Holy Week (Palm Sunday)

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SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2018

We are in the season of Lent - the six weeks that lead up to Easter - traditionally this is a time of fasting, prayer, repentance - even now the idea of what are you giving up for Lent (chocolate, coffee, tv etc) which reminds us of Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, fasting despite temptation. 

It’s designed as a space where as we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus, we bring our hearts and lives before Jesus to ensure we are following wholeheartedly  - it’s a space for a WOF - to check the core parts of our life and faith are aligned.  To recognise our human tendency to selfishness and rebellion and to have our hearts ready for the reality of Easter - connecting with both the death and sacrifice of Jesus that we might be ready for the receiving of resurrection power.

In this space leading up to Easter we will explore what that means for us as a community, as a group called to follow Jesus together. 

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This week we step into one of the most celebrated on the Christian calendar - known as Holy Week it is both an invitation and a challenge. It’s an invitation to discover what every human has searched for and a challenge to live in the light of that reality. It is both the best news you will ever hear and the biggest adventure you will ever be invited into.

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday - where we remember Jesus entering Jerusalem in the week leading up to the cross.  As we explore this today we unpack the theme of sacrifice and how we understand and connect with the cross and its continued impact today. 

And as we have been exploring as a community together - the call to intentionally choose to sacrificially love one another and to be built together using our shared gifts, resources and life to love one another and by that transform our community.  I believe there are challenges on that for us, for those of us who call CNL our community.

• Will you commit to it by stepping into your gifting and your call?
• Will you commit to it by honest conversations?
• Will you commit to it by forgiving other another, bearing with one another and encouraging one another?

Community - what am I in for, and what's in it for me?

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SUNDAY 18 MARCH 2018

We are in the season of Lent - the six weeks that lead up to Easter - traditionally this is a time of fasting, prayer, repentance - even now the idea of what are you giving up for Lent (chocolate, coffee, tv etc) which reminds us of Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, fasting despite temptation. 

It’s designed as a space where as we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus, we bring our hearts and lives before Jesus to ensure we are following wholeheartedly  - it’s a space for a WOF - to check the core parts of our life and faith are aligned.  To recognise our human tendency to selfishness and rebellion and to have our hearts ready for the reality of Easter - connecting with both the death and sacrifice of Jesus that we might be ready for the receiving of resurrection power.

In this space leading up to Easter we will explore what that means for us as a community, as a group called to follow Jesus together. 

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Today we move into the practices and priorities of who and how we build community together.

In the New Testament there are 94 times the phrase “one another” is used and 47 of them are instructions to the followers of Jesus about how to do life together.  It is well worth taking these one by one and unpacking them in context but for our purpose today here are some of the interesting groupings/weighting’s. Of these 47 references:

• 14 are about Unity
  That's 30% about maintaining and growing in unit. That unity in diversity is where the power is, what we have to work on and where we experience the blessing of God.

• 15 are about Love
  30% are the call to love - that agape, sacrificial moving towards those who aren’t like us and don’t like us. Love is the glue of community.

• 7 are about Humility
  15% are about the underlying attitude/posture of humility - that our ability to build community relies on us taking the same attitude as Christ in our relationships with one another - humbling ourselves...

• and the other 13 apply to different situations
  An overriding them of encouraging, building up, stimulating to good deeds, eating with one another

But the reality is we can’t do all of this with everyone - there are overriding principles that apply to how we operate (we have an attitude of humility, we forgive, we speak well of each other).

However, there is are layers within which this community is built.  And there are appropriate expectations to have.  Sociologists & Jesus recognise this!  It is a basic human need to be known.  And when we experience that need being met it frees us and empowers us to make our best contribution.  Paul talks about this when he speaks of us as ones who are adopted into the family of God, with the immeasurable lavishing of God’s love and grace and freed from the sin and guilt which damages us to live a life of love - where we partner with God to bring the Kingdom here on earth.  That we are loved, liked and called on an incredible adventure.  Part of this is being placed in and building community.

As we unpack this today I’m hoping for us to see and recognise together what healthy and right expectations of community are.  Unmet expectations are one of the most destructive things on the planet - you see this in marriages, businesses, families and churches.  When we expect something and it goes unmet we get disappointed, hurt, bitter and grumpy!

Image Credit: 3D Movements LLC

We get into trouble when we define church/community in only one part.  We also get into trouble when we expect the wrong thing from the wrong bit. We are called to grow. You can’t now and definitely in the future won’t be able to know and be known by everyone - and we shouldn’t expect too.  That would limit what God can do through us. The reality is that as we grow the caring/pastoring and being known happens by the people you do life with - the people you mutually choose to both love and be loved by. 

This is the overriding call of the “one anothers” - to build and grow the dearest place on earth requires us to pursue unity, to love sacrificially, to have an attitude of humility, to pray for, bless, encourage and spur one another on.

Jesus loves and likes you and calls you on an incredible journey, and you can’t do it by yourself.  What is speaking to you today?

Living in Community

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SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2018

We are in the season of Lent - the six weeks that lead up to Easter - traditionally this is a time of fasting, prayer, repentance - even now the idea of what are you giving up for Lent (chocolate, coffee, tv etc) which reminds us of Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, fasting despite temptation. 

It’s designed as a space where as we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus, we bring our hearts and lives before Jesus to ensure we are following wholeheartedly  - it’s a space for a WOF - to check the core parts of our life and faith are aligned.  To recognise our human tendency to selfishness and rebellion and to have our hearts ready for the reality of Easter - connecting with both the death and sacrifice of Jesus that we might be ready for the receiving of resurrection power.

In this space leading up to Easter we will explore what that means for us as a community, as a group called to follow Jesus together. 

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I felt it was a good time to address one of the core cultures - our shared agreement on how we will be with one another that builds good news stories in community.  The core strategies Jesus gives to build and maintain unity and empower mission.  Let’s read and delve into Matthew 18:15-35 together:

Dealing With Sin in the Church
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

The Challenge and Call of Community

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SUNDAY 04 MARCH 2018

We are in the season of Lent - the six weeks that lead up to Easter - traditionally this is a time of fasting, prayer, repentance - even now the idea of what are you giving up for Lent (chocolate, coffee, tv etc) which reminds us of Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, fasting despite temptation. 

It’s designed as a space where as we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus, we bring our hearts and lives before Jesus to ensure we are following wholeheartedly  - it’s a space for a WOF - to check the core parts of our life and faith are aligned.  To recognise our human tendency to selfishness and rebellion and to have our hearts ready for the reality of Easter - connecting with both the death and sacrifice of Jesus that we might be ready for the receiving of resurrection power.

In this space leading up to Easter we will explore what that means for us as a community, as a group called to follow Jesus together. 

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Today we look at the lessons we can learn from the Kuaka about what it means to be part of a community and how together we can achieve amazing feats that seem impossible tasks.
First is collective power of the Kuaka -  the Kuaka don’t succeed out of individual success - they are a group of birds, who know their own gifting and uniqueness, yet also know how to work together to achieve a goal.

What are the overarching principles?

1.     Kawa - Guiding Philosophy - the collective goal, dream, unifying, light, Northstar, vision.  For the Kuaka it’s to migrate -  For us this Kawa around community is:  As Ephesians tells us “Jesus Christ loved the church and gave his life up for her” - that the collective body of people is God’s plan of transformation for the world.  That the cross is not primarily about individual salvation - but about a community of people - the church called to love one another and go on mission together.  That the mission is accomplished in and through the collective body.  That the counter-cultural call to unity in diversity, to our Common-Union in the cross of Jesus, to sacrificial agape love of one another.  To the serving one-another in love even those who we aren’t like, don’t like and won’t like us!!  That our being church together is not based on us being alike but on the call to sacrifice and serve one another in love and by this those who don’t know Jesus yet will see our love and be convinced that Jesus is true!  We talked around that last week - feel free to listen to the message.

2.     Tikanga - supporting practice - collective beliefs & values which inform attitudes and behaviour and support how we operate together.  That we contribute our unique skills and gifts within an agreed upon value structure.  We work in the same way together for a common goal.  Believe the same things and that strengthens us to contribute in an agreed upon way.  Within this collective dream there are is agreed upon Tikanga - supporting practice.  For the Kuaka this informs their flight - they shape up in a V formation - the Leader bears the brunt, but it receives the uplift of the birds on either side.  However, the Kuaka traverses such significant distances, not based on the will, the strength or power of the one - but on the collective strength, will and power of many.  As the one leading tires, another comes to take its place.   In this Flying V the elder Kuaka take the flanks - to protect & guide the young ones.  Each Kuaka is responsible for its own flight - it has to contribute but the journey is possible because of the combined effort.

3.     Kaupapa - collective endeavour - utilisation of this collective philosophy and practice to achieve the goal.  Every endeavour undertaken must contribute towards the Kawa - the guiding philosophy.  In its preparation for the flight each takes a different role based on their strengths - female Kuaka have longer beaks than males - so they can dig deeper in the mudflats and get more food.  The older ones fly on the outside of the V to provide protection, guidance and support the lifting air currents...Each Kuaka sacrifices personal preference for the good of the whole.  As a church we too have a Kaupapa found in Philippians is this:  once again a familiar passage but when read within the context of maturity & mission being accomplished by US takes on a whole new light...Our Kaupapa is:  In our relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ...we are called to collective endeavour with the Kawa - vision of verse 1, the Tikanga - practices of verse 2 - 4 and the Kaupapa of 5 - 11 that collectively in our relationships with one another we choose the mindset of Christ, of the humility of the cross and the sacrifice involved - and as we do that the promise of chapter 1 happens - that God who began a good work in us, brings it to completion - and what is that completion?  2:15 - that as this happens we become a shining star - holding out the word of truth to a lost, dark and broken world.  Our mission is accomplished in shared Kawa, Tikanaga & Kaupapa. 

In the tedx talk Curtis Browne finishes with this incredible observation - he says while these principles are pulled out and seen, the invisible and unifying factor is the:

4.     Wairua-Tapu - these all must work in unison together and the intangible bond that connects them all is Wairua Tapu - the spirituality of our connection - the vital need of the Holy Spirit to bind us together in philosophy, practice and purpose. We can’t do this without the empowering, strengthening and sweetness of the Holy Spirit working in us. 

What can we learn?
I believe the Kuaka gives us a powerful picture of how to achieve a mind-boggling mission - that the overarching philosophy is shared, the way to work together is agreed upon, that leadership is shared, Roles are recognised and honoured and woven together, Individual responsibility is taken for the good of the whole, the entire flock is connected by the Wairua Tapu

What is speaking to you?

Uncomfortable call to Community

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SUNDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2018

We are in the season of Lent - the six weeks that lead up to Easter - traditionally this is a time of fasting, prayer, repentance - even now the idea of what are you giving up for Lent (chocolate, coffee, tv etc) which reminds us of Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, fasting despite temptation. 

It’s designed as a space where as we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus, we bring our hearts and lives before Jesus to ensure we are following wholeheartedly  - it’s a space for a WOF - to check the core parts of our life and faith are aligned.  To recognise our human tendency to selfishness and rebellion and to have our hearts ready for the reality of Easter - connecting with both the death and sacrifice of Jesus that we might be ready for the receiving of resurrection power.

In this space leading up to Easter we will explore what that means for us as a community, as a group called to follow Jesus together. 

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We start this journey by jumping into the story in John - where Jesus is deeply aware that he is about to go to the cross, and he has gathered together his disciples for the Passover supper - the last time they will be together before he dies - and in this context he gives them new meaning to the supper they are eating, and a new command. John 13:1 says “It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

Jesus took this diverse group of people, loud mouths, cowards, detail orientated, bold quick movers, jokers, political activists, quiet ones, unknowns and the final and new command he gave them was this:  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

For Jesus AGAPE is not primarily a feeling that happens to you – it is:
• Action - a choice you make to seek the well being of people other than yourself
• Generous - Seeking the well being of people who can’t repay you in return, especially those in difficult situations
• Unconditional - ultimate test is how well you treat the people you can’t stand... your “enemies” - those who will never return it

Incline your ear

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SUNDAY 28 JANUARY 2018

As we launch into 2018 there is a sense that God is speaking to us that this would be a year where we experience a new level of seeing and operating in the power of the Kingdom.  That together we would grow in knowing how to enter the Kingdom, and how to see the power of the Kingdom flow out of us into our world. 

The Kingdom comes by hearing... so how do we hear?

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SUNDAY 21 JANUARY 2018

As we launch into 2018 there is a sense that God is speaking to us that this would be a year where we experience a new level of seeing and operating in the power of the Kingdom.  That together we would grow in knowing how to enter the Kingdom, and how to see the power of the Kingdom flow out of us into our world.  

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Last week we looked at the parable of the sower in Matthew 19 and learnt an unusual principle about how the power of the Kingdom moves.  The principle is this:   The kingdom of God comes by hearing - therefore take heed how you hear.  And the hearing was from the seed - the Word of God/message of the kingdom.  That’s the principle.  The KOG comes by hearing the word of God, So be careful how you hear. 

I believe this is what God has for us at CNL this year - to grow in seeing and knowing how the Kingdom grows in us and how we operate out of the power of the Kingdom in us. This week we continue to ask the question - how do we hear well?

The Old Testament and Advent

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SUNDAY 03 DECEMBER 2017

The Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

We are in the season of Advent - Advent is the four-Sunday period before Christmas Day.  It marks the start of a new Christian Year and is traditionally used by the Western Church worldwide to reflect on the coming of Christ.  Advent - ‘to reach for’, ‘to long for’, ‘to come’ has to do with waiting and hopeful expectation. 

Waiting through Advent is far from passive.  Our waiting is a discipline.  An active preparation of our hearts and desires to celebrate the coming of God among people on earth.  Through Advent we take the opportunity to slow ourselves down, to take time to remember the incredible story of God coming to earth as a human, and reflect on our own response to that event.

Often at this time of the year we read the accounts of God, taking on flesh and arriving in our neighbourhood in the form of a baby - Jesus.  And I’d love for you to turn with me to Matthew  1:1-17 - the Genealogy, History, Story of the people who came before Jesus. 

We don’t see much information in this passage but the key thing to note here is this:  All of these people, all of these stories, all of these expressions of faith are crucial pieces in the arrival of Jesus - some of these people we have talked about over the last 6 months - some we haven’t, but the reality is that if we dug into any of these names we would find stories of faith, of hope and people we could learn from as we seek to become more like Jesus.  All of their stories find their fulfilment and purpose in Jesus. 

The unifying thread is that all of them lived lives of faith - some haphazardly, some consistently, some we recognise the faithfulness of God, some we recognise the brave steps of obedience - there is very little else that clumps them together - the one thing that does is faith...

This morning we unpack a familiar passage that links in here:  Hebrews 11 - “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the elders obtained a good testimony”

Setting the Culture

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SUNDAY 05 NOVEMBER 2017

The Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

One of my all time favourite Bible stories is found in Daniel 3 - and most of us will be very familiar with the Sunday School story.

My adult question is:  how did these three men stand up - to the point of death - against the prevailing ruler, culture and law?  AND... what is our equivalent today? How do we live in a culture and not be shaped by it, but rather shape it? 

As part of investigating that question - I’d like to show you a video clip that I think captures the one of the prevailing rulers, or culture and norm of our day...

The king was looking to change the culture of the people he had conquered and he did by intentionally going after their:  Language, Literature, Food, Names.  This is genius - modern day sociologists say:

“The observable aspects of culture such as food, clothing, celebrations, religion and language are part of a person’s cultural heritage...the shared values, customs and histories shape the way a person thinks, behaves and views the world.”

By intentionally going after the Literature, Language, Food & Names the king was seeking to completely swallow and rewrite any previous culture. We too live in a world that is seeking to do that to us - the prevailing culture we live in has a ruling power of consumerism, personal preference & pain avoidance. 

The powers of the age seeks to call us to worship, surrender and be owned by it all at the same time,  and spends trillions of dollars doing so!  So what can we learn & how can we resist?

Let's unpack three intentional practices - cuisine, connection and clan - that can be used to create a culture that empowers us to live in such a way that the world around us notices a difference - that sees the God in our midst - and has the opportunity to then change and join in! 

What is the space that most connects with you?

Esther & Mordecai, the story of Identity, Risk & Destiny

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SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER 2017

The Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

The Sunday School version we are mostly presented with is Esther, the Brave Queen.
But when you read the book of Esther you find it’s not quite that simple. Mordecai and Esther are not perfect, blameless examples – they are living in a compromised system and they themselves are not perfect examples but living ones.

One of the curious facts in the book of Esther is that God’s name never appears – there isn’t a hand of God writing on a wall like in Daniel, there’s not a burning bush or a red sea parted like for Moses, there weren’t any obvious markers for Mordecai or Esther. God was at work – but it wasn’t clearly named or identified.

As I reread this book this week I see a story about a couple of people who at first hid their true identity and family background, who got involved in situations that broke Jewish law – who blended in until things got to a place where they couldn’t anymore. And then, even in their acting – it was in the sense of maybe this is the time and maybe this will be the way – I will choose to act even though I may perish.  I don’t think it was as black and white for them.  

Mordecai and Esther are people who lived in a system and time that is like ours.  Where God is not honoured.  Where the ways of the land and the leaders of it are not the ways of the Kingdom.  And where people who love God are not always accepted.  So, what can we learn from their story? 

Wisdom Books: Part Two

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SUNDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2017

Everything is Hevel

Often translated to English to 'meaningless' but that’s not quite the essence – the word in Hebrew HEVEL means Vapour or Smoke and there’s two parts to it:

• Life is beautiful & Mysterious, Smoke looks solid – but it is impossible to grasp and like fog – when you are in the thick of it, it can at times be hard to see. 
• Life is both: Temporary & Fleeting (like a wisp of smoke) as well as: an Enigma (a paradox – looks solid but when you try and hold on to it, it disappears)

Life is HEVEL

The book of Ecclesiastes challenges our false hopes – wealth, health, security, career, and calls us to put our hope in God – and for that hope to shape the way we live…this future hope fuels a life of integrity & honesty before God – despite the fact that we will remain puzzled by most of life’s mysterys.  And in the middle of the mystery we live with trust in God and hope for the future.

That’s the wisdom of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Wisdom Books: Part One

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SUNDAY 27 AUGUST 2017

I love movies - I’ve always loved the power of the story - that you see and understand the world differently through the journey - all stories basically go like this:

Act 1 - character & their current circumstance & a PLOT POINT - something happens to throw the character onto a new trajectory - somewhere they would never of gone under normal circumstances…out of their comfort zone you move into:

Act 2 - Conflict/Danger - where the hero faces loss and danger both internal and external and woven through it seems the hero is about to fail, suffering, pain, sacrifice…DARKNESS

Act 3 - Climax - unexpected twist or making of the character - where they overcomes obstacles - evil is defeated, the hero becomes a better stronger person & all tension is resolved… the world is set right.

Sometimes even as we read the book that describes this journey and informs it we don’t see how parts of it apply to us…And there have been many people who have gone before us in this story and there is wisdom we can learn by zooming out…

Here is a stunning video that talks about the big story we are in and where our part is…

So we are part of this story, and there are many who have gone before us and captured the complexities of living - that have wrestled with right and wrong, with choices and how to make them - there are three books found in the Old Testament that capture the questions that are in common for all humans:

What kind of world are we living in?
What does it look like to live well?
How can we wisely negotiate the realities of our fragile existence…

What kind of world are we living in and what does it look like to live well in this world?  What does the Bible say about living the good life?

One of the struggles we have in unpacking the Old Testament is that we don’t always understand the genre and make up of the books - we jump in or hold tightly to one bit without seeing the whole.  When we ask the question 'how do we live well?', the Old Testament answers that in three books and each one carries a different perspective -

As highlighted here, Wisdom is understood from all three books/perspectives - Our issue is that often we only hold one view and then we try and justify/make life fit our view.  But Biblical wisdom is multi-faceted and holding all three in tension is our challenge - let’s start with part one today...

Be Strong and Courageous

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SUNDAY 20 AUGUST 2017

The Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

Meditation (hagah and siyach) means to roll a word, thought or phrase around in the mind, continually contemplating, pondering and dwelling upon it, viewing it from every angle, weighing it and considering it carefully.  Not just once, but over and over again - until you begin to talk to yourself about it, allowing it to infiltrate, permeate and saturate your thinking.

Scripture meditation, is the digestive system of the soul - it is the process by which we apply, absorb and internalise truth as a working principle into our daily lives.

Just as natural food is taken into our bodies and the digestive system absorbs it, that’s the same with the process of meditating on the Word of God – it’s the process by which spiritual food is absorbed into our spirits and transformed into spiritual faith and energy, making Biblical principles working realities in our daily lives.

The underlying secret to Joshua’s success was his continual process of meditating on the Word of God and the Word of God being the filter that determines action. His ability to be strong and courageous and to step into all that God called him to be, was constantly meditating on the Word of God - allowing it to shape his every thought, attitude and behaviour.  From strategy for setting up economies, households, businesses, families, for temptation, for battle - everything shaped by the Word of God.

Throughout the bible and history we see this it in the change makers, the Word of God was the shaper of their hearts, minds and behaviours.  So what does this look like for you? What is your practice of ingesting, and meditating looking like?  What’s your tangible step to increase this in your daily life?

The Midwives

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SUNDAY 06 AUGUST 2017

The Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

Last week we spent time with Joseph – seeing in the story of his life that God had a dream – through pits, prisons and palaces God was faithful to work in and through Joseph to see the dream realised. We now move out of Genesis and into a significant shift…from the people God made promises too – Abraham, Isaac & Jacob – that they would be a great nation and through them the whole earth would be blessed.

And right at this critical pivot we find two unlikely people who God uses to deliver a nation... I don’t know about you – but I wonder if you jumped to Moses & Aaron? They are usually the next heroes in our usual Sunday school stories. But in this text there are two people who step in first to bridge the gap. We find inbetween the people who the promise of God was made too and the people who would see the promise first realised –  two women.

Two women who feared – held in awe/respect God and therefore obeyed God rather than humans.  And in doing so delivered a nation!This is there story...

Pits, Prisons & Palaces

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SUNDAY 30 JULY 2017

The Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

God has a dream for each one of us - that dream is for us to represent God in our world. Each of us is entrusted with a piece of God’s Kingdom to bring to earth. This representation is multi-faceted and is defined by your wiring, gifting, personality, passions and life stage. This representation is vital - as only you can reach the people in your sphere and only you can create the ideas or products or atmosphere in your specific field.

We see in the life of Joseph some transferable principles for ensuring that we live out the dream God has for us. 

Joseph's dream revolved around him - he was young and arrogant and confident in his sense of how it would play out. God has a dream for each of us - a piece of His kingdom to be extended - in homes or workplaces or further afield. However, there is a way in which it gets extended - God places these dreams in the hearts of people and then he takes them on a journey of learning to trust and follow Him in order for them to be realised.

What we see in the next chapters & 20 years of Joseph’s story is the transferable principles to our world. We see PITS, PRISONS & PALACES.

Legacy

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SUNDAY 09 JULY 2017

The Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

Jesus loves you, likes you and is inviting you into an incredible adventure.

One of the great things about the Bible - particularly the Old Testament, is that it doesn’t sanitise or minimise that those incredible adventures are really mixed. The people within them - who are loved, liked and called on the adventure don’t get it right all the time - they lie, cheat, embezzle, commit adultery, worship idols, murder, circumstances don’t work out, steal, fall into temptation, wuss out when God speaks, get bored, depressed, discouraged, frustrated… and that’s after they have seen miracles, provision, visions, dreams, acted in the power of God.

How we remember that God loves us, likes us and has an adventure for us even in the middle of circumstances that look the opposite is so vitally important. How we position our heart is key. How we recognise and respond is vital in shifting frustration and battle.

Our legacy is formed by the steps we take in those moments - David could defeat Goliath because he learnt how to be overlooked in a field. Deborah could lead a nation cos she learnt that God’s point of view was more important than humans. Joseph could see his adventure to the end because he learnt how to negotiate the pit and the prison.

Frustration & Battle are places where our heart and character is revealed and opportunities to form within us the character that will carry the adventure.

Appetite, Approval, Ambition

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Sunday 18 June 2017

We are starting into a new series in the Old Testament - the Old Testament is full of people - real people; whose lives are messy, their families dysfunctional and their obedience not always full or immediate, yet God used them.  Our study of their lives is to bring perspective, hope and instruction to ours - to recognise that at times we are tempted to sanitise or selectively interact with their stories and in that way make them heroes.  The reality is that their stories are powerful because they are human like us and face the same temptations and frailty that we do - yet God used them.

Today we start with Adam and Eve. They were the models of God's created intent, and in their wrestle with temptation and through the fall they also lay out for us the way in which every human is tempted, potentially deceived & goes astray.  The implications of human disconnect from relationship and the wrestle for power and control affects us all today - That is what we will unpack today.  We see in Genesis 3 there are three types of temptation and depending on our wiring one of them will be the one that gets us!

Live Unoffended

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Sunday 04 June 2017

Today is the day on the church calendar where we celebrate and remember the first Pentecost - the event we are named after! The birthday of the church where the Holy Spirit was poured out in power to equip the disciples of Jesus for the mission they were called to. Power and boldness for mission. A deeply transformational experience that changed those disciples for ever. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, now poured out.
But that's not just a historical event. It's an ever present promise for us today too. We are called into mission and the equipping power and boldness is poured out by the Holy Spirit on us too.

Be Bold and Courageous

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Sunday 21 May 2017

Over 25 times the Bible commands us to be bold and courageous, the reassuring news is that each of us have been born with this capacity for courage.  The challenge is that we are called to grow it - and that growing in courage is the virtue that determines our life's legacy.

"Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.  Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, death or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement, or personal loss."

Spiritual Parents

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Sunday 14 May 2017

One of our privileges as followers of Jesus is to ENCOURAGE - install courage into others - we won't always know what is going on for other people and where they might need a top of encouragement from us to face their world.

There are three components of Spiritual Parenthood:

1.      Spiritual Depth - recognising that our ability to influence and minister to others is the quality of our personal relationship with God.  Jesus recognised this as he rose early to pray, as he cultivated connection and as he taught his followers to do the same.  Our ability to influence and grow others is dependent on our connection with God.  And this is a continually growing and deeper walk - as a Spiritual parent, you need spiritual resources, and Jesus shows us the only place to get them is from God.  You parent out of your own relationship - you share with others out of the overflow of what God is doing in your life.

2.     Submission - the ability to parent others comes from our core commitment to submitting to the will of God - in the natural parents set aside their personal agenda for the greater good of their family.  That's what we are called to do for those we spiritually parent too - to set aside our own personal desires and ambitions for the purposes of blessing the people or group we are called to lead.  Spiritual parents submit to God's authority - that God has dibs and say on what we do with our time, energy, money - like Jesus in the garden, when faced with the cross he says - if there is any other way... lets do that, but above all Your will not mine.  We are called to follow God and model that submission to God's leading, directing and priorities.

3. Sacrifice - leadership and influence doesn't mean you get to boss people around - it means you get to serve and sacrifice for others!  Spiritual parents lay down their lives for those they lead - they give blood, sweat and tears in the middle of relationship not just advice and technique from afar.