Keeping the Vision Alive

Keeping the Vision Alive

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If we are going to keep the vision alive of God's heart for the world and our role in bringing salvation to people, we will need 6 things:
   hearing ears
   seeing eyes
   a speaking tongue
   a generous heart
   bended knees
   going feet

Wanted: World Christians!

Wanted: World Christians!

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Allan Webb gives a powerful call from God's Word for us to be 'World Christians'.  What is a World Christian?
It's someone who commits to:
    see the world as God sees it
    seek for the world what God seeks for it
    support in prayer those who are seeking to reach the world with the gospel
    supply the needs of those who are seeking to reach the world with the gospel
    share all that I am and have so that the world might be reached.

Given First to God

 
Given First to God

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In 2 Corinthians 8 we here the Apostle Paul holding up a group of Christians as a fantastic example for others to follow.  As we look at how the Macedonian Christians are described in verses 1 to 5 we discover that they have done what every Christian must do in response to God when He reveals truth to us.  We reflect that the process of life transformation through revealed truth begins in the mind (understanding), which impacts the heart (emotion) leading to a decision of the will which must be followed through (behaviour).  That's exactly what happened for the Macedonians in how they responded to the material needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ who were in Judea.  They weren't guided or controlled by their circumstances but were so deeply impacted by what they had received in Christ that they passionately longed to give themselves wholly to Him and to doing His will.

As we begin to think about our commitment to resource the work of Global Mission, that's a great starting point for us!  May our giving exhibit the same spirit of generosity that the Macedonians saw in Jesus and reflected in their own lives.

Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are?
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To make any sense of the book of Ephesians – in fact the entire Bible – it’s important to clearly understand your identity.  As Paul opens the letter, he clearly addresses the “saints”, and offers them grace & peace.  What’s the difference between a saint & a sinner?  And what does it mean to be “In Christ”?

The Heart Behind Our Calling

The Heart Behind Our Calling

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In Romans 1 Paul gives us a great example of what a partner in ministry does.  He loves to pray for the Christians at Rome and he longs to visit them so that they can be blessed by each other.  In this message we seek to understand how we can do something similar for each other.  We want to pray for each other and help each other in being effective ministers of the gospel.  We all want to fulfill the Great Commission.  We want to represent Christ well and help others come to follow Him and be sure that they have eternal live in Him.

Let's be honest though, we easily get distracted and discouraged and the task of making disciples tends to get left to someone else.  How can we develop the kind of passion that Paul had not only for his own ministry but in helping other Christians fulfill theirs?
There's 2 key things we discover about Paul that can be a great help for us.  Firstly, he was supremely confident that the gospel works.  Regardless of how many people respond, the gospel does have the power to change lives and Paul had seen that power at work over and over again.  He was prepared to take the knock-backs, the mockery, the rejection and even violent hostility for the sake of those who would respond in faith, because hearing and believing the gospel is the only way for them to be saved.

The second thing we discover about Paul is the depth of his anguish.  We don't like to think that our lives as Christians could be filled with anguish, but that was Paul's experience.  In chapter 9 he gives us a glimpse into his heart as he shares his constant sorrow that many of his own people - the Jews - had rejected the Messiah and so rejected salvation.  Paul knew how terrible God's judgement on sin will be.  He was familiar with Jesus' warnings of everlasting torment.  Paul's was not a fleeting concern that only appeared occasionally.  It was an ever-present anguish about the fate of his beloved nation that was so deep that he would even trade his salvation for theirs if that were possible.  Such love cannot be generated in the human heart, it is a reflection of God's own character.  It is what sent Jesus to do what Paul could not as He took the punishment for all who will believe.  Paul's task, like ours, is to keep the offer of salvation in front of people to give them the chance to accept it.  Not to give up after one attempt.  Not to hope someone else does it, but to love people enough that the thought of them spending eternity in hell fills our heart with anguish and drives us to present the gospel with passion and perseverance.

That's what we're going to pray for each other to do.  That's what we're going to help each other to do.  That's the mission of our church.

From Idolatry to Worship

From Idolatry to Worship 

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When a person receives the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus they go from being an idolater to a worshiper. Instead of living for the stuff of this world - whatever that may be - they now live for God. They go from being citizens of this world to being citizens of Heaven. Instead of satisfying 'the flesh' they begin to keep in step with the Spirit. The Bible uses lots of different language to describe that one basic idea.

In Acts 19 we read about what that looked like for new believers in Ephesus, which sets a fantastic example for us to follow. Is the gospel radiating widely from us as it did in Acts 19? The message Paul brought was taken from Ephesus and spread through the whole region as people took it with them. Does the gospel leave our church buildings and spread to our workplaces, homes, sports clubs, cafe's etc as we take it with us? Secondly, do we purify our lives from the contamination of evil as the Ephesian Christians did? Do we take inventory of the things we have taken into our homes and into our minds that may be giving the devil a foothold of influence? Like the Ephesians, we may need to be prepared to pay the price of getting rid of that stuff, no matter how much it appeals to our 'flesh' or helps us to fit with 'the world'. Finally, we see Paul making strategic plans for how he can advance the spread of the gospel. We briefly share some of the ways that our church is being called by God to spread the gospel by equipping the saints to do the work of ministry.

The Bible Guide to Investment

The Bible Guide to Investment

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There's a great story that Jesus told about a rich guy who thought he had made it, but discovered that by only preparing for this life he'd made the worst investment decision possible. He was not a success, he was a fool! The story is brilliant in how it exposes how foolish many of our own investment decisions are and gives us the necessary correction. It was also perfectly timed. Just when Jesus was challenging His followers to not allow their fears to prevent them from choosing to give up everything in order to follow Him, along comes a guy whose only concern was for the money he felt he was due. Money is something we often turn to for security instead of trusting in God. It's also something we turn to to provide for the things we want, rather than submitting our desires to God. We chase the things we think money will buy not realizing that they will never truly satisfy and they won't even last that long. However when we teach ourselves to value eternity and make the decision to invest ourselves most in the things in what will last longest, our hearts begin to be less controlled by fear and less enticed by earthly desires. We discover freedom and joy in the present and confidence in the future. Loving others becomes easier because we don't need to look out for ourselves any more.