Leaving A Legacy – Alan Taylor

What sort of legacy are you going to leave? Prov 20 Will you leave a blessing behind? This has a lot to do with character. When we live with Jesus right at the centre, he grows his peace etc in us. Legacy comes from having that at the centre it leaves a mark in our lives. Gen 12 – God promised Abram that if he did what he said he would be blessed AND be a blessing. He’d become part of a spiritual family and community that would change and bless all nations. Christ is for people who know they need a Doctor If you aren’t sure you need a Dr you are probably not ready for Him yet. Jn 1:12 – we get the right to become his family. It starts when you give yourself to God, all of you! 2 Cor8:5 And have you done the second part of that verse!? Given yourselves to one another? Is this church your church Or ‘that church’ Will you be part of what God is doing HERE We are looking to […]

‘Fruitfulness’ – Psalm 1 Debra Green OBE at Ivy MCR

Psalm 1. Debra says she has a green surname but not green fingers. But years ago she bought 3 bedding shrubs to be in the porch (first impressions). She watered them for months and they still looked great. In fact, as good as the day they were bought. Then the visitor pointed out that they were artificial! She had been looking after fake Nurturing something dead The psalmist says we do that, we spend time on trash How foolish Some things and relationships have a negative effect on our growth. Worthless things. Bad company that corrupts. But other things build & help me. 3 lots of 3 word triplets of how habits form Walk, sit, stand Wicked, sinners, scoffers Counsel, path, seat. You see the degenerative procession?! We all want to fit in: it starts with who you walk with, in the counsel of the wicked. Popular opinion matters more than God’s counsel. Wicked means ‘loose.’ Standing here means ‘stopping’ – in the wrong places and counsel. A bad pattern is forming Sinners here means someone who has made a […]

REST – Part 2 of my talk last Sunday at Ivy Kingsway

Hebrews 4, the writer says this about God: “…his work has been finished since the creation of the world.” The rest came out of the finished work. Then it says to us, ‘while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should fail… to reach it…’ It goes on to tell of a whole generation of people who SAID they were God’s people, but NEVER entered into His rest.Why? Because they didn’t have FAITH. They didn’t really believe HE could do it. That means it takes FAITH to enter into the REST that God has for us. You have to TRUST God, to REST in God. You have to trust God, if you’ve ever going to rest your soul.

Opportunity To Rest (part 1) – from my talk at Ivy Kingsway this morning

In our Year of opportunity as a Church, I’ve called this talk, ‘Opportunity to rest,’ this is from the NT book of Hebrews, chapter 4. It says.. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you fail to experience it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not add faith to hearing it. But we who believe do enter that rest. (For) God rested on the seventh day from all His works… “Today, if you hear his voice,(are we listening) do not harden your hearts.” So… there remains a rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort – to enter that rest…  (PRAY) I read this week about a trip to the supermarket that ended with a high speed chase, a frantic call to the police, a border […]

What To Say At A Funeral?

I have been invited by my friend J.John to contribute to a few books, one of the new ones will be a collection of funeral talks. I include my submission below. I have done so many hundreds of funerals but it’s always a great privilege. I offer the below to anyone who finds themselves in the position of doing a eulogy but more particularly Ministers of Religion leading services. Names and details etc have been changed. Notes –  I am delighted to be asked to provide a talk in this collection. I believe that the opportunity to present the love, truth and hope of Christ at funerals is so great, and so often so greatly missed. Jesus must weep again at the graves of his friends as horror stories abound of Vicars forgetting the deceased person’s name etc. Not good enough! To be asked to speak at a funeral is one of the greatest privileges of ministry or indeed life. It deserves our prayerful hard work, full attention and every skill of pastoral ministry we can muster.  My old Vicar […]

James White – The Christian Mind (iDisciple conference WCAUK)

There are few Christian warriors of the mind these days. Most retreat into personal piety or good works. We follow someone who died at 33. Don’t live a life that doesn’t offend people, if we don’t live as if we don’t care if we die, we will be impotent.

Building Life Changing Churches – Gordon MacDonald at WCAUK iDisciple

He was invited to speak at West Point. Saw that it was a place to train and qualify top people to go anywhere in the world and immediately get the job done, whatever the job is. How do you train people like that?   Do we show any interest in developing leaders? Not just the ‘anyone can come’ one. A West Point for church? The number 1 job for a Pastor = training the bext generation of leaders. It’s more important than preaching.   Heschel – We don’t need text-books but text-people.   Titus 2:1-8  Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s […]