, it never thinks, it simply does. God is not looking for fanatical hearts. Perhaps a committed heart is an unswerving heart; a heart that turns neither to the right nor to the left to paraphrase the charge given to Joshua as he began his leadership.
Perhaps we can best define a committed heart as one that gives itself wholeheartedly to God.
Characteristics of a committed heart
#1 A hope filled heart
According to Paul, hope is a gift of the Holy Spirit that, with faith and love, is an essential characteristic of the Christian when prophecies, tongues, and knowledge pass away (1 Cor 13:8, 13).
The biblical concept of hope is not mere expectation and desire, as in Greek literature, but includes confidence (Rom 15:13). Christ in you is the hope of glory (Col 1:27; cf. 1 Tim 1:1). All creation hopes for redemption (Rom 8:19-25 RSV). Christians have a "blessed hope--the glorious appearing of . . . Jesus Christ" (Titus 1:2; 2:13), which motivates purity (1 John 3:3). Hope is linked with faith (Heb 11:1). It depends on Jesus' resurrection (1 Cor 15:19). Hope is little spoken of in the Gospels, while Jesus was on earth, or in Revelation. The hope that animated Paul (Acts 26:6-8) was "the hope of Israel" (28:20).
NT hope has deep roots in the OT, where "hope" translates a variety of Hebrew words, which mean "confidence," "trust," "safety," etc., sometimes so rendered in more modern versions.
In Psalm 25, the basis of hope is the character of God.
Mercy, love, consistent, forgiving, good, upright
Because God is all these things, we have a solid and sure foundation for hope. We hope with faith because our God is faithful, we hope with trust because our God is trustworthy.
#2 A learning heart
Teachable (Ps.86:11); Guided. 10x in Psalm 119 it says “teach me”
How do you cultivate a teachable heart?
#1 Pay attention to God’s instructions
Proverbs 10:17 adds, "He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray."
As we receive and respond to teaching from God, we mature spiritually. To cultivate a teachable heart, then, we must agree with and act upon the truth, the Word of God. When we are teachable, we grow. When we are not teachable, we stagnate.
#2 Trust and obey
1Sam.15:22 "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
#3 Know your limits
We don’t know it all.
Having no awareness of our spiritual need, no realization that we are being confronted with truth that applies to us personally, we are not teachable, but spiritually smug. When we feel we're doing fine just as we are and have no need of change or correction, we resist God's showing us areas He wants to change. Instead we need to be ready to learn from anyone anytime about anything.
There are serious consequences for having an unteachable heart. For the Old Testament kings, the consequences were often visible and dramatic. Saul's kingdom was taken from him. Asa contracted a wretched disease in his feet (2 Chr. 16:12). Amaziah and Uzziah both lost their kingdoms (2 Chr. 25 and 26).
The consequences for unteachableness today are every bit as real. Proverbs 10:8 tells us that those who are wise will receive instruction, " . . . but a chattering fool comes to ruin." Proverbs 15:32 warns, "He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding."
#3 A forgiven heart
Remember not the sins of my youth: A forgiven past
Forgive my iniquity, though it is great: Nothing unforgiven
Take away all my sins: Totally forgiven
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us (Ps.103:12)
#4 A heart of integrity and uprightness
Integrity: whole, unity, sound
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them
Identity + Integrity + heart = Impact
#5 A humble heart
We are not the centre of the universe, but we are the object of God’s affections.
The opposite of humble is surely proud.
PS 101:5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure.
PR 16:5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
A humble heart knows it stands by grace alone and merits nothing of itself. A humble heart knows it needs God’s forgiveness and grace, never presumes to have it by right, but rejoices in the truth of god’s unfailing love.
Conclusion
The cry of the committed heart is simply this: Here I am Lord, send me.
Teachable, humble, whole, forgiven and above all willing.
All to Jesus I surrender, All to him I freely give; I will ever love and trust him, In his presence daily live
All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at his feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Saviour, wholly thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit, truly know that thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to thee; Fill me with thy love and power, Let thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all, I surrender all, All to thee my blessed Saviour, I surrender all
All that we are comes from the heart, it is the centre of our being: character, personality, will and mind are all located in the heart.
How do you define a committed heart?
If it’s just about blind obedience, then all you’re likely to have is a fanatical heart. It never questions, it never thinks, it simply does. God is not looking for fanatical hearts. Perhaps a committed heart is an unswerving heart; a heart that turns neither to the right nor to the left to paraphrase the charge given to Joshua as he began his leadership.
Perhaps we can best define a committed heart as one that gives itself wholeheartedly to God.
Characteristics of a committed heart
#1 A hope filled heart
According to Paul, hope is a gift of the Holy Spirit that, with faith and love, is an essential characteristic of the Christian when prophecies, tongues, and knowledge pass away (1 Cor 13:8, 13).
The biblical concept of hope is not mere expectation and desire, as in Greek literature, but includes confidence (Rom 15:13). Christ in you is the hope of glory (Col 1:27; cf. 1 Tim 1:1). All creation hopes for redemption (Rom 8:19-25 RSV). Christians have a "blessed hope--the glorious appearing of . . . Jesus Christ" (Titus 1:2; 2:13), which motivates purity (1 John 3:3). Hope is linked with faith (Heb 11:1). It depends on Jesus' resurrection (1 Cor 15:19). Hope is little spoken of in the Gospels, while Jesus was on earth, or in Revelation. The hope that animated Paul (Acts 26:6-8) was "the hope of Israel" (28:20).
NT hope has deep roots in the OT, where "hope" translates a variety of Hebrew words, which mean "confidence," "trust," "safety," etc., sometimes so rendered in more modern versions.
In Psalm 25, the basis of hope is the character of God.
Mercy, love, consistent, forgiving, good, upright
Because God is all these things, we have a solid and sure foundation for hope. We hope with faith because our God is faithful, we hope with trust because our God is trustworthy.
#2 A learning heart
Teachable (Ps.86:11); Guided. 10x in Psalm 119 it says “teach me”
How do you cultivate a teachable heart?
#1 Pay attention to God’s instructions
Proverbs 10:17 adds, "He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray."
As we receive and respond to teaching from God, we mature spiritually. To cultivate a teachable heart, then, we must agree with and act upon the truth, the Word of God. When we are teachable, we grow. When we are not teachable, we stagnate.
#2 Trust and obey
1Sam.15:22 "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
#3 Know your limits
We don’t know it all.
Having no awareness of our spiritual need, no realization that we are being confronted with truth that applies to us personally, we are not teachable, but spiritually smug. When we feel we're doing fine just as we are and have no need of change or correction, we resist God's showing us areas He wants to change. Instead we need to be ready to learn from anyone anytime about anything.
There are serious consequences for having an unteachable heart. For the Old Testament kings, the consequences were often visible and dramatic. Saul's kingdom was taken from him. Asa contracted a wretched disease in his feet (2 Chr. 16:12). Amaziah and Uzziah both lost their kingdoms (2 Chr. 25 and 26).
The consequences for unteachableness today are every bit as real. Proverbs 10:8 tells us that those who are wise will receive instruction, " . . . but a chattering fool comes to ruin." Proverbs 15:32 warns, "He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding."
#3 A forgiven heart
Remember not the sins of my youth: A forgiven past
Forgive my iniquity, though it is great: Nothing unforgiven
Take away all my sins: Totally forgiven
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us (Ps.103:12)
#4 A heart of integrity and uprightness
Integrity: whole, unity, sound
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them
Identity + Integrity + heart = Impact
#5 A humble heart
We are not the centre of the universe, but we are the object of God’s affections.
The opposite of humble is surely proud.
PS 101:5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure.
PR 16:5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
A humble heart knows it stands by grace alone and merits nothing of itself. A humble heart knows it needs God’s forgiveness and grace, never presumes to have it by right, but rejoices in the truth of god’s unfailing love.
Conclusion
The cry of the committed heart is simply this: Here I am Lord, send me.
Teachable, humble, whole, forgiven and above all willing.
All to Jesus I surrender, All to him I freely give; I will ever love and trust him, In his presence daily live
All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at his feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Saviour, wholly thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit, truly know that thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to thee; Fill me with thy love and power, Let thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all, I surrender all, All to thee my blessed Saviour, I surrender all
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Surviving normality: 1Thes.4:1-18
Jon Ortberg wrote a book called Everybody’s normal ‘til you get to know them. And I wonder: Is there such a thing as normality? The premise of the book is that what we typically describe as normal is in fact only “usual”. It’s what we usually experience; it’s how we usually live. Normality is defined by the kingdom of God not the small world we inhabit in a daily basis. Somehow, as Christians we have to learn to live in these two worlds: The kingdom of God, which is our normality, and the world as it is, our usual-place. So perhaps what we’re really talking about today is faith through usual times, but normality is just an easier way to describe it.
What exactly is normal about trying to live a life that pleases God in a secular world, in a world that often seems to want little to do with faith, with church, with Jesus? Are there normal prayers, is there such a thing as normal worship, normal discipleship? Is our version of normality just another way of saying we’re waiting around for something new to happen, for Jesus to return and make things right? That’s what appears to have begun to happen in Thessalonica.
Of course, if we stick with our sailing metaphor of plain sailing, then normality offers us the chance to do stuff that storms don’t allow. Check the decks, keep house, and reflect on life. But if the old adage is true, that stress and pressure offer the greatest opportunities to grow, what do we do when the pressure is off?
So I thought about normality and decided that the real challenge was finding God in the ordinariness of daily life. To discover the abundant life that Jesus offers right in the middle of the mundane experiences of cleaning the house, of working the night shift, of commuting to the office or working from home. If we are, according to Jesus, abiding in him and he in us, then he is in our ordinariness as much as he is in the extraordinary that might happen around us. And, if we can’t find him in the ordinary, then our Christian lives will be spent waiting for the extraordinary to happen in order to see him.
Paul challenges the Thessalonians to “Make it your ambition to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, work with your hands… so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders” (4:12)
Thessalonica is in north-east Greece, in the region of Macedonia. Rebuilt by one of Alexander the Great’s generals and named after his wife. Under the Romans it became a regional capital. Paul visited Thessalonica during his second great missionary trip with Silas and Timothy. Enthusiasm for the second coming of Christ together with a Greek mindset that saw manual work as suitable only for slaves had lead to idleness and interference. Hence Paul’s’ challenge to live a quiet life i.e. not interfering in the lives of others, and to work with your own hands i.e. not irresponsible or despising when it comes to work. In other words, having given up work to wait for the return of Jesus, some of the Christians had little else to do with their time than to speculate about future events and meddle in the lives of others. Daily life had nothing to offer in the way of walking with God. Paul turns this around and calls them to a lifestyle of daily living that wins the respect of everyone, especially those outside the community of faith.
How do we find God in the daily routine of life?
#1 Unselfishness
We are to please God (v1) and to love each other (9).
Rick Warren talks about making God smile through living out the five purposes of God:
Planned for God’s pleasure; Formed for God’s family; Created to be like Christ; Shaped for serving God; Made for a mission.
Another simple way of expressing a life that pleases God is to live in a way that honours him. What would Jesus do?
John Stott puts it this way:
… we are to develop a spiritual sensitivity towards God, through his Word and Spirit, until in every dilemma it becomes safe and practical to ask ourselves ‘Would it please him?’
Jesus said: Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, love others as you love yourself.
#2 Service
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal.6:2)
How do we best express love for one another?
Service. By seeing needs and meeting them, by caring for each other, by taking on the burden of care. But it’s not that easy. It’s not easy to know where the line is between interfering and caring, when it’s time to call and when it’s time not to call. It’s not easy working through that awkward feeling you get when you sit staring at the ‘phone wondering whether to make the call or not. Add the other side of the coin, the side where it’s easier to feel unloved and uncared for, and caring just got ten times more difficult.
Yet our love for one another is meant to be shining example to the world around us of our commitment to Jesus.
So, the next time you sit staring at the ‘phone wondering what you might say, you could always do what I do. Write a card instead!
Just try and find a way of letting someone know that they are loved. In itself it might just open the door to an act of service that you can bring.
# Grow
Paul tells the Christians at Thessalonica that they must grow. He says that they are to love God, more and more, and that they are to love one another more and more, too.
Being a Christian is not something static. We are meant to grow, to develop, to move forward. Peter writes about our need to desire spiritual milk as we begin our journey of faith with Jesus, but Paul and the writer to the Hebrews both warn that staying on milk is a sign of immaturity of a lack of growth. We were meant to grow. In this life we will never finally arrive.
Being a Christian is about transformation, about becoming. So we should grow, we should expect to grow, and we should expect those around us to grow.
How are you growing?
What exactly is normal about trying to live a life that pleases God in a secular world, in a world that often seems to want little to do with faith, with church, with Jesus? Are there normal prayers, is there such a thing as normal worship, normal discipleship? Is our version of normality just another way of saying we’re waiting around for something new to happen, for Jesus to return and make things right? That’s what appears to have begun to happen in Thessalonica.
Of course, if we stick with our sailing metaphor of plain sailing, then normality offers us the chance to do stuff that storms don’t allow. Check the decks, keep house, and reflect on life. But if the old adage is true, that stress and pressure offer the greatest opportunities to grow, what do we do when the pressure is off?
So I thought about normality and decided that the real challenge was finding God in the ordinariness of daily life. To discover the abundant life that Jesus offers right in the middle of the mundane experiences of cleaning the house, of working the night shift, of commuting to the office or working from home. If we are, according to Jesus, abiding in him and he in us, then he is in our ordinariness as much as he is in the extraordinary that might happen around us. And, if we can’t find him in the ordinary, then our Christian lives will be spent waiting for the extraordinary to happen in order to see him.
Paul challenges the Thessalonians to “Make it your ambition to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, work with your hands… so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders” (4:12)
Thessalonica is in north-east Greece, in the region of Macedonia. Rebuilt by one of Alexander the Great’s generals and named after his wife. Under the Romans it became a regional capital. Paul visited Thessalonica during his second great missionary trip with Silas and Timothy. Enthusiasm for the second coming of Christ together with a Greek mindset that saw manual work as suitable only for slaves had lead to idleness and interference. Hence Paul’s’ challenge to live a quiet life i.e. not interfering in the lives of others, and to work with your own hands i.e. not irresponsible or despising when it comes to work. In other words, having given up work to wait for the return of Jesus, some of the Christians had little else to do with their time than to speculate about future events and meddle in the lives of others. Daily life had nothing to offer in the way of walking with God. Paul turns this around and calls them to a lifestyle of daily living that wins the respect of everyone, especially those outside the community of faith.
How do we find God in the daily routine of life?
#1 Unselfishness
We are to please God (v1) and to love each other (9).
Rick Warren talks about making God smile through living out the five purposes of God:
Planned for God’s pleasure; Formed for God’s family; Created to be like Christ; Shaped for serving God; Made for a mission.
Another simple way of expressing a life that pleases God is to live in a way that honours him. What would Jesus do?
John Stott puts it this way:
… we are to develop a spiritual sensitivity towards God, through his Word and Spirit, until in every dilemma it becomes safe and practical to ask ourselves ‘Would it please him?’
Jesus said: Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, love others as you love yourself.
#2 Service
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal.6:2)
How do we best express love for one another?
Service. By seeing needs and meeting them, by caring for each other, by taking on the burden of care. But it’s not that easy. It’s not easy to know where the line is between interfering and caring, when it’s time to call and when it’s time not to call. It’s not easy working through that awkward feeling you get when you sit staring at the ‘phone wondering whether to make the call or not. Add the other side of the coin, the side where it’s easier to feel unloved and uncared for, and caring just got ten times more difficult.
Yet our love for one another is meant to be shining example to the world around us of our commitment to Jesus.
So, the next time you sit staring at the ‘phone wondering what you might say, you could always do what I do. Write a card instead!
Just try and find a way of letting someone know that they are loved. In itself it might just open the door to an act of service that you can bring.
# Grow
Paul tells the Christians at Thessalonica that they must grow. He says that they are to love God, more and more, and that they are to love one another more and more, too.
Being a Christian is not something static. We are meant to grow, to develop, to move forward. Peter writes about our need to desire spiritual milk as we begin our journey of faith with Jesus, but Paul and the writer to the Hebrews both warn that staying on milk is a sign of immaturity of a lack of growth. We were meant to grow. In this life we will never finally arrive.
Being a Christian is about transformation, about becoming. So we should grow, we should expect to grow, and we should expect those around us to grow.
How are you growing?
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Two interesting quotes
I'm in the debt of another blogger for these two quotes from GK Chesterton. Thanks Jeff (Notes from the Trail).
"Reform implies form. It implies that we are trying to shape the world in a particular image; to make it something that we see already in our minds. Evolution is a metaphor from mere automatic unrolling. Progress is a metaphor from merely walking along a road - very likely the wrong road. But reform is a metaphor for reasonable and determined men; it means that we see a certain thing out of shape and we mean to put it into shape. And we know what shape."
"The modern young man will never change his environment because he will always change his mind."
I find the first quote challenging when it comes to reshaping the church for the purposes of God in our generation. As we sing I want to serve the purpose of God in my generation, we have to ask the question: What shape of church will do this? I remember hearing Nigel Wright talk about the probability that you could you make any model of church work, because the model is not the important thing.
But more challenging is the need to know what it is you're trying to transform or reform the church to be.
The second quote is a challenge to avoid jumping between new ideas or programmes as the solution to the problem. As we are bombarded by an ever increasing amount of analysis about what needs to change and how, we can find ourselves paralysed about what to do. Should we become more seeker sensitive? Should we become Purpose Driven? Should we set goals or not set goals? (Jack Hayford wrote a chapter in a recent book that was reprinted as an article on the Christianity Today website about "Why I don't set goals") Are we looking for a new orthodoxy or an old tradition?
This is why these times of prayer that we have set aside are so important. Not just for addressing the current needs of the church, important as they are, but keeping our focus on what it is that God has called us to be. Let's pray that God will release more than just the finances to get through, but all the resources (finance, people, homes, hearts) that will reform the church into the active Christ-centred community we long to be.
"Reform implies form. It implies that we are trying to shape the world in a particular image; to make it something that we see already in our minds. Evolution is a metaphor from mere automatic unrolling. Progress is a metaphor from merely walking along a road - very likely the wrong road. But reform is a metaphor for reasonable and determined men; it means that we see a certain thing out of shape and we mean to put it into shape. And we know what shape."
"The modern young man will never change his environment because he will always change his mind."
I find the first quote challenging when it comes to reshaping the church for the purposes of God in our generation. As we sing I want to serve the purpose of God in my generation, we have to ask the question: What shape of church will do this? I remember hearing Nigel Wright talk about the probability that you could you make any model of church work, because the model is not the important thing.
But more challenging is the need to know what it is you're trying to transform or reform the church to be.
The second quote is a challenge to avoid jumping between new ideas or programmes as the solution to the problem. As we are bombarded by an ever increasing amount of analysis about what needs to change and how, we can find ourselves paralysed about what to do. Should we become more seeker sensitive? Should we become Purpose Driven? Should we set goals or not set goals? (Jack Hayford wrote a chapter in a recent book that was reprinted as an article on the Christianity Today website about "Why I don't set goals") Are we looking for a new orthodoxy or an old tradition?
This is why these times of prayer that we have set aside are so important. Not just for addressing the current needs of the church, important as they are, but keeping our focus on what it is that God has called us to be. Let's pray that God will release more than just the finances to get through, but all the resources (finance, people, homes, hearts) that will reform the church into the active Christ-centred community we long to be.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
The call to pray
There are several verses from the Bible that have been of significance for us over the past few years, and I wanted simply to remind ourselves what they are as we commit to this period of prayer together.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Mal.3:10
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
Hos.10:12
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Mic.6:8
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
John 5:19
Over the coming weeks, I believe that God will speak to us as we seek him. The challenge is to follow, to do the simple things he asks us to do.
As we pray, let's ask God what he is doing in our communities and how we can be a part of his work. Let's continue to walk in his ways amongst our friends and neighbours, living out a life lived for God and with God. Let's continue to seek him, not just for a few weeks but until he comes.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Mal.3:10
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
Hos.10:12
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Mic.6:8
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
John 5:19
Over the coming weeks, I believe that God will speak to us as we seek him. The challenge is to follow, to do the simple things he asks us to do.
As we pray, let's ask God what he is doing in our communities and how we can be a part of his work. Let's continue to walk in his ways amongst our friends and neighbours, living out a life lived for God and with God. Let's continue to seek him, not just for a few weeks but until he comes.
Sunday, July 9, 2006
Stories from the boat
Jesus did a lot with boats.
He travelled by boat forwards and backwards across lake Galilee. He slept in a boat on at least one occasion. He calmed a storm from a boat, and walked out to a boat across the water. He escaped the crowds by boat, although not always successfully, and he may even have gone fishing with Peter at least once. And on at least one occasion he told stories and taught the crowds while sitting in a boat. This is one of those stories.
The Parable of the Sower
This isn’t really a parable about the sower, it’s more about the soil. Hard ground, that isn’t really soil at all because it’s so hard. So hard that the seed can’t penetrate the earth and germinate and grow at all. Shallow soil that doesn’t provide enough depth of soil, or retain enough water or have enough nutrients to help a seed grow into a healthy plant. Unprepared soil that is so full of weeds that the new seed, the good seed doesn’t stand a chance as it competes for food and water. And finally good soil. Soil that’s ready for the seed. Soil that’s gives the seed every chance to grow and produce a crop.
The soil of life
How’s the soil of your life? Is it good soil, well prepared for the seed? Perhaps it’s a little neglected in some areas. It’s become a little overgrown. There are reasons. Busyness of life has overtaken you and you just haven’t paid enough attention to the daily job of clearing the weeds.
Perhaps you’ve become so busy that although there aren’t many weeds, you haven’t really dug the ground over recently. You’ve scratched the surface to remove the weeds, but the soil has become shallow and anything that does grow doesn’t seem to last.
It’s possible of course that your life is weed free but that’s because the ground is so hard that not even the weeds can grow there. It’s simply a dry barren place. It’s desperately in need of water and hard, backbreaking work to get the stones out and the soil turned.
Soil, left to it’s own devices will become hard, or shallow or overgrown. It takes effort to keep the weeds at bay and the soil prepared. I know, just have a wander through the orchard and look at what used to be my vegetable garden.
But here’s the good news.
Just below the surface of the old vegetable garden is good soil. I know it’s there, I’ve seen it, I’ve grown things in it. With a little effort the weeds can be cut back, the soil turned over and crops grow. It’s been done before and it will be done again.
Your life is just the same. There’s good soil just below the surface. It’s been neglected, but it’s there and with a little effort it can be made ready again. With God’s help, your life can be a fruitful life for the kingdom of God. It doesn’t have to stay covered in weeds, undug, and unused. But you will have to work at it. There are no easy fixes to nurturing a good garden, no easy fixes to nurturing a fruitful life.
Will you pick up the fork and spade and start to dig? Or are just going to watch the weeds grow?
He travelled by boat forwards and backwards across lake Galilee. He slept in a boat on at least one occasion. He calmed a storm from a boat, and walked out to a boat across the water. He escaped the crowds by boat, although not always successfully, and he may even have gone fishing with Peter at least once. And on at least one occasion he told stories and taught the crowds while sitting in a boat. This is one of those stories.
The Parable of the Sower
This isn’t really a parable about the sower, it’s more about the soil. Hard ground, that isn’t really soil at all because it’s so hard. So hard that the seed can’t penetrate the earth and germinate and grow at all. Shallow soil that doesn’t provide enough depth of soil, or retain enough water or have enough nutrients to help a seed grow into a healthy plant. Unprepared soil that is so full of weeds that the new seed, the good seed doesn’t stand a chance as it competes for food and water. And finally good soil. Soil that’s ready for the seed. Soil that’s gives the seed every chance to grow and produce a crop.
The soil of life
How’s the soil of your life? Is it good soil, well prepared for the seed? Perhaps it’s a little neglected in some areas. It’s become a little overgrown. There are reasons. Busyness of life has overtaken you and you just haven’t paid enough attention to the daily job of clearing the weeds.
Perhaps you’ve become so busy that although there aren’t many weeds, you haven’t really dug the ground over recently. You’ve scratched the surface to remove the weeds, but the soil has become shallow and anything that does grow doesn’t seem to last.
It’s possible of course that your life is weed free but that’s because the ground is so hard that not even the weeds can grow there. It’s simply a dry barren place. It’s desperately in need of water and hard, backbreaking work to get the stones out and the soil turned.
Soil, left to it’s own devices will become hard, or shallow or overgrown. It takes effort to keep the weeds at bay and the soil prepared. I know, just have a wander through the orchard and look at what used to be my vegetable garden.
But here’s the good news.
Just below the surface of the old vegetable garden is good soil. I know it’s there, I’ve seen it, I’ve grown things in it. With a little effort the weeds can be cut back, the soil turned over and crops grow. It’s been done before and it will be done again.
Your life is just the same. There’s good soil just below the surface. It’s been neglected, but it’s there and with a little effort it can be made ready again. With God’s help, your life can be a fruitful life for the kingdom of God. It doesn’t have to stay covered in weeds, undug, and unused. But you will have to work at it. There are no easy fixes to nurturing a good garden, no easy fixes to nurturing a fruitful life.
Will you pick up the fork and spade and start to dig? Or are just going to watch the weeds grow?
Sunday, July 2, 2006
If you want to walk on water...
If you have a really good memory you might remember that we’ve been this way before. March last year to be precise. Just after we’d done the floor and bought the chairs. I said then and I’ll say it again now, “It can’t stop here.”
It can’t stop here because there is much yet to do. Not just the buildings, but the ministry and mission of the church. It can’t stop here, because there are people in our communities that are far from God, and they need our help to find their way into his arms. It can’t stop here, because God isn’t finished yet.
Paul reminds us that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
It’s not finished yet.
Walking on the water
We’re back in the boat again and we’re back in a storm. Maybe not as fierce as the earlier storm, but this time Jesus is not on the boat. This time, he’s on the mountainside praying. According to Mark he sees what is happening and the compassion of Jesus seems to get the better of him and he walks across the lake to pass them by.
It’s Matthew who tells us about Peter and his step of faith. It’s Matthew who tells us about the worship and the exclamation, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Peter’s question
Is it you Lord?
They all thought they’d seen a ghost, so it seems quite reasonable to check it out. You’d expect Peter to ask, “Is it you Lord?” But actually he doesn’t. He doesn’t actually ask a question. What Peter actually says is: “If it’s you, call me to come to you on the water.”
Jesus called his disciples and trained them to carry on the work he began. When Peter says call me out, it’s because he wants to be like Jesus. If the master walks on water, then the disciple must be willing to follow. The point is not the walking on the water, it’s the willingness to follow.
Water-Walking and being like Jesus
If the point is not walking on water but the willingness to follow, what’s the connection with being a disciple?
Clearly the first connection is a willing heart and a willing mind. Peter could have sat in the boat and said, “My heart is willing Lord, I’ll come to you on the water if you really want me to, but I know it’s my heart that’s really important. He could add, “And I know in my head that’s it’s possible too.” But is that enough? Is it okay simply to believe but not act on those beliefs? To be a disciple means to be a follower, which means we have to get up and go.
You can’t follow Jesus from an armchair.
For Peter, getting out of the boat was an act of a true disciple wanting to become more like his master.
Walter-walking and faith
It takes faith to get out of the boat.
But what kind of faith? How much faith? Perhaps the key to Peter’s faith, and to his failing faith, is that Jesus calls him to follow, to become like him, to walk on the water because that’s what he’s supposed to do. Perhaps the issue isn’t Peter’s lack of faith in Jesus but his lack of faith in Jesus transforming him into a whole-hearted follower. You will do greater things than this, Jesus once told them. The point is not walking on water.
Am I more like Jesus now that I was a year ago, two years ago? Am I more able to do what Jesus wants me to do? Am I ready to step out of the boat and follow him wherever that might take me? I am probably more ready for this than I realise.
Options
#1 Stay in the boat
Of course you could stay in the boat. Declare yourself “not ready” to take this step. But Jesus believes in you. If you listen carefully you might hear him whisper, “You’re ready for this.”
If there had been the proverbial English disciple in the boat that night, they would have come up with at least half a dozen reasons for not getting out of the boat, and another half dozen when they saw Peter begin to sink. “See, I told you that would happen, we were never meant to walk on water, it’s impossible”, would have been their contribution. Eleven disciples thought that way too. Peter risked everything, they risked Peter.
Maybe Jesus is calling you to do something that’s never been done before? It’s risky, it will mean getting your feet wet. But will you listen to his voice and step out of the boat?
He believes in you.
O you of little faith may not have anything to do with whether you believe enough in Jesus, it might have more to say about whether you believe in his call to you to do the things he did.
#2 Get out of the boat
Easier said than done. And once you’re out you get a better view of the storm. In the boat you can feel the waves moving the boat around, now it’s directly in contact with your feet. You and thousands of gallons of shifting water. And then there’s the wind and the rain. So hard, you can hardly see a thing. On the boat you’re preoccupied with looking after the boat, stopping it facing the wrong way on the waves, looking out for rocks, pulling on oars and sails. Working with the team. Out on the water all you can see is the storm.
It’s hard on the boat, it’s even harder on the water.
It takes courage to get out of the boat.
Without courage you’ll stay in the boat. Fear will keep you there. Fear of the storm, fear of the unknown, fear of the apparently impossible. Courage doesn’t take away fear, it overcomes it. Courage tells fear that it cannot set the agenda. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s moving ahead in spite of your fear.
Every time I get the opportunity to share something of my faith with others I can feel my tongue trying to twist itself into some version of knot. You’d think it had just decided to join the boy scouts and is desperate to get its knot-tying badge.
I worry about what words I will use, what I will say. How come all the people I ever talk with ask all the awkward questions and none of the easy ones for which I practised answers? I’d rather stay in my boat, but I know that Jesus wants me out there on the water.
So out I get.
What’s your boat?
Whatever you’re particular boat looks like I know one thing about it. It’s safe. Relatively safe anyway.
Caught up in a storm you know about your boat, you know how it handles, you know how to steer it. You don’t know about water-walking. Your boat is the safest place you know in a storm, but Jesus calls you to get out of your boat, even in the storm and walk on the water.
Do you want to walk on water?
Imagine the scene. You’re sitting around a fire having shared a meal with your friends. Some of those friends are the people who spent three whole years in close company with Jesus. “Tell us a story about the Lord”, someone asks, and one of the disciples obliges and begins to describe the night when they got caught in a storm on the lake. They talk about the fierceness of the storm, they talk about the struggle to stay in control of the boat. They describe the waves and their first thoughts when they see a figure coming towards the boat appearing to be walking on the churning water.
They mimic Peter’s voice as he calls out, “Lord, if it’s you call me to come to you.” And they talk about the scene as Peter steps out of the boat and all that happens.
At then end of the story someone asks, “What’s it like to walk on water?” And out of the eleven people who were in the boat that night, only one knows the answer.
I don’t want to stay in the boat.
I want to get out and walk on the water.
I want to know the answer.
I want to know what it feels like to walk on water.
It can’t stop here because there is much yet to do. Not just the buildings, but the ministry and mission of the church. It can’t stop here, because there are people in our communities that are far from God, and they need our help to find their way into his arms. It can’t stop here, because God isn’t finished yet.
Paul reminds us that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
It’s not finished yet.
Walking on the water
We’re back in the boat again and we’re back in a storm. Maybe not as fierce as the earlier storm, but this time Jesus is not on the boat. This time, he’s on the mountainside praying. According to Mark he sees what is happening and the compassion of Jesus seems to get the better of him and he walks across the lake to pass them by.
It’s Matthew who tells us about Peter and his step of faith. It’s Matthew who tells us about the worship and the exclamation, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Peter’s question
Is it you Lord?
They all thought they’d seen a ghost, so it seems quite reasonable to check it out. You’d expect Peter to ask, “Is it you Lord?” But actually he doesn’t. He doesn’t actually ask a question. What Peter actually says is: “If it’s you, call me to come to you on the water.”
Jesus called his disciples and trained them to carry on the work he began. When Peter says call me out, it’s because he wants to be like Jesus. If the master walks on water, then the disciple must be willing to follow. The point is not the walking on the water, it’s the willingness to follow.
Water-Walking and being like Jesus
If the point is not walking on water but the willingness to follow, what’s the connection with being a disciple?
Clearly the first connection is a willing heart and a willing mind. Peter could have sat in the boat and said, “My heart is willing Lord, I’ll come to you on the water if you really want me to, but I know it’s my heart that’s really important. He could add, “And I know in my head that’s it’s possible too.” But is that enough? Is it okay simply to believe but not act on those beliefs? To be a disciple means to be a follower, which means we have to get up and go.
You can’t follow Jesus from an armchair.
For Peter, getting out of the boat was an act of a true disciple wanting to become more like his master.
Walter-walking and faith
It takes faith to get out of the boat.
But what kind of faith? How much faith? Perhaps the key to Peter’s faith, and to his failing faith, is that Jesus calls him to follow, to become like him, to walk on the water because that’s what he’s supposed to do. Perhaps the issue isn’t Peter’s lack of faith in Jesus but his lack of faith in Jesus transforming him into a whole-hearted follower. You will do greater things than this, Jesus once told them. The point is not walking on water.
Am I more like Jesus now that I was a year ago, two years ago? Am I more able to do what Jesus wants me to do? Am I ready to step out of the boat and follow him wherever that might take me? I am probably more ready for this than I realise.
Options
#1 Stay in the boat
Of course you could stay in the boat. Declare yourself “not ready” to take this step. But Jesus believes in you. If you listen carefully you might hear him whisper, “You’re ready for this.”
If there had been the proverbial English disciple in the boat that night, they would have come up with at least half a dozen reasons for not getting out of the boat, and another half dozen when they saw Peter begin to sink. “See, I told you that would happen, we were never meant to walk on water, it’s impossible”, would have been their contribution. Eleven disciples thought that way too. Peter risked everything, they risked Peter.
Maybe Jesus is calling you to do something that’s never been done before? It’s risky, it will mean getting your feet wet. But will you listen to his voice and step out of the boat?
He believes in you.
O you of little faith may not have anything to do with whether you believe enough in Jesus, it might have more to say about whether you believe in his call to you to do the things he did.
#2 Get out of the boat
Easier said than done. And once you’re out you get a better view of the storm. In the boat you can feel the waves moving the boat around, now it’s directly in contact with your feet. You and thousands of gallons of shifting water. And then there’s the wind and the rain. So hard, you can hardly see a thing. On the boat you’re preoccupied with looking after the boat, stopping it facing the wrong way on the waves, looking out for rocks, pulling on oars and sails. Working with the team. Out on the water all you can see is the storm.
It’s hard on the boat, it’s even harder on the water.
It takes courage to get out of the boat.
Without courage you’ll stay in the boat. Fear will keep you there. Fear of the storm, fear of the unknown, fear of the apparently impossible. Courage doesn’t take away fear, it overcomes it. Courage tells fear that it cannot set the agenda. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s moving ahead in spite of your fear.
Every time I get the opportunity to share something of my faith with others I can feel my tongue trying to twist itself into some version of knot. You’d think it had just decided to join the boy scouts and is desperate to get its knot-tying badge.
I worry about what words I will use, what I will say. How come all the people I ever talk with ask all the awkward questions and none of the easy ones for which I practised answers? I’d rather stay in my boat, but I know that Jesus wants me out there on the water.
So out I get.
What’s your boat?
Whatever you’re particular boat looks like I know one thing about it. It’s safe. Relatively safe anyway.
Caught up in a storm you know about your boat, you know how it handles, you know how to steer it. You don’t know about water-walking. Your boat is the safest place you know in a storm, but Jesus calls you to get out of your boat, even in the storm and walk on the water.
Do you want to walk on water?
Imagine the scene. You’re sitting around a fire having shared a meal with your friends. Some of those friends are the people who spent three whole years in close company with Jesus. “Tell us a story about the Lord”, someone asks, and one of the disciples obliges and begins to describe the night when they got caught in a storm on the lake. They talk about the fierceness of the storm, they talk about the struggle to stay in control of the boat. They describe the waves and their first thoughts when they see a figure coming towards the boat appearing to be walking on the churning water.
They mimic Peter’s voice as he calls out, “Lord, if it’s you call me to come to you.” And they talk about the scene as Peter steps out of the boat and all that happens.
At then end of the story someone asks, “What’s it like to walk on water?” And out of the eleven people who were in the boat that night, only one knows the answer.
I don’t want to stay in the boat.
I want to get out and walk on the water.
I want to know the answer.
I want to know what it feels like to walk on water.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Surviving a shipwreck
According to a little research I’ve been doing there are 100,000 shipwrecks on the official list and another 80,000 to 110,000 being checked for duplication before being added.
The problem when we face personal shipwreck is that we can very quickly turn into a statistic. Shipwrecked marriages become divorce statistics. Shipwrecked businesses become bankruptcy and unemployment statistics, Shipwrecked dreams become lost hopes. And so on.
When Paul wrote to Timothy he told him:
Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
1Tim.1:18-19
The Bible offers an alternative to shipwreck, it offers the chance to hold on to God, a chance to survive the shipwreck.
How to survive a shipwreck (Acts 27:27ff)
#1 Don’t go where it’s dangerous to go
The first lesson in surviving a shipwreck is to not get shipwrecked in the first place! It had already been a struggle to get to “Fair Havens” but something drew the ship’s pilot and owner on. Paul warns them of the possible consequences but another voice is stronger. The simple truth is that this shipwreck could have been and should have been avoided.
The simple lesson is don’t go looking for trouble you don’t need. You can’t avoid temptation, but you don’t have to give in to it. You can avoid the devil, but you don’t have to submit to him.
Prv. 19:3 A man’s own folly ruins his life
#2 Beware the calm before the storm
They say it’s very still and calm at the centre of a hurricane. I don’t know, it’s not been part of my experience.
On the other hand I have seen storms coming. I’ve stood overlooking a valley a watched a storm make it’s way up the tree line, I’ve watched the distant lightning and listened to the thunder. I have to say I actually love a good storm, from behind the windows. I’ve also stood and felt the wind drop and then run as the rain has started to pour down.
Sometimes there can be a period of calm before the real storm hits. If you get lulled into thinking everything will be okay you are certain to get caught out by the storm that’s around the corner.
#3 Stay with the ship
Seeing the rocks approach might make you think of jumping overboard. In this instance it was the wrong thing to do. Maybe it isn’t the rule every time, but staying with ship means seeing the shipwreck through rather than taking a chance and jumping off before you hit the rocks.
I guess there are times when we see the shipwreck in our lives coming, and we’re tempted to jump overboard and take our chances in the surf, but there may be a better outcome of we stay with the ship and see the shipwreck through.
#4 Prepare for survival
They did a number of things to prepare for survival. They got rid of all the excess baggage, all the cargo they were carrying. They ditched the lifeboats, they ate, and Paul at least prayed.
Preparing for survival is better than preparing to drown.
#5 Know the basis for our hope
When you face shipwreck, don’t face it not knowing the source of hope, the basis for hope. With God all things are possible. Remember the list of shipwrecks—relationships, jobs, futures. God offers us hope, not only to survive the shipwreck to go on surviving and face the future with hope and faith.
#6 Trust in the grace of God
They all made it safely to the shore. By the grace of God there is always hope for the future. The shipwreck is going to happen, but all need not be lost
#7 Look for a soft landing
You might look, but you may not find it. Aim for the sand bank, do all you can to avoid the rocks, you never know you might just make it, if you’re honest about the situation. If you ignore it then the rocks are all you have to look forward to, and it may be where you end up anyway.
#8 The shipwreck isn’t the end of the story
When they all made it to the shore they built a fire and what happens to Paul? He gets bitten by a snake.
The good news is that it’s possible to survive a shipwreck. The bad news is you’ve got shipwrecked in the first place.
Acknowledging the mistakes, accepting the consequences is all part of the process, but it’s the grace of God alone that can bring you safely to shore.
It’s the ultimate second chance, but it’s your choice.
The problem when we face personal shipwreck is that we can very quickly turn into a statistic. Shipwrecked marriages become divorce statistics. Shipwrecked businesses become bankruptcy and unemployment statistics, Shipwrecked dreams become lost hopes. And so on.
When Paul wrote to Timothy he told him:
Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
1Tim.1:18-19
The Bible offers an alternative to shipwreck, it offers the chance to hold on to God, a chance to survive the shipwreck.
How to survive a shipwreck (Acts 27:27ff)
#1 Don’t go where it’s dangerous to go
The first lesson in surviving a shipwreck is to not get shipwrecked in the first place! It had already been a struggle to get to “Fair Havens” but something drew the ship’s pilot and owner on. Paul warns them of the possible consequences but another voice is stronger. The simple truth is that this shipwreck could have been and should have been avoided.
The simple lesson is don’t go looking for trouble you don’t need. You can’t avoid temptation, but you don’t have to give in to it. You can avoid the devil, but you don’t have to submit to him.
Prv. 19:3 A man’s own folly ruins his life
#2 Beware the calm before the storm
They say it’s very still and calm at the centre of a hurricane. I don’t know, it’s not been part of my experience.
On the other hand I have seen storms coming. I’ve stood overlooking a valley a watched a storm make it’s way up the tree line, I’ve watched the distant lightning and listened to the thunder. I have to say I actually love a good storm, from behind the windows. I’ve also stood and felt the wind drop and then run as the rain has started to pour down.
Sometimes there can be a period of calm before the real storm hits. If you get lulled into thinking everything will be okay you are certain to get caught out by the storm that’s around the corner.
#3 Stay with the ship
Seeing the rocks approach might make you think of jumping overboard. In this instance it was the wrong thing to do. Maybe it isn’t the rule every time, but staying with ship means seeing the shipwreck through rather than taking a chance and jumping off before you hit the rocks.
I guess there are times when we see the shipwreck in our lives coming, and we’re tempted to jump overboard and take our chances in the surf, but there may be a better outcome of we stay with the ship and see the shipwreck through.
#4 Prepare for survival
They did a number of things to prepare for survival. They got rid of all the excess baggage, all the cargo they were carrying. They ditched the lifeboats, they ate, and Paul at least prayed.
Preparing for survival is better than preparing to drown.
#5 Know the basis for our hope
When you face shipwreck, don’t face it not knowing the source of hope, the basis for hope. With God all things are possible. Remember the list of shipwrecks—relationships, jobs, futures. God offers us hope, not only to survive the shipwreck to go on surviving and face the future with hope and faith.
#6 Trust in the grace of God
They all made it safely to the shore. By the grace of God there is always hope for the future. The shipwreck is going to happen, but all need not be lost
#7 Look for a soft landing
You might look, but you may not find it. Aim for the sand bank, do all you can to avoid the rocks, you never know you might just make it, if you’re honest about the situation. If you ignore it then the rocks are all you have to look forward to, and it may be where you end up anyway.
#8 The shipwreck isn’t the end of the story
When they all made it to the shore they built a fire and what happens to Paul? He gets bitten by a snake.
The good news is that it’s possible to survive a shipwreck. The bad news is you’ve got shipwrecked in the first place.
Acknowledging the mistakes, accepting the consequences is all part of the process, but it’s the grace of God alone that can bring you safely to shore.
It’s the ultimate second chance, but it’s your choice.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Party Bag Giveaway
On Saturday June 24th the church is going to be at the Shortstown Funday. While we're there we're going to be giving away a party bag to the children that we meet. We've got 100 to give away, and once word gets out I don't suppose they will last very long.
We'll let you know how it went on Sunday.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The vision thing: Church Away-Day 2006
On Sunday June 11th I talked about the challenge we face to bring the ethos of the church into line with the values, the vision and the goal of the church. The goal was defined simply in terms of bringing as many people as possible into the deepest possible relationship with God. In this context I’m using ethos to describe what we do and who we are. Both of these need to be in line with what we say we value and what we say we want to be.
To help us make this transition, (and I’m not suggesting that we’re not on the way, I’m just recognising that we’re on a journey of change together), we need to understand the context in which we are working these thing out and the focus of what we are trying to do.
Context and focus
We can think about the context and focus questions by asking ourselves: What does it mean to be Cotton End Baptist Church in 2006 and what might it mean to be Cotton End Baptist Church in 3 or 5 years time.
As I think about the future my dream, my vision is for a church that is actively meeting the needs of those within the church and those beyond the church. I dream of a church with a wide diversity of ministries balanced between spiritual and practical (although I’m not trying to suggest that something spiritual is not practical or the other way around).
I dream of a church that is growing in a sustainable way and a church that is always thinking creatively about how it can touch the wider community through kindness and in service, and open the door to a clear and compelling invitation to respond to God’s love shown through Jesus Christ.
I dream of a church that is willing to take Holy Spirit inspired risks in order to make a difference in the communities it serves. A church of radical believers who live wholeheartedly for Jesus Christ and will do whatever it takes to drive back the kingdom of darkness and usher in the reign of Christ.
Let’s get active!
Our mission statement is: To know God and to make God known. This is the focal point of our life together. Everything we do comes down to these two things: Knowing God and making God known.
To know God is all about my personal relationship with him. To make him known is all about how I share his love with others. If I were to put it simply then to make God known is all about loving people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
But the challenge is turning this thinking into doing, or better still turning it into being. So the challenge is Let’s get active!
Active in discipleship
We’ll call this active following, because being a follower of Jesus is not a static thing but an active thing. You can get active in following Jesus by:
· Committing to a regular “quiet time”.
· Committing to regular corporate worship
· Committing to regular personal and corporate prayer
· Committing to a housegroup
I believe that housegroups are at the heart of the effective church. As we grow, housegroups will become more and more important. We have the opportunity to put in the best foundations for small groups by building and establishing groups right now. We have enough people around church to have at least 7 housegroups already. But only if we commit together to be a part of them.
Active in Evangelism
As you know I’ve been stressing Servant Evangelism for some time now. Let me just remind you of the principle and the context for SE.
Firstly the principle is simple: to do acts of kindness in Christ’s name with no strings attached. As such SE becomes a low risk, high grace strategy whereby we seek to touch lives through simple acts of kindness. Steve Sjogren calls this Active Kindness. But it’s important to realise that evangelism doesn’t end with SE. It’s one part of the picture. Alongside active kindness we need to get involved in Active Sharing of the gospel message.
Acts of kindness alone are unlikely to help anyone cross the line of faith, but they open the door of their hearts to the message. To paraphrase the Bible we need to be prepared at all times to give a reason for the hope we have.
Active Connecting
Active connecting is about how we go about building relationships with those not-yet-Christians. Again, one of our groups is going to look at this area, but here are a few thoughts to get us started.
Active Relationships
In keeping with the theme of getting active we can put active connecting into the context of active relationships. In other words, just as we are intentionally active in discipleship and mission, so too we are intentional in relationships. I’m going to suggest 6 key ideas about active relationships:
· Show genuine interest: Be interested without an agenda.
· Build true friendship: People should matter because they are people not projects.
· Not just an evangelistic opportunity: Too often we are in danger of befriending someone in order to share the gospel with them. I want to build friendships where the opportunity arises more naturally.
· Walk across the room: Initiating a friendship can be as simple as making a connection.
· Keep it simple: Don’t overanalyse or overcomplicate friendship. I suspect that people will see through any attempt to rush a friendship.
· Become intentional: Look for opportunities
To help us make this transition, (and I’m not suggesting that we’re not on the way, I’m just recognising that we’re on a journey of change together), we need to understand the context in which we are working these thing out and the focus of what we are trying to do.
Context and focus
We can think about the context and focus questions by asking ourselves: What does it mean to be Cotton End Baptist Church in 2006 and what might it mean to be Cotton End Baptist Church in 3 or 5 years time.
As I think about the future my dream, my vision is for a church that is actively meeting the needs of those within the church and those beyond the church. I dream of a church with a wide diversity of ministries balanced between spiritual and practical (although I’m not trying to suggest that something spiritual is not practical or the other way around).
I dream of a church that is growing in a sustainable way and a church that is always thinking creatively about how it can touch the wider community through kindness and in service, and open the door to a clear and compelling invitation to respond to God’s love shown through Jesus Christ.
I dream of a church that is willing to take Holy Spirit inspired risks in order to make a difference in the communities it serves. A church of radical believers who live wholeheartedly for Jesus Christ and will do whatever it takes to drive back the kingdom of darkness and usher in the reign of Christ.
Let’s get active!
Our mission statement is: To know God and to make God known. This is the focal point of our life together. Everything we do comes down to these two things: Knowing God and making God known.
To know God is all about my personal relationship with him. To make him known is all about how I share his love with others. If I were to put it simply then to make God known is all about loving people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
But the challenge is turning this thinking into doing, or better still turning it into being. So the challenge is Let’s get active!
Active in discipleship
We’ll call this active following, because being a follower of Jesus is not a static thing but an active thing. You can get active in following Jesus by:
· Committing to a regular “quiet time”.
· Committing to regular corporate worship
· Committing to regular personal and corporate prayer
· Committing to a housegroup
I believe that housegroups are at the heart of the effective church. As we grow, housegroups will become more and more important. We have the opportunity to put in the best foundations for small groups by building and establishing groups right now. We have enough people around church to have at least 7 housegroups already. But only if we commit together to be a part of them.
Active in Evangelism
As you know I’ve been stressing Servant Evangelism for some time now. Let me just remind you of the principle and the context for SE.
Firstly the principle is simple: to do acts of kindness in Christ’s name with no strings attached. As such SE becomes a low risk, high grace strategy whereby we seek to touch lives through simple acts of kindness. Steve Sjogren calls this Active Kindness. But it’s important to realise that evangelism doesn’t end with SE. It’s one part of the picture. Alongside active kindness we need to get involved in Active Sharing of the gospel message.
Acts of kindness alone are unlikely to help anyone cross the line of faith, but they open the door of their hearts to the message. To paraphrase the Bible we need to be prepared at all times to give a reason for the hope we have.
Active Connecting
Active connecting is about how we go about building relationships with those not-yet-Christians. Again, one of our groups is going to look at this area, but here are a few thoughts to get us started.
Active Relationships
In keeping with the theme of getting active we can put active connecting into the context of active relationships. In other words, just as we are intentionally active in discipleship and mission, so too we are intentional in relationships. I’m going to suggest 6 key ideas about active relationships:
· Show genuine interest: Be interested without an agenda.
· Build true friendship: People should matter because they are people not projects.
· Not just an evangelistic opportunity: Too often we are in danger of befriending someone in order to share the gospel with them. I want to build friendships where the opportunity arises more naturally.
· Walk across the room: Initiating a friendship can be as simple as making a connection.
· Keep it simple: Don’t overanalyse or overcomplicate friendship. I suspect that people will see through any attempt to rush a friendship.
· Become intentional: Look for opportunities
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Christian Bikers
Cotton End Baptist Church hosts the local branch of the Christian Motorcycle Assoiciation. They meet once a month in the church hall on the second Monday. Please get in touch if you would like to know more.
Free Water anyone?
It’s one of the hottest days so far this summer, so what would you like? That’s what we thought… a nice cold bottle of water. Off to the cash & carry to buy 3 roll along cool boxes (£40 each), 210 bottles of water (£29) and lots of ice from Tesco (99p for 2Kg).
Eleven nervous, inexperienced but willing and adventurous people and a box full of contact cards set off for the riverside in Bedford.
20 to 30 minutes later there are eleven excited people buzzing about having just touched over 200 lives with the love of God through a simple act of kindness.
It never ceases to amaze me how these simple acts have a profound impact on both the giver and recipient. One of our “givers” gave water to two couples, who sat next to each other on a bench and overheard the second couple saying, “God loves us,” as they read the card. The other couple turned around and said, “He loves us too!” “Way to go God”, I thought.
Eleven nervous, inexperienced but willing and adventurous people and a box full of contact cards set off for the riverside in Bedford.
20 to 30 minutes later there are eleven excited people buzzing about having just touched over 200 lives with the love of God through a simple act of kindness.
It never ceases to amaze me how these simple acts have a profound impact on both the giver and recipient. One of our “givers” gave water to two couples, who sat next to each other on a bench and overheard the second couple saying, “God loves us,” as they read the card. The other couple turned around and said, “He loves us too!” “Way to go God”, I thought.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Jesus is in control
Have you seen the film The Perfect Storm? It’s the story of a fishing vessel that gets caught in a most unusual storm. Having tried to battle through the storm to get home with their catch, captain Billy Tyne decides it time to turn around and let the storm blow them back to calmer waters. For a moment there is hope as they see bright sunlight breaking through the clouds on the horizon, but it doesn’t last. The dark clouds soon cover the sun and one of the central characters simply says, “She’s not letting us go.”
There are times in our lives when we feel as if we are caught in the perfect storm, and it won’t let us go.
It may be the storm of a broken or difficult relationship; it may be the storm of an uncertain future. It may be the storm of illness or loss, of unrealised dreams and unfulfilled promises. It may be the storm of financial pressure or mounting debt.
And there may seem like there is no way out, that the clouds are closing in and the storm is getting worse.
Storm Chasers
Some people are born storm chasers.
Having survived being swept away in a flash flood at the age of 12, a year later Warren Faidley began chasing dust storms on a bicycle! He graduated to chasing storms of all kinds full-time. One interviewer said of him: "Like the boy who can't resist opening the cellar door to find out what is making that gnawing sound, Warren Faidley wants to meet the monster."
Whilst Warren chases weather patterns, some people chase the storms of life.
David chased the storm of illicit love as he watched Bathsheba take a bath when he should have been with the troops. Saul chased power and loyalty when he should have been chasing obedience towards God. Jacob chased a blessing when he should have been chasing the patience for god to fulfil his promises in his own time.
Storm Victims
As well as the chasers there are those for whom the storm appears to have chased them. The woman with the haemorrhage, the man born blind, the woman Jesus met by a well in Samaria.
Storm Survivors
Perhaps they are storm breakers not just survivors. People like Job who survived the storm of loss, or the prophets who rode the storm of national disobedience. Peter and Paul who faced their own storms or prejudice and pride.
A storm on Lake Galilee
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the story of the day Jesus told the storm to calm down. The books will tell you that the geography of the area lends itself to sudden storms, and strong winds can rise suddenly on the surface of the lake. As the disciples pull hard against the oars, fighting for control over the boat as the waves roll over the sides, Jesus was asleep, on a cushion, in the stern.
I don’t know if you have ever been in a boat, in a storm, but sleeping is generally the last thing you’re probably going to do. But apparently Jesus does.
A matter of perspective
I don’t think that Jesus being asleep is a demonstration of anything other than perspective. From heaven the storm is not as big as it looks from a small fishing boat attempting to ride the waves. In the context of eternity, your current storm is not as big as think it is. That isn’t to suggest that it’s unimportant or that you should pull yourself together and deal with it. It’s just a matter of perspective. From heaven the view is different.
The view from here is not the view from there.
The Big Question
Perhaps the real issue at stake in the midst of the storm is not surviving, not even the how and why of being in the middle of a storm. The big question is: Does anybody care? Does Jesus care? When we face the storms of life we want to know. Does God care about us? Does he understand what we are facing? The storm is bad enough, but where is God? Or is he simply asleep in the stern of the boat, blissfully unaware of the nature of the struggle and the potential for failure.
The Big answer
I lift up my eyes to the hills--
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
PS 121:1-2
Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
PS 54:4
Jesus is in the boat. He may be asleep, but he’s in the boat. In the midst of the storm, he’s right there. And it’s not just a one off.
When they were out on their own in a storm, Jesus came to them walking on the water. When Paul faced certain shipwreck, Jesus spoke to him and assured him of his presence.
The truth is this: Whatever your storm, if you look for him, you will find Jesus there in the midst of it with you.
How can we know?
Four promises
#1 I am with you
Jesus told his disciples that he would be with them to the very end of the age and that goes for me and you to.
#2 I will never leave you
If it’s not enough to know that he is with us, it's getting close when we hear him say that he will never leave us.
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Heb.13:5
#3 Cannot be taken from me
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
John 10:28-29
#4 No more than you can bear
1Cor.10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Conclusion
Jesus offers peace. In the midst of out-of-control circumstances Jesus says, “You don’t have to be afraid, you don’t have to face this on your own.” If you will only take the heavenly perspective you will see this for the storm that it is, and Jesus is in control of the storm.
If he could speak peace and clam to the storm on the lake, what can’t he speak that same peace to in your life?
There are times in our lives when we feel as if we are caught in the perfect storm, and it won’t let us go.
It may be the storm of a broken or difficult relationship; it may be the storm of an uncertain future. It may be the storm of illness or loss, of unrealised dreams and unfulfilled promises. It may be the storm of financial pressure or mounting debt.
And there may seem like there is no way out, that the clouds are closing in and the storm is getting worse.
Storm Chasers
Some people are born storm chasers.
Having survived being swept away in a flash flood at the age of 12, a year later Warren Faidley began chasing dust storms on a bicycle! He graduated to chasing storms of all kinds full-time. One interviewer said of him: "Like the boy who can't resist opening the cellar door to find out what is making that gnawing sound, Warren Faidley wants to meet the monster."
Whilst Warren chases weather patterns, some people chase the storms of life.
David chased the storm of illicit love as he watched Bathsheba take a bath when he should have been with the troops. Saul chased power and loyalty when he should have been chasing obedience towards God. Jacob chased a blessing when he should have been chasing the patience for god to fulfil his promises in his own time.
Storm Victims
As well as the chasers there are those for whom the storm appears to have chased them. The woman with the haemorrhage, the man born blind, the woman Jesus met by a well in Samaria.
Storm Survivors
Perhaps they are storm breakers not just survivors. People like Job who survived the storm of loss, or the prophets who rode the storm of national disobedience. Peter and Paul who faced their own storms or prejudice and pride.
A storm on Lake Galilee
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the story of the day Jesus told the storm to calm down. The books will tell you that the geography of the area lends itself to sudden storms, and strong winds can rise suddenly on the surface of the lake. As the disciples pull hard against the oars, fighting for control over the boat as the waves roll over the sides, Jesus was asleep, on a cushion, in the stern.
I don’t know if you have ever been in a boat, in a storm, but sleeping is generally the last thing you’re probably going to do. But apparently Jesus does.
A matter of perspective
I don’t think that Jesus being asleep is a demonstration of anything other than perspective. From heaven the storm is not as big as it looks from a small fishing boat attempting to ride the waves. In the context of eternity, your current storm is not as big as think it is. That isn’t to suggest that it’s unimportant or that you should pull yourself together and deal with it. It’s just a matter of perspective. From heaven the view is different.
The view from here is not the view from there.
The Big Question
Perhaps the real issue at stake in the midst of the storm is not surviving, not even the how and why of being in the middle of a storm. The big question is: Does anybody care? Does Jesus care? When we face the storms of life we want to know. Does God care about us? Does he understand what we are facing? The storm is bad enough, but where is God? Or is he simply asleep in the stern of the boat, blissfully unaware of the nature of the struggle and the potential for failure.
The Big answer
I lift up my eyes to the hills--
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
PS 121:1-2
Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
PS 54:4
Jesus is in the boat. He may be asleep, but he’s in the boat. In the midst of the storm, he’s right there. And it’s not just a one off.
When they were out on their own in a storm, Jesus came to them walking on the water. When Paul faced certain shipwreck, Jesus spoke to him and assured him of his presence.
The truth is this: Whatever your storm, if you look for him, you will find Jesus there in the midst of it with you.
How can we know?
Four promises
#1 I am with you
Jesus told his disciples that he would be with them to the very end of the age and that goes for me and you to.
#2 I will never leave you
If it’s not enough to know that he is with us, it's getting close when we hear him say that he will never leave us.
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Heb.13:5
#3 Cannot be taken from me
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
John 10:28-29
#4 No more than you can bear
1Cor.10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Conclusion
Jesus offers peace. In the midst of out-of-control circumstances Jesus says, “You don’t have to be afraid, you don’t have to face this on your own.” If you will only take the heavenly perspective you will see this for the storm that it is, and Jesus is in control of the storm.
If he could speak peace and clam to the storm on the lake, what can’t he speak that same peace to in your life?
Monday, June 12, 2006
The vision now
The Vision Now
Around the weekend of June 10th-11th, the church celebrates two major anniversaries. 230 years ago a decision was made to form a new congregation in Cotton End. 170 years ago the congregation decided to build a new place of worship. Without these visionary people we would not have our current site and our rich heritage of witness in the village. But what about us? Where are we in this unfolding story of the church in Cotton End?
We dream of a church where... This is where we begin--the dream of what church could be, the dream of what church should be.
Two things help define this vision:
#1 Our Core Values: commitment to Christ; authentic lifestyle; commitment to each other; commitment to serve and reach; centrality of prayer and worship
#2 Our Mission Statement: To know God and to make God known
But what picture does this paint? If you turn it around and ask, "What sort of church looks like this?", what kind of answer would you get?
The Four Essentials
These are the non-negotiables of church life. They may be expressed in subtly different ways, but they are at the heart of what it means to be the church for me.
A Biblical Church: In other words a church that is committed to being a church of the book. We want to let the word of God get deep down in to our lives, to affect the way we think and live. We do not want to conform the message to the way we think and live, we want to think and live in conformity to the message.
A Mission-involved Church: A church that is not committed to taking as many people as possible into a relationship with God cannot be a true expression of church.
A Relational Church: Jesus said it would be our love for each other that would speak of our connection with him.
A Praying Church: Prayer does not generally come easy to us but we must make it a priority. Without it we are disconnected from God, we cannot know what he is calling us to do because we are not talking to him and listening to him.
The Challenge
The challenge we face is simple. We need to change the ethos to match the values; change the ethos to match the vision; change the ethos to match the goal. The goal is simply:
To bring as many people as possible into the deepest relationship with God possible
The ethos of the church is how it really is, and this must change to match the dream, the vision.
There is nothing like the local church when it is working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addiction, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.
Around the weekend of June 10th-11th, the church celebrates two major anniversaries. 230 years ago a decision was made to form a new congregation in Cotton End. 170 years ago the congregation decided to build a new place of worship. Without these visionary people we would not have our current site and our rich heritage of witness in the village. But what about us? Where are we in this unfolding story of the church in Cotton End?
We dream of a church where... This is where we begin--the dream of what church could be, the dream of what church should be.
Two things help define this vision:
#1 Our Core Values: commitment to Christ; authentic lifestyle; commitment to each other; commitment to serve and reach; centrality of prayer and worship
#2 Our Mission Statement: To know God and to make God known
But what picture does this paint? If you turn it around and ask, "What sort of church looks like this?", what kind of answer would you get?
The Four Essentials
These are the non-negotiables of church life. They may be expressed in subtly different ways, but they are at the heart of what it means to be the church for me.
A Biblical Church: In other words a church that is committed to being a church of the book. We want to let the word of God get deep down in to our lives, to affect the way we think and live. We do not want to conform the message to the way we think and live, we want to think and live in conformity to the message.
A Mission-involved Church: A church that is not committed to taking as many people as possible into a relationship with God cannot be a true expression of church.
A Relational Church: Jesus said it would be our love for each other that would speak of our connection with him.
A Praying Church: Prayer does not generally come easy to us but we must make it a priority. Without it we are disconnected from God, we cannot know what he is calling us to do because we are not talking to him and listening to him.
The Challenge
The challenge we face is simple. We need to change the ethos to match the values; change the ethos to match the vision; change the ethos to match the goal. The goal is simply:
To bring as many people as possible into the deepest relationship with God possible
The ethos of the church is how it really is, and this must change to match the dream, the vision.
There is nothing like the local church when it is working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addiction, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.
Bill Hybels
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Winning life's battles
It can seem as if life is one battle after another. We face battles over our money, our relationships and our time. We are challenged in areas like our honesty and integrity, self-image, loneliness and fear.
We face battles that are:
Personal (I don’t like the way I look)
Emotional (I’ll do anything to be accepted)
Mental (I need to be the best)
Spiritual (Who am I going to follow)
Is it any wonder that there are times when we feel like giving up and letting the enemy win the fight. The question isn’t: How do I avoid the battles. It’s more like: How do I survive the battle or even how do I win the battle.
The bible is full of stories of people who faced battles. Sometimes they fell, sometimes they overcame. People like Job who overcame loss, or Jonah who overcame fear. David who overcame persecution, Daniel who overcame exile. Peter who overcame failure and Paul who overcame prejudice.
How did they do it? Was it their personalities or strength of character?
Undoubtedly these things had some part to play, but there is more to their stories than simply a matter of personal perseverance.
Winning the Battles
Before we talk about winning strategies for life’s many battles, we must first understand the nature of the battle. In many respects we could summarise the battle we face as a battle for our hearts, our minds, our strength and our souls. In other words, the very things with which we are to love God (heart, soul, strength and mind) are the very areas in which we come under attack.
In Ephesians 6 Paul defines the battle first in terms of what it is not. It is not a battle fought on a human level against a human enemy.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood
It is:
Against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Or as Eugene Petersen puts it:
This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angles. Be prepared. You’re up against more than you can handle on your own.
According to Paul, the best defence against these attacks is the armour that God provides. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the shoes of the gospel and the sword of the Spirit. To this armour Paul adds the importance of prayer. But once you’re in the armour, what’s your strategy going to be?
Winning Strategies
#1 Prepare well
You don’t get far if you don’t prepare well. Sometimes you can wing it, sometimes you can get away with minimal preparation, but in the end it usually tells.
I have the utmost respect for everyone who takes part in a marathon. Whether they compete as a serious athlete or as a chicken. But if you watch the race unfold you’ll notice there are some who don’t look like they’ve prepared particularly well.
If we are going to win the battle, we must prepare well. I think the key to good preparation is simply this: honesty before God. Honesty before God means saying: I can’t do this on my own, I can only do this by the grace of God.
But good preparation also means to know the enemy, to understand the tactics and to prepare your defence. A rusty sword is of little value.
#2 Seek God’s strategy
Paul promises us that we won’t face anything that God has not prepared us to face. God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will, with the temptation, make a way of escape.
When we go it alone we miss God’s strategy.
#3 Follow the plan
It’s easy to get the plan and then forget to follow it. This happened to Saul in the Old Testament. It can happen to you and to me too. Following the plan means that we submit ourselves unconditionally into the hands of God.
To make this step means we have to trust God, we have to believe he can be trusted. Jesus said: You trust in God, trust also in me.
#4 Persevere
Have you ever watched a marathon? At the starting line there are a lot of smiles. The chickens and super heroes all line up and chat away to the crowd and each other. Everyone begins in a happy smiley mood.
Now depending on your fitness levels that feeling may last 10 or 12 feet before reality sets in. Your feet begin to shout stop, your legs begin to shout stop, every muscle in your body begins to shout stop (you’ve probably reached 20 feet by now!)
At some point over the next 26 miles you will, as any runner will tell you, “hit the wall”. What you do at that point will determine whether you finish the race or not.
Perseverance is the key. Will you keep on running, will you keep on walking with God despite the pain and heartache that’s crying out to you to stop.
As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to be persistent in prayer, persistent in doing good, to press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.
Facing the Battle
If the principle call upon our lives is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, strength, soul and mind and to love our neighbours as ourselves, then it seems reasonable to assume that this will be the focus of the major battle that we face.
The battle for our mind is the battle for our thoughts and our thinking; the battle for our strength is the battle for our time, for what we will do with our lives; the battle for our souls is the battle for our faith, the very things that we believe; the battle for our hearts is the battle for our commitment.
These four areas express our every faculty and capacity to do and to be the people the God. As we come under pressure, as we face the battle we can be sure of one thing. God is with us. Jesus Christ came into the world so that we would not have to face this battle alone. You need not be alone. You need not face the enemy of your soul alone.
We face battles that are:
Personal (I don’t like the way I look)
Emotional (I’ll do anything to be accepted)
Mental (I need to be the best)
Spiritual (Who am I going to follow)
Is it any wonder that there are times when we feel like giving up and letting the enemy win the fight. The question isn’t: How do I avoid the battles. It’s more like: How do I survive the battle or even how do I win the battle.
The bible is full of stories of people who faced battles. Sometimes they fell, sometimes they overcame. People like Job who overcame loss, or Jonah who overcame fear. David who overcame persecution, Daniel who overcame exile. Peter who overcame failure and Paul who overcame prejudice.
How did they do it? Was it their personalities or strength of character?
Undoubtedly these things had some part to play, but there is more to their stories than simply a matter of personal perseverance.
Winning the Battles
Before we talk about winning strategies for life’s many battles, we must first understand the nature of the battle. In many respects we could summarise the battle we face as a battle for our hearts, our minds, our strength and our souls. In other words, the very things with which we are to love God (heart, soul, strength and mind) are the very areas in which we come under attack.
In Ephesians 6 Paul defines the battle first in terms of what it is not. It is not a battle fought on a human level against a human enemy.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood
It is:
Against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Or as Eugene Petersen puts it:
This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angles. Be prepared. You’re up against more than you can handle on your own.
According to Paul, the best defence against these attacks is the armour that God provides. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the shoes of the gospel and the sword of the Spirit. To this armour Paul adds the importance of prayer. But once you’re in the armour, what’s your strategy going to be?
Winning Strategies
#1 Prepare well
You don’t get far if you don’t prepare well. Sometimes you can wing it, sometimes you can get away with minimal preparation, but in the end it usually tells.
I have the utmost respect for everyone who takes part in a marathon. Whether they compete as a serious athlete or as a chicken. But if you watch the race unfold you’ll notice there are some who don’t look like they’ve prepared particularly well.
If we are going to win the battle, we must prepare well. I think the key to good preparation is simply this: honesty before God. Honesty before God means saying: I can’t do this on my own, I can only do this by the grace of God.
But good preparation also means to know the enemy, to understand the tactics and to prepare your defence. A rusty sword is of little value.
#2 Seek God’s strategy
Paul promises us that we won’t face anything that God has not prepared us to face. God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will, with the temptation, make a way of escape.
When we go it alone we miss God’s strategy.
#3 Follow the plan
It’s easy to get the plan and then forget to follow it. This happened to Saul in the Old Testament. It can happen to you and to me too. Following the plan means that we submit ourselves unconditionally into the hands of God.
To make this step means we have to trust God, we have to believe he can be trusted. Jesus said: You trust in God, trust also in me.
#4 Persevere
Have you ever watched a marathon? At the starting line there are a lot of smiles. The chickens and super heroes all line up and chat away to the crowd and each other. Everyone begins in a happy smiley mood.
Now depending on your fitness levels that feeling may last 10 or 12 feet before reality sets in. Your feet begin to shout stop, your legs begin to shout stop, every muscle in your body begins to shout stop (you’ve probably reached 20 feet by now!)
At some point over the next 26 miles you will, as any runner will tell you, “hit the wall”. What you do at that point will determine whether you finish the race or not.
Perseverance is the key. Will you keep on running, will you keep on walking with God despite the pain and heartache that’s crying out to you to stop.
As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to be persistent in prayer, persistent in doing good, to press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.
Facing the Battle
If the principle call upon our lives is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, strength, soul and mind and to love our neighbours as ourselves, then it seems reasonable to assume that this will be the focus of the major battle that we face.
The battle for our mind is the battle for our thoughts and our thinking; the battle for our strength is the battle for our time, for what we will do with our lives; the battle for our souls is the battle for our faith, the very things that we believe; the battle for our hearts is the battle for our commitment.
These four areas express our every faculty and capacity to do and to be the people the God. As we come under pressure, as we face the battle we can be sure of one thing. God is with us. Jesus Christ came into the world so that we would not have to face this battle alone. You need not be alone. You need not face the enemy of your soul alone.
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