What if you don’t make particular people your target group for your church- but make the Trinity your target group, then God will come, and bring His friends.
1) Give it a title with a number like in it, like 5. 2) Entice people to think they’ll be amazing/ productive/ attractive/ better/ slimmer/ wealthier/ better just because they read it 3) The Bomb! 4) Put a picture on it – small animals, people with coffee, anything really 5) Leave them wanting more, but probably not from you because what you just did was annoying. Oh and one more thing… Invite them to share it with all their friends, because you won’t have any now.
In Luke 5 Jesus is in a house teaching, the crowd checking him out was so large inside and out that some friends bringing a paralysed man couldn’t get into the house. No disabled access! No way in, nobody moving to make a way through. It says there was NO WAY TO DO IT. So what did they do? ‘Sorry pal, we’ll have to take you home again?’ No! There was no way so they made a way. They got creative. Dangerous even. They climbed up on the roof and kicked the roof in so they could lower their friend down on a bed in front of Jesus! This appeals to me from ex police days, where one of my favourite jobs was to be ‘Donger man’ on raids. The Donger was what we called that battering ram which provided a useful key for the majority of locked doors with 14 stone behind it. I’m terrible at DIY, but if you want something smashing, I’m your guy. What those guys did to the roof and how Mark’s account says when Jesus saw […]
Jesus calls people to be with Him And to be like Him More and more and more He wants to increase us. Luke 5 The calling of Matthew He throws a party! Matthew was the most unlikely person to follow Jesus But the greatest sinners can become the greatest saints The religious people whisper against it. Jesus says ‘Change your mind- see like I see, the sick need a Dr, you think you’re too healthy for that.’ Vs 33ff Every been to a wedding where everyone’s fasting? No! This is celebration time. He takes some everyday examples to help then see heavenly truths. You can’t just do a patch up Job with clothes – or those who wear them. You can’t put new wine in the old containers. I wish I had known that when I first came to faith We have to exchange something – not managing the old, trying to do a self renovation job. It’s old for new New thinking Heart Spirit With capacity to follow now. You have an exchange not just an add-on. The new […]
Very much in line with my talk for tomorrow morning where I will talk about what happened when Matthew threw a great party ‘with Jesus as the guest of honour,’ this fabulous talk by a hero of mine will blow your mind about what Christianity is really about.
These amazing guys are just some of of our fabulous musicians, regularly helping people find their way back to God through using their gifts at Ivy Church – as well as finding many other outlets to turn places into parties wherever they are. We’ve come a long way since All Things Bright And Beautiful, but they actually are very bright, very beautiful people who I love lots. Treat your ears!
This is my talk from our recent baptism service at Ivy, where I looked at the Ice Bucket challenge and drew out its lessons for leaders and churches committed to helping people find their way back to God. It followed 5 scheduled baptisms; some breathtaking stories of life change with Jesus as the star of every story – after the talk a number of people indicated that wanted to follow Him too, and then 3 more people were baptised too! (If it was good enough for the Ethiopian eunuch and Phillip…) I blogged some of the thoughts from my notes of this already on what has been one of the most read blog items I’ve ever done here if you want to look at that too, but there is more on the talk than that item. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoy the talk. Let me know your thoughts?
How much MORE should this be true for Christian leaders?
A big screen showed my family, snapshots of times like my fortieth birthday party, in fact all kinds of parties where we’ve dressed in fancy dress or just had fun with family, church family and friends . Jesus said…
How do we know what God is like? Look at Jesus- Heb 1:1-3 says Jesus is how God has spoken to us bad shown himself to us Truth is a person we know not a fact we know Everyone on the side of truth listens to Him. Nick talked about his uni days, right where he now leads a church: how he was just blowing his life till some crazy Christians set up a prayer room in Owens Park. He said yes – full on to Jesus And 3 months into that he was right on the edge of blowing it again. How does God treat people who failed? Fishermen fail a lot. Jesus stepped right into that boat. With an invitation – put out a little from shore. Matt 11:28-30 Jesus has unforced rhythms of grace for us. He chose you first remember! He knows you That’s intimacy – not information! We know him – by knowing him. By relating. Saying yes to the invitation and the challenge. Jesus takes him from observation in the shallows to participation in […]