Prayer is not overcoming God’s unwillingness.
Prayer is the engine room of the church.
Ministry is tough – but hang on and you will see God do great things. There are opportunities for spiritual entrepreneurs all around us.

Churchill said ‘planning is important but plans are useless’ You actually have no idea where you are heading.
God is predictably unpredictable.
The Celts called the Holy Spirit the Wild Goose.
We are on a wild goose chase!

If you’re born of the spirit, you want predictability but you can’t chase anything.

His church policy on a reserve policy is to have no reserves Because that keeps you on your knees
You have to risk if you want to please God.
That’s faith – faith makes the adventure.

Oswald Chambers ‘We do not know what a day will bring forth’ Why? Because he is ordering your steps

The simple things are the important things.
Jesus was great at simplifying complexity
‘Whats the most important commandment?’
Simple!

And he lived a simple life.

The early church had a simple creed, ‘Jesus is Lord.’

The little things are the big things.
Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist put the wrong number in his calculations and found that the flapping of a butterfly wing could change the weather of the world. James Gleek ‘tiny differences in input can lead to great differences in output.’

What little things can we change? To effect big change? A little more prayer?

Despise not the days of small beginnings.

Be exceptional in the ordinary things.

Maturity does not equal conformity.
We can be different! We have different cultures and backgrounds.
Too many churches take the easy way out on this. We give everyone the same and wonder why they don’t want it. Don’t equate holiness with conformity.
1 Cor 12

God is not going to ask you why you were not more like anyone – except yourself. God loves you. Be more like you.

The greatest risk you can take is to take no risks.
Col 4:5 – make the most of every opportunity, how? By taking a risk.

The cure for the fear of failure is not success. It’s failure, then getting up again.

The more we grow, the bigger God gets.
Cf Aslan – he’s bigger the more Lucy grows.

Let God surprise and transcend us.