GREAT start to our time this weekend, Graham spoke BRILLIANTLY about thinking BRILLIANT. Tomorrow at the Armitage Centre we’ll hear more. Excited to partner with our friends from Christ Church Harpurhey and Vinelife,

It’s not too late to book in – here.

Here’s my notes from tonight…

Around 25 years ago had 3 dreams:

1) a grey man in an old car was showing him round the grey city pointing out all the sin and problems in people, with a grey attitude. Depressing!

Dream 2 – grey man in slightly better grey car saying, ‘We are doing courses to help them’ – that was even more depressing.

Dream 3 – Bright young guy in a bright car, shouting encouragement that told them who they really were and it CHANGED the people! ‘This is how I see you – you’re going to be doing this!’ The city changed!

The church has an old vehicle being driven by an old man. The old man is the old man that was put on Jesus. We don’t need to do that.

God isn’t focused on the old man. He’s not focused on sin. Rom 6 – consider yourself DEAD to sin. His focus now is on RIGHTEOUSNESS, and now he’s only dealing with the new nature.

The OLD self is DEAD.
Speak and live out of the new nature. The old nature is buried! God’s not asking you to go grave robbing.

Jesus appeared to him in a dream saying, ‘Give me back my stuff!’
All that belongs to me- your fear, insecurity, sin – you’re stealing my stuff.

It’s not who you are. I can’t give you this, if you’re holding onto that.
God’s not asking us to work on it but to lay aside the old stuff. Put on the new man! Don’t babysit a corpse.

You don’t have to work that through – you have to lay it aside.

The problem in lots of churches is that everyone’s working on their stuff instead of rising up to be who they are.

2 Cor 5:17. If it’s true that Jesus didn’t just die for us but AS us, so you’re crucified with Christ. Then when you sin, you’re defaulting not to an old nature but a type of behaviour that hasn’t been replaced with something from the new nature?

Consider yourself DEAD to that.
The antidote to THAT is THIS being developed.

Transformation comes with the RENEWING of the mind. Working on my new self. My real self, in community with others who are doing the same.
It’s about learning how to be a REDEEMED community in a RECONCILED society. Because he is NOT holding their sins against them. He already put it on Jesus! So now the way is open for everyone to come for a taste of what they are really like. Enjoying our new nature! We don’t have any hang ups. We’re too busy being favoured, so nobody’s safe from a blessing, because we’re bringing you the Kingdom.

The Kingdom is a new man in a new vehicle.

When you deal with the old nature you have to do that for a long long time.
When God deals with the new nature he can give you a brilliant thought and if you think like Him and think about ourselves the way he thinks about us, that change can take place straight away.

When God looks at you, he sees nothing wrong with you – just what’s missing from your present experience of you and invites you to experience a miracle in that place.

When God comes, he always comes with a gift.
He says ‘That belongs to me…
and THIS belongs to you…’
New for old.

It’s easy to be prophetic when you know its new for old. He’s always going to take that old struggle and give you his new thing.

We all now people who say they’re speaking the truth in love but aren’t. Because they are just saying what’s True.
What’s true will put you in chains. The truth sets you free.
The truth calls people UP, not OUT.
It says,‘You don’t need to be like that – because this is who you are…’

‘You have an image problem? I don’t – because I see the image of God in you.’

You have a choice now, I can carry on that way or see who I am now. My true self.

We need to practise this in our communities in church and take it out so people discover who they are and what God wants to be for them. The fruit of the Spirit is more powerful than the gifts. Because it’s BEING not just DOING. The best sign and wonder is not a miraculous healing but people seeing you enjoying being loved by him. John 17. Develop loving communities that discover who they are in Christ and behave accordingly. Tell people, ‘This is who you are. You’re brilliant! Stay brilliant!’

We need a radiant idea of God and ourselves. I celebrate who he is.
I like myself then.

And then I see people differently, pray for them differently. And it’s the goodness and kindness of God that brings you to repentance.

Repentance = ‘What you’ve thought brings you to a place you don’t like? Think again.’

Our message?
Now you’re reconciled to God, he sees you different than you think. Start to think like Him.

Transformation is in the air, and it starts with ME.

Apostolic communities always think ‘ME FIRST.’ Let it be in me first. Our role is to be the beloved and let people see how much we’re loved. Everyone’s vulnerable to that!

Every one of us is known in heaven already.

cf. John the Baptist – not even known yet, but an angel comes along and prophesies who he’s going to be and how he’s known in heaven. God is going to release that identity, no just through prophecy but through scripture.

God told him to JUST read and study Ps 91., and keep on doing that. He did it for months. ‘For where I want to take you, I need you to live in Ps 91. This is your inheritance word.’ It’s all about warfare.

God does scripture different than us. He didn’t write it in a year, he doesn’t expect us to read it in a year. He wants us to find our inheritance in it.

Like Jesus did, when he read the ‘wrong’ scripture for the day, Isaiah 61. He says, ‘This is who I am and this is what I’m about.’ You know when you get a word like that. Every promise there is for you. Everything they had, you can have. How many of us have had experiences of scripture where it’s come over us and we’ve gone ‘Oh wow that’s me!’ Lay that alongside that scripture. You have permission to have that promise. You have permission to be that person.

Write it out and read it out to the Lord, saying ‘I accept this upgrade in my identity.’ Because his resources are not tied to your behaviour but your inheritance. It’s not just about getting your needs met. That’s the baby end.

It’s to do with the inheritance. How God sees us. Your identity has glory, power, authority attached to it because he doesn’t do things by half. He sees us so differently. We get to declare, ‘This is who I am! I agree with God!’

Q. So how do we transition away from a Pastor/teacher foundation of church?

That foundation is not able to bear the weight of what God wants to build.
The apostle/prophet is the foundation.
There is no equality there. We’re equal in the sense of being loved, but not power.
teaching ministries go best with a prophet as best friend. You need partnership at all levels.
The apostolic and prophetic need to partner with pastoral ministry. Otherwise you have a ‘present/past’ pastoral ministry, that never moves on to future/ transformation.

Jesus has planned a transformational moment for us that can do 5 years work in 5 minutes! That’s why you need the prophetic and pastoral in there too.

Evangelists need to work with apostles and prophets. Because apostles and prophets are always trying to walk around the old stuff that’s in place, and because some apostles aren’t really they’re just freaky – and you have to pay to be their friend? Really!? Apostles produce sons, not associates.

I believe more in apostolic cities than apostolic networks.