Marriage is a bit like a game of cards You start off with hearts and diamonds
And end up looking for clubs and spades
If you want to be understood – that will hold you back
Jesus wasn’t understood
It’s part of being a Pioneer
Gerald tries to build church around Jn 17
Love is doing the decent thing
Even to your enemies
If you want to be like Jesus you have to love what he loves
Mk 16 Mt 24
Great command
Great commission
God is in you for you
But he is on you for others
How do we go from church to movement
By moving
By moving in the Spirit
By moving in the word
By moving in our gifting
By moving together
AW Tozer
The prayer of the minor prophet
God is getting you ready for your future
Why does it feel like a battle?
Because it is
God allows us to go through things so onlookers will see how we do that and say ‘I want to be like you.’
God is the Creator
He makes everything good
Then the biggest idea ever – he creates someone like himself
His essence is love
We are wired for love
And wired for the light
Things grow and bear fruit in the light
God creates a man – not good – he’s alone, and so He determines what is good.
Once you start questioning Gods word you start to redefine what is good or evil.
So God creates various ways to get a people safe so a Saviour could come.
To a getting, grabbing world – he gave. Why not wipe us all out?! Look at the world
Look at us!
Then the Saviour comes – goes around doing good
And goes – lays down his life, became sin for us – all our sin
And leaves…
Church
That word has got mixed up for people
But Jesus chose 12 who became 70 who became 500 then 3000plus
Now we are the fastest growing people group in our nation and the world.
They are an ecclesia – a gathering for a purpose
A people with a God purpose is a church
We think building – he thinks living stones
Now, when this gospel has been proclaimed in every nation, then the end will come.
Don’t go looking for temples being rebuilt or red bulls
It’s our job to bring the gospel and his to decide the times.
In the church that becomes a movement;
1) Pray for the leader – because it’s a lead thing.
2) How about caring for the environment
It won’t be long till it’s too late
We can all do our bit as Christians to spearhead caring for the world. Rather than consume – care. Do the decent thing. For your children’s children’s sake.
3) how about engaging in the battle with porn?
If we know we are in a battle, we should fight and be prepared to die.
There is freedom – we don’t have to sin any more, or excuse it.
No public me/ private me
Be a champion!
Talk about porn in church so people don’t have to hide.
Permissiveness precedes possession.
4) Prayer – be soaked in prayer.
Be a happy intercessor (Benny Johnson)
We aren’t going to be here forever. Spend a lot of time praying
Let it come out of your life
Every day start with saying ‘it’s another day- and you’re here’
Let the Spirit pray through you.
He knows what to pray!
5) Be saturated in Grace
Extending grace doesn’t mean I agree with you.
All Paul’s letters start and end with grace.
But in the middle there are instructions on godly living.
You will not commit adultery is not a command for us now – it’s a promise.
6) Be relational
Mt 18 is about how to win the person not the argument.
I have to beware of dismembering the Body of Christ. By my words. Putting people down.
We re-membering when we break bread. Together.
‘I don’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites’ is like saying ‘ I don’t go to the gym it’s full of of overweight people.’