Matty Hawthorne – What’s the point of church

These notes from Matty’s talk at our new gathering at Ivy Sharston form our discussion notes for this week’s grow groups Church is about people with a purpose It’s not about a building Discuss: Why do people HATE church? One of the worst things Christians have done is make God boring One Internet thread Matty found described Christians as the most judgemental people Read James 2:14-20 Maybe it’s not about being more relevant but more real. We talk as if we have the monopoly on love – but the world wouldn’t agree. We talk as if we have the monopoly on generosity. People love to do good works and give. We should encourage and recognise that. Read Matt 5:14-16 What does ‘shine’ mean to you? The message version says be generous with your lives. It’s not (just) about the money! Discuss What makes a church a church? The Bible word ‘oikos’ we translate in the Bible as household is really a gathering of community, extended family. Is your grow group an oikos? What matters? 3 things Love one another Get […]

Michael Fletcher – rogue staff @thenines2012

How do fire a rogue employee Are you sitting on a tough conversion Plan it Practice it – out loud Pray it – ask God to step in and he may move them out. Have they got a heart for the house? Love vs. loyalty You want them to have your back My future vs our future – you want people who want to take US to the next level. How do I do it? 1.Document precisely 2. Discuss appropriately 3. Do it quickly

#thenines2012 Rogue Staff

Brian Tome: Love the Church more than you love your thing Say the hard thing before you say the hard things. 10x more encouragement than reproof. You have to earn your stripes. Play biblical not nice Public rebukes – ‘so that others will fear.’

#thenines2012 Moral Failure

Brad Powell Messy situation and he was the only one who knew So he had to confront it You have to confront it the right way You’re not protecting people by hiding the truth. Come alongside them and root out the problems that got them there And Help the church through it too. Goal is not to diminish the good they have done But what they’ve done doesn’t diminish the sin. People are watching- and your influence will grow or wane dependent on how you handle it.

#thenines Moral Failure

Moral Failure – Craig Groeschel Tell the church the truth early Name the sin without specific details Public leaders failure means public response – other party may be private This is how we are going to help the family through this. Lets support these fallen soldiers Take what the enemy intended for evil and turn it for good

@carlfbeech #courageousmen Bristol – What’s your Gilgal?

Don’t be passive and nice – be dangerous because that’s why you were made. Michelangelo said through sculpture he could worship – by turning marble into David he was mimicking God. We should be a subversive liberation force for God! A resistance movement in occupied territory. How? Judges 3:12f Ehud – the left handed assassin. What a lovely story! The kids will love it at Bedtime. Who was Ehud? Just an ordinary guy- expendable. Because it’s not always obvious who the heroes are. Big change happens when little people step up and do something. We get to be revolutionaries. Because we have the power to change the atmosphere or the situation David was the least obvious hero, the unexpected one, William Carey changed India. He was a cobbler who said. ‘Attempt great things for God, expect great things for God.’ Nothing happens if you never have a go. We have to get passionate enough, angry enough, to push through the sticking point that always comes. The wall. Some of us have a job to do – get on with it. […]

@carlfbeech CVM/ New Wine Courageous Men’s Day Bristol

The positive side of testosterone. Men have 6 times more of it than women, and that makes a difference. It’s not anti feminist to say so. What does it mean for a man to Know God. Because we’re fidgety, restless creatures. Some of us are naturally more reflective. Most aren’t. The Romans had the pantheon of gods and diluted everyone’s true faith by syncretism. The only god that never appeared in the pantheon was the God of the Christians. They stubbornly refused to not be different. They held the line. No matter what. 2 Sam 23: David’s special forces. The mighty men. They held the line no matter what. The enemy wants to throw things at you to make you quit. To say ‘stuff it’ and walk away. Or at least sulk. Alternative – hold the line. Till your hand sticks to the sword. Then you find – eventually You won. You came through it. Sometimes we didn’t see the breakthrough because we didn’t hold on long enough to break through. Shammah stood in a field and said ‘enough!’ He […]