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LED BY THE SPIRIT # 1 – 5TH MAY 2013

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2013| 1 Comment »

A Spirit filled life is a Spirit led life.Led-ByTheSpirit-850x310

REVISION
Last month (April) we spoke about – You’re Full of It!

Week 1 – Being Baptised in the Holy Spirit is necessary to become a witness. (Acts 1:8)

Week 2 – Being born again – Regeneration + Holy Spirit Baptism is a second step past salvation.

Week 3 – Being Spirit Filled means living in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Week 4 – The importance of tongues as a prayer language and how to receive it.

You are designed as a vessel for the Spirit of God to dwell within.

Man was created to be a vessel for the Holy Spirit to live in. You are called to live a higher life. A spirit dimension life not a natural or carnal life.

1Co 6:19  Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,

1Co 6:20  You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honour God and bring glory to Him in your body.

Rom 8:5  For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.

Rom 8:6  Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].

Rom 8:7  [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot.

Rom 8:8  So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.

Rom 8:9  But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God]. [Rom. 8:14.]

We walk in the spirit, being aware of the spirit realm all around us.

Seeing in the Spirit, but more than that; being led, guided and influenced by the Holy Spirit.

He brings conviction – Joh 16:13  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Warning. Act 16:6  And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

Act 16:7  And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Act 16:8  So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

Act 16:9  And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

Act 16:10  And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Strengthened. Eph 3:16  May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

Comforted Joh 14:16  And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever–

There are 5 senses, but when you walk in the spirit that means relying on another source of information – the Holy Spirit.

2Co 5:7  for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Imagine if you could see in the spirit at all times. Imagine if you could see angels, Jesus, demons.

1Co 2:9  But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]. [Isa. 64:4; 65:17.]

1Co 2:10  Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny].

1Co 2:11  For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a man’s thoughts except the man’s own spirit within him? Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

1Co 2:12  Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.

1Co 2:13  And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].

1Co 2:14  But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

1Co 2:15  But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].

1Co 2:16  For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. [Isa. 40:13.]

This passage is about the message that Paul speaks about how his message of the gospel was not conveyed with words of man’s wisdom but through demonstration of power and the Spirit. He goes on to say that it is the Spirit has been given to us to reveal to us all the good things that God has in store for us and has already made available to us. We have received the spirit of God. But the natural man, the man who does not engage with the spirit is one who cant see these spiritual things.

Stories of being led by the spirit.

Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness. (Matt 4:1-11)

Paul as above.

Are you a spirit man? A spirit woman?

Walking daily with the Holy Spirit. So close, always waiting on Him, always hearing His voice.

So the outworking of this – what does it look like?

  1. When you’re going through a tough time, the challenge is on and your mind is screaming – it’s impossible! And you stop and listen to the Holy Spirit. Show me what you want to do, what you want to say to me, Holy Spirit. And your answer comes. You have the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit comes to remind you of things that you have read in the word of God. – This week for me – He said “It’s going to be alright”
  2. Someone is reacting badly around you. It may be that you are copping the brunt of it or it may be that you’re just observing, and you step back from the scene and you’re praying, “Holy Spirit show me what’s really going on here.”
  3. One of the things I am always doing, is asking the Holy Spirit shall I tell this person I’m speaking to, what thoughts are coming to my mind?  Sometimes people are ready to hear other times it’s not the right time.
  4. Before I go into the Police Station (I am a Police Chaplain) I pray – Holy Spirit flow through me. As I am talking to different Police members things happen and they open up their hearts.
  5. Holy Spirit – why do I find it so hard to forgive so and so? He may just show you an event where you were hurt a long time ago and it’s made you put a wall around your heart. Let Him come and heal you and take away that pain.

There is a conversation between you and God, the Holy Spirit is making the arrangements and guiding your life all day every day.

How do I become a man or woman of the spirit? –

  1. Reading the word of God – stores up inside you the reservoir of Gods words and values in your heart.
  2. Praying in the Spirit. – Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
  3. Have a daily conversation with the Holy Spirit – expect Him to lead you. Ask Him lots of Questions.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. As God designed you to be a human being filled with His Spirit, what do you think that means to us in our day to day life?
  2. Can anyone in the group share how they felt the Holy Spirit was showing them something?
  3. What would be an example of a Christian being carnally minded?
  4. What would be an example of a Christian being spiritually minded?
  5. How much delight might God receive from walking with you as you walk daily in the Spirit with Him?

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YOU’RE FULL OF IT # 2 – SUNDAY 14TH APRIL 10 AM

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

 

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU’RE BORN AGAIN?worship

 

MY STORY

The story of my baptism. I went to church for the first time when I was 20 years of age and I became a Christian on my second visit to church. Later, after about six weeks, I was water baptised. During this baptism my pastor also encouraged me to believe for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Sort of two for the price of one!!

As they prayed for me, and the pastor and his assistant were praying in other tongues, and I was concentrating on receiving from God. Nothing much happened and I went home rather disappointed. However, I was determined to receive this gift of speaking in other tongues because I had heard a lot of other people speaking in tongues and if they had received it then I want to receive it also. So for three more weeks I was praying to God and asking for this gift. I became more and more desperate for this gift as time went by. This is what I now understand to be hunger and thirst.

Then one evening at church, the congregation were all asked to come forward to gather at the altar and just praise God and pray to Him. This was a time when everyone was praying and lifting up their voices to God at the same time. It was noisy. I was praying to God and saying, “If you don’t fill me with the Holy Spirit I’m going to die!”  Due to the loudness of everyone’s prayer around me, I lost my self consciousness about speaking out, and at the same time God filled me, and out of my mouth came a rush of language! I was speaking in other tongues and with it came the joy, the elation of God’s Spirit filling me.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit we learned last week is an experience that takes place after we receive Christ as saviour, after we are born again. The disciples in John 20:22 were born again. Jesus said to the disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This was their Born Again experience. Later in Luke 24:49 He told them, “Wait here in Jerusalem until you receive power.” He then immediately ascended into heaven, that being the last thing He spoke to them while on earth. 10 days later they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

REGENERATION

This morning, what I want to share with you, is the wonder of what takes place when you’re born again. What happens to us at the new birth?

Every human being is a spiritual creature. When we are conceived in our mother’s womb we are a spirit that is being clothed with a body. At that time and right on through our life we are a spiritual being but we are spiritually dead. That means cut off from God, having no relationship to Him. Although we exist as a spirit, because we have no relationship with God, He refers to this as dead. Though our life as a spiritual being has just begun, we are of the same nature as our parents. We are born into sin and have a nature that is rebellious and wants to sin and do wrong. Any parent will attest to this, disobedience comes naturally to a child.

Eph 2:1  And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins,

Eph 2:2  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience;

Eph 2:3  among whom we also had our way of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us

Eph 2:5  (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved),

Eph 2:6  and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, (NKJV)

As verse 6 says we are raised up together with Christ. Once we were dead (spiritually) now we are raised from the dead. We are now alive to God and living in relationship with Him. So what happens at the moment of salvation?

We are born again!

Joh 3:1  And there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

Joh 3:2  He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles which you do unless God is with him.

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:4  Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born?

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Joh 3:7  Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. (NKJV)

Here Jesus likens the spiritual birth of a person their natural birth. When you are born as a baby, you become your parents son or daughter; later when you are born again you become God’s son or daughter. At the moment of salvation you are born again or born from above (as John 3:3 implies). Your human spirit which was dead in sin is regenerated. You are actually a totally new person spiritually.

THIS IS HUGE!!

Being a Christian is more than thinking differently, more than being sorry for your sins, more than taking on a new philosophy, more than changing your attitude, more than deciding to be different, IT IS BECOMING A NEW PERSON!

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! (AMP)

When this happens, it is the Holy Spirit who does the work. We are born of the spirit. We are a totally new person spiritually, by the action of the Holy Spirit. The old person has died, so we bury them in the waters of baptism, and rise to newness of life.

Your new spirit is not only entirely free from sin and the nature of sin but it is recreated in the image of God.

2Pe 1:4  through which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Now that you are born again the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within you. He is resident within your life as a co-resident in you.

Rom 8:9  But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God]. [Rom. 8:14.] (AMP)

1Co 6:19  Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, (AMP)

When you are born again, you are born of the Holy Spirit, and He dwells within you.

This is what happened to the disciples in John 20:22. However Jesus still asked them to tarry, to wait here in Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard of me. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a later experience and it is for power; power to witness, as we learned last week.

The main reason we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that we would become a witness for Jesus. Every Christian needs this power of the Holy Spirit to become an effective witness for Jesus. It is our calling now, to go into all the world and preach the gospel and reach lost people. We can’t do it in our strength and Jesus wanted to equip us with the power to do it so He asked the disciples – wait for the power.

Act 1:8  But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

This morning, will you come and receive Jesus as your saviour – be born again?

This morning will you come and receive power as the Promise of the Father comes upon you – be baptised in the Holy Spirit?

In the next two weeks I will speak more about tongues and what it’s for and why we need that. Today come and receive power.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Can you remember and share the moment when you were born again?
  2. Did anyone experience the “light going on” when you were born again? That experience of seeing for the first time the reality of what God has done for you?
  3. Read 2 Cor 5:17 and discuss how that can be applied to your life.
  4. Now that the Holy Spirit is living within you, what does that mean to you?
  5. How comfortable do you feel about talking to the Holy Spirit?

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YOU’RE FULL OF IT # 1 SUNDAY 7TH APRIL 2013 AM

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

INTRODUCING THE HOLY SPIRIT

STORY ABOUT A HOLY SPIRIT ENCOUNTERgirl-with-hands-raised-high2

In the second year of being a Christian I was asked to take a leadership role in my church over the teenagers group. The change of leadership from the former leader to the new one (me) took place at a youth camp. The former leaders were called up and prayed for, hands were laid on and they commenced a new ministry role somewhere else. Other leaders were prayed for also and set apart for their new roles. Somehow I was overlooked and not prayed for. I could have chosen to be offended about that, but instead I went back to the meeting place (auditorium) after lights out, when everyone else was in bed and asleep and I spent some time waiting on God. As I stood in that place at the altar with hands raised up and saying, “God please equip me for this new ministry role.” I felt the power and life of the Holy Spirit flow down over me and experienced such a tangible touch of the supernatural power of God. I was unable to stand and lay in the presence of God for a couple of hours.

The result was renewed power and boldness to serve God. This boldness took place not only in the ministry to teenagers but also at the university where I was studying; I was emboldened to witness and lead a Christian group there and reach out to lost people at the uni.

Look at this verse with me… Act 1:8  But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

Following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, He asked His disciples to wait for the Promise of the Father before they went out to preach the gospel all over the world. His intention was that when He left to go back to heaven after the resurrection that He would leave behind countless thousands of followers all equipped to the same level as He was to go out and preach the gospel all over the world. They would need supernatural power to preach, heal the sick and cast out devils, as well as many other things. Today His church world wide is Holy Spirit filled and empowered. Its effectiveness is in proportion to how full the individual is with the Holy Spirit.

STORY 2 ABOUT WHERE YOU GET YOUR TRUTH FROM

Recently I was prescribed some medication to lower my cholesterol. As you get older the cholesterol levels creep up and if it’s high enough then it could be a present danger by clogging up your arteries.  After the prescription was filled, I was talking to a good friend of mine who warned me of the dangers of this particular medicine including side effects. So what did I do? I googled the drug name, and sure enough I came up with countless articles about how dangerous the drug is. So what did I do? I declined to take the medication.

How many know this decision was self medicating, and pure post–modern thinking? I decided that truth for me was what I could learn for myself from the internet. I decided that I know better than the professional with seven years university training and 15 years clinical experience. What I should be doing is sit down with the professional and ask for some perspective and take his advice, which is what I am doing.

In the same way, in the church, many people decide what they believe according to what they read on line, what their experience has been, and what has happened to other people. In this post modern world very few people take the word of the Man of God, compare it with the bible and act accordingly.

The result is the rise of the individual, countless thousands of Christians all with different opinions, instead of a united army marching to the sound of the one leader. That one leader is the Holy Spirit and He works through Godly appointed leadership people to lead His church.

This month, as we talk about the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, I wonder if you will be open to listen and be teachable and perhaps change what you believe; or will you be the post modern thinker and decide that truth for you is what you can find for yourself and what you have experienced.

Your pastors and leaders that minister the word of God to you here are trained and competent, and by their fruits you shall know them. They are ministers who know the word, have produced the fruit of souls saved, lives changed; and have the character that exemplifies Christlike values.

SO LET’S BEGIN OUR JOURNEY.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is a person, He is God and He is part of the trinity, an understanding that God is one God and has revealed Himself in three distinct personalities; the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Extra material for the blog:

The Holy Spirit is not a force or an impersonal energy but He has “personal” attributes:

  • a mind – Romans 8:27
  • a will – 1 Corinthians 12:11
  • feeling – Ephesians 4:30;  Romans 15:30 (love)
  • knowledge (including self-knowledge) – 1 Corinthians 2:11

He is able to do things that only a “person” can do:

  • reveal things– 2 Peter 1:21
  • teach – John 14:26; 16:14;  Luke 12:12; 1 Corinthians 2:13
  • bear witness – John 15:26
  • speaks, cries out – Galatians 4:6; Hebrews 10:15
  • intercede – Romans 8:26
  • search – 1 Corinthians 2:10
  • speak – Acts 8:29;  10:19; 13:3; Revelation 2:7,11 (not about Himself – John 16:13)
  • choose – Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 11
  • inspire – 2 Timothy 3:16
  • lead – Acts 8:29;  Romans 8:14
  • command – Acts 13:2, 4
  • give permission – Acts11:12
  • forbid – Acts16:6-7
  • be jealous – James 4:5
  • be grieved – Ephesians 4:30;  Isaiah 63:10 (or “vexed”)
  • be insulted – Hebrews 10:29
  • be lied to – Acts 5:3, 4
  • be blasphemed – Matthew 12:31, 32
  • give invitations – Revelation 22:17
  • strive with people- Genesis 6:3
  • be resisted – Acts 7:51
  • be tested, tempted – Acts 5:9
  • be described as “He/Him” – John 14:16, 17; 16:7-8, 13-14 (recorded 12 times in John 16 alone).

He is distinct from God the Father & Jesus Christ the Son – Matthew 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2;  Acts 10:38; 15:28.

THE TRINITY EXPLAINED:

Nicene Creed – This creed formed in 381AD by the church fathers explains the relationship of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. (Catholic here means universal)
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Global Expansion – http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/april/7.30.html

With more than 580 million adherents (growing by 19 million per year and 54,000 per day), the Pentecostal/charismatic movement has become, in just 100 years, the fastest growing and most globally diverse expression of worldwide Christianity. At the current rate of growth, some researchers predict there will be 1 billion Pentecostals by 2025, most located in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The Role of the Holy Spirit.

The role of the Holy Spirit is simple: He is to empower the church for the task of reaching the whole world with the gospel.

Here is the main verse: Act 1:8  But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth. (AMP)

Before the disciples went out to preach the gospel all over the known world they waited in the upper room as Jesus commanded them.

Luk 24:49  And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high. (AMP)

Have you been clothed with power from on high? This is what we need in order to become His witnesses. We need the power of the Holy Spirit living within us to help us preach with power, heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead. It’s a big challenge in this rational post modern world to be called to this, but the power of the Holy Spirit is far greater then the power of unbelief.

Didn’t I receive the Holy Spirit when I got saved?

Yes, that was being born of the Spirit, regeneration, but we are talking about the being clothed with power from on high.

The disciples received the Holy Spirit while Jesus was still with them:

Joh 20:19  Then on that same first day of the week, when it was evening, though the disciples were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace to you!

Joh 20:20  So saying, He showed them His hands and His side. And when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy (delight, exultation, ecstasy, rapture).

Joh 20:21  Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! [Just] as the Father has sent Me forth, so I am sending you.

Joh 20:22  And having said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit! (AMP)

For the disciples this was their born again experience. Up until now they had been believers and followers of Jesus, but now that Jesus has died on the cross and atoned for their sin by the offering of His blood, now they can be born of the Spirit.

Yet He says wait here in Jerusalem for power. Luk 24:49  And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high. (AMP) Right after this He ascends up into heaven, so it was the last thing Jesus said on earth.

It was after he ascended into heaven then 10 days later they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

Act 2:1  AND WHEN the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place,

Act 2:2  When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.

Act 2:3  And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them.

Act 2:4  And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words]. (AMP)

This experience is so vital and so important for every believer. It is what empowers each one to be a witness for Jesus. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is far more than just the gift of speaking in tongues. It is the power of God. It is to be clothed with power from on high. To be completely filled and flooded with the Power of the Holy Spirit for this great purpose – TO BE A WITNESS!

Testimony from Reinhard BonnkeBonnke quote 1

In one of his earliest evangelistic campaigns he went to a church of 40 members and hired a ten thousand seat stadium. It was God’s doing!

Next week we will speak about what actually happens to a person when he is born again. This experience of regeneration is monumental, life changing and if understood will revolutionise your life. We will speak later about tongues and what it’s for and who can receive it as well as the other gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The only question you must ask yourself every day of your life is “How thirsty am I?”

Joh 7:37  Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!

Joh 7:38  He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.

Joh 7:39  But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

Are you thirsty for God to fill you with His supernatural power?

Are you so glad of your salvation that you want to be of service to Him every day of your life? Are you bored with the passing fantasies of this shallow worldly life and seeking a more eternal and significant encounter with heaven.

Would you stay on for a few minutes and worship God with us this morning and simply ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and equip you.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Can anyone share about a time when they felt the power of the Holy Spirit upon their life?

2. What was Pastor Craig’s point about whether we should decide truth for ourselves by reading the internet, going by experience, or some other way?

3. Where do we get truth from?

4. What is the main reason God fills us with the Holy Spirit? (Acts 1:8)

5. If you are thirsty for the Holy Spirit – what might that look like?

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MANUFACTURER ISSUES PRODUCT RECALL

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, News Flash, Preaching messages, Soul Winning, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The other day I received a letter from Holden saying my car was faulty and it needed to be recalled.product-recall-logo-543

The manufacturer had discovered there was a faulty part that meant the brakes could fail when you least expect it.

This action of recall is common for cars. The manufacturer has high hopes that the car will perform well, but if there is a fault in the car it may not operate as it has been designed. Due to the fault, the car may become dangerous and endanger the life of those people in it.

There has been a recall notice sent out to the human race.

God had high hopes that the human race would live in harmony and love but a fault has developed and great danger awaits anybody who does not respond to the recall.

Here’s what God has said…

This is the problem

Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all.

This is the recall…

Joe_2:13  Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met].

This is God’s response….

Isa_55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon.

Let’s be honest – before we get right with God, our lives are far from perfect.

If all your sins, if everything you ever did and were ashamed of were shouted from the housetops – how would you feel? What if nothing in your life was secret anymore? Would you stand clean and perfect before God?

Are there any evil thoughts in you?

Is there any hatred of others?, any telling of lies? Any coveting what others own? Any bitterness or unforgiveness? Is there any lust for someone not your wife or husband?

Where would we all stand if the books were opened right up?

It’s time to get right with God.

There has been a recall. There’s a fault with the product of God’s creation – there’s potentially a life threatening outcome if the fault is not rectified. The end result, if not addressed is death.

Will you respond to the recall?

If you go around ignoring it, it may just come to an end when you least expect it.

Now is the time to act and act fast, don’t put it off a minute longer.

Here’s how you respond. Say this prayer…..

My Lord Jesus, I come to you, please forgive all my sins. I believe that you died for me, I believe that you rose again from the dead. I choose to walk with you for the rest of my life. I ask you right now to come into my heart and lead me in this life. Amen.

Your next step is to go to to a bible believing church. If you reply to me I will send you literature that will help you. God bless you richly.

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GIVE YOUR LIFE TO JESUS THIS EASTER

Posted in News Flash, Soul Winning, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The Crosspassion 111

What Jesus did on the cross was truly amazing.

It would be totally amazing if any person died on a cross willingly as a substitute for another person; but it is infinitely more amazing when God became a man and died this cruel death on the cross for people.

Why did He do it?

Because He loved you. God loves you so much. He loved you before you ever heard about His love, He loved you before you ever had a chance to respond to that love.

Jesus met an elderly woman one day – she was burying her adult son. Jesus had great compassion on her and raised her son from the dead. Can you imagine how that changed her life? That’s a demonstration of love!!

Jesus met a blind man by the roadside one day; He cured him of blindness on the spot. That’s an act of love!! I have seen blind eyes come open in church in Australia.

Jesus gave 10 lepers a complete healing one day restoring their diseased flesh with brand new flesh. That’s an act of love!! We have seen Jesus heal people of cancer in this church.

In the bible Jesus showed huge compassion to a woman who had been caught in the very act of adultery, a crime punishable by death in those days. He said to her I do not condemn you, go and sin no more. That’s an act of Love!!

No matter what you have done wrong, known or unknown, Jesus can forgive your sins and wash you clean. In this church there are many people who have a past that they are ashamed of, but now they walk free with their heads held high. How is this possible?

Through Jesus love! He loved you and me so much that he refused to leave us without hope, although that’s what we deserved. He instead took our place in receiving the punishment for each and every sin that all men have committed.

He was punished for your sin. He said these very important words.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Joh 3:17  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

Joh 3:18  He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.

It’s time to receive God’s love today. It’s time for you to receive the pardon he offers you.

Is your heart broken, He can heal the broken hearted.

Are you sick and facing challenging illness, He can heal you.

Are you depressed and hating yourself, Jesus can restore you and bring life to you.

Are you angry and bitter toward others? He can change your heart and pour new love into you. He is the answer. Jesus is the answer for the world today.

After all that He has done for you. It’s now your turn to respond. He is reaching out to you in love. Will you respond? If someone offered you a thousand dollars wouldn’t you respond? If someone offered to take a bullet for you wouldn’t you respond? If someone said to you I forgive you and I love you, wouldn’t you respond?

So why wouldn’t you respond when God himself says he loves you and died for you?

Here’s how you can respond.

Just say yes, yes Jesus, Pray this simple prayer and choose to have faith in Jesus, He died for you and right now He’s ready to step into your life.

Pray this prayer with me…….

My Lord Jesus, I come to you, please forgive all my sins. I believe that you died for me, I believe that you rose again from the dead. I choose to walk with you for the rest of my life. I ask you right now to come into my heart and lead me in this life. Amen.

Your next step is to go to to a bible believing church. If you reply to me I will send you literature that will help you. God bless you richly.

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CRAZY LOVE 2

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, Soul Winning, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

SUNDAY 10TH MARCH 2013 AM

HE LOVES THE UNLOVABLE

Mat 5:43  You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy; [Lev. 19:18; Ps. 139:21, 22.]

Mat 5:44  But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [Prov. 25:21, 22.]

Mat 5:45  To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].

Mat 5:46  For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?

Mat 5:47  And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that?

Mat 5:48  You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect. [Lev. 19:2, 18.]

This passage demands that we love the unlovable. If we do we are showing everyone that we are of our Father who is in heaven. We are like Him when we love the unlovable.

Rom 5:5  Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

Rom 5:6  While we were yet in weakness [powerless to help ourselves], at the fitting time Christ died for (in behalf of) the ungodly.

Rom 5:7  Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor someone might even dare to die.

Rom 5:8  But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.

Rom 5:9  Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.

Rom 5:10  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.

In this passage we see that God’s kind of love is given to us to love others with. He reminds us that Jesus died for us before we made any decision to follow Him, that is, when we were still sinners, the unlovable, in order that we would come into relationship with Him.

GOD’S LOVE FOR EACH AND EVERY PERSON ON EARTH IS COMPLETE. HE LOVES THE UNLOVABLE.

Everyone of us deserves His wrath, but everyone of us has been offered His mercy.

We must rid ourselves of the pride and deception in which we tell ourselves, “I’m a good person really. It’s all those other scum bags that God is talking about.”

Isa 64:6  For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction]. [Lev. 13:45, 46.]

In spite of all that, God loved us, God reached out toward us, God saved us and gave us His righteousness.

Is there that moment in your life when you sense that overwhelming gratitude for what God has done for you?

Take a look at one of my grandkids…Tessa

What’s not to love? We as human beings find it easy to love when the object of our love seems worthy of it. But God shows His love is beyond that.

As Jesus was dying on the cross, one of the thieves who were crucified beside Him asked for mercy and Jesus gave it freely to him.

The two thieves perfectly illustrate all mankind. Both were guilty as is all mankind for we have all sinned and come short of the perfection of God. One thief was humble and penitent and one thief was proud and insolent towards his only hope. These two reactions are the only two reactions of all mankind towards Jesus offer of forgiveness and life.

God’s love towards us as sinners is remarkable. God’s great passion for relationship with anyone who would come to Him in humility and faith is unending.

Because of His righteousness He must judge all sin. Therefore God executes wrath against sin and punishes every wrong doer, however, so great is His love towards each and every lost person that he gave His only begotten Son to die in their place, to receive the punishment they rightly deserve so that they could be given an opportunity to go free.

Let’s take a look at this Crazy Love of God towards you. Not only did God send His son to die for you, and on your behalf, before you even had a chance to respond to Him; He then came out searching for you and calling you to come to Him.

Joh 6:44  No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day.

1Jn_3:1  SEE WHAT [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him.

The love with which God loved you is huge!

When God loved you; He loved the unlovable. He loved a sinner. He loved someone who had fallen way short of the standard of perfection needed for heaven.

But because of this great love He rescued you and me, and because of this great love you are now a child of His and filled with this same love.

Eph 3:17  May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

Eph 3:18  That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

Eph 3:19  [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

Now that you have been saved by this love and filled with this love….

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT?

Yes, of course you will love God with it, we are to abide in His love, but also if He loved the unlovable and His love dwells in us then shall we not love the unlovable too?

The power to change a life begins with an invitation.

Our Vision as a church movement is to give every Aussie an opportunity to hear the gospel, and what better time to hear it than at Easter?

Will you invite a crowd to come to Easter?

How to invite someone.

Don’t worry about whether they may or may not be receptive. Invite everyone. You can’t tell who’s ready yet. Just invite saying, “Can I give you this invitation?”

“Hey, take a look at this, my church has special events on this Easter – I would love to invite you to come along.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  Describe a time when you chose to love an enemy or someone who persecuted you.

2. When we love people who are hard to love, it’s too hard in our own strength so we need God’s love. How do we obtain it?

3. Why do you think God asks us to love the unlovable?

4. If we are full of His love – a love for the unlovable – will that enable us to go out and love the unsaved around us?

5. Who, in your sphere of influence ,can you invite to the Easter concert?

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CRAZY LOVE # 1

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, Soul Winning, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 3, 2013| 2 Comments »

Crazy love # 1 Sunday 3rd March 2013 AMCrazyLove Series Logo

In one of the greatest debates of our time men argue about whether we are created or evolved from chance. Some, who find it hard to swallow that a personal God created all this, are forced to concede to Intelligent Design because of the wonder and complexity of living things. Still others are fully persuaded that God is there and they can know Him.

As atheists account for around 22% of the Australian population and approximately 14-16% world wide, it still leaves many either wondering or confident about God’s existence. What I would like to show them all is how much God loves each and every one of them.

Do you know God loves you?

So often we measure this by how happy we are, or by how well things have gone for us or some other subjective manner.

Just as your child might say to you that you don’t love them because you didn’t give them what they wanted, we, as adult Christians, can be equally as obtuse when it comes assessing whether God loves us or not. Wisdom doesn’t come cheap – it can take a lifetime of living through the highs and lows of our experiences to come to the point of recognising God’s hand on our life.

How do you know God loves you?

If this were an apologetics seminar I would describe the logic behind the argument. But this is teaching from the word. We are fully persuaded about the authenticity and reliability of God’s word. (See the resources on this at http://pvc.podomatic.com/player/web/2010-04-09T06_14_02-07_00  and following 7 messages)

In the beginning God created man. Why?

1. Because He wanted Kids. It is the nature of God that He is a father.

Gen 1:26  God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. [Ps. 104:30; Heb. 1:2; 11:3.]

Gen 1:27  So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. [Col. 3:9, 10; James 3:8, 9.]

Gen 1:28  And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.

In the New Testament Jesus reminds us of the father nature of God as His and our Father.

Mat 7:11  If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!

2. Because He desires to have fellowship with us.

Joh 3:16  For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

Rom_6:11  Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus. (AMP)

Joh 14:2  In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3  And when (if) I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.

3. We are made for His Glory.

Isa 43:7  Even everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made.

We bring Glory to Him through our relationship to Him.

Eph 3:10  [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

4. This love is the culmination of His vast plan.

Eph 2:4  But God–so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).

Just how much does God love you?

Isa 49:13  Sing for joy, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion upon His afflicted.

Isa 49:14  But Zion [Jerusalem, her people as seen in captivity] said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.

Isa 49:15  [And the Lord answered] Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you.

Isa 49:16  Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your walls are continually before Me.

God is painting a picture for you in this passage.

Is there any mother here today that can remember breast feeding her baby?

At that time, did you ever forget that you had a baby? – NO of course not, but God says in contrast to His love and devotion to you; yes, a breast feeding mother can indeed forget her baby.

Can you see a woman forgetting her baby that is still in the breast feeding stage of life? Is that even possible? God makes a contrast to bring out a point to you. He says compared to His attention level…. Yes, a mother of an unweaned child CAN forget her baby  –  yet I will not forget you.

Tattoos are pretty popular these days, but I notice that very few people receive tattoos on the palms of their hands. It hurts, yes for sure, but the palms face you, they are not for others to see. If you want to hold onto something tight, then you hold it inside your clenched fist inside your palms.  When I want to remind myself of something important I write it on my palm – that’s where I am most likely to see it.

God is painting a picture for you here today. His love and affection and devotion for you is greater than a mother toward her new born. He has a photo of you imprinted on His palm. How can He forget you? Your walls are ever before Him. These walls are the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down by the enemy, by lack of fully functioning Kingdom and lack of the care of God’s people. The broken walls speak of those places of brokenness, loss, dysfunction and failure that surround our lives. God cares and God has answers.

If we truly receive a revelation of how great His love is toward us – what then?

How shall we respond?

  1. Receive His love – be healed saved and restored. Accept His free gift of life and walk with Him in a bond of Love.
  2. Truly desire that others may live.  If His love is so great can we neglect to tell others of it? Shall we be partakers of complete salvation and deny the others in spite of the fact that others brought me to this place of discovery? As Paul cried – “I am a debtor” He had received so much that he considered he owed to others who had not heard.

This Easter will you reach out to others? So that others may live.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. What was your first experience of God’s love?
  2. Has God’s love ever seemed distant from you?
  3. What verse from today’s blog most speaks to you about God’s love to you?
  4. How can we overcome disappointments to see the love of God at work in our lives?
  5. How would you share the love of God with others?

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Raiders of the Lost Ark

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 24, 2013| 3 Comments »

God is harsh but merciful.

Does anyone remember this movie scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark?

http://youtu.be/0APF3SO9tqE

It shows the horror of opening up the ark of the Lord or the Ark of the Covenant and the resulting destruction. There is an element of truth to this wild story.

The Ark of the Lord was a real piece of furniture that was kept in the place of worship the Israelites had in ancient times. Moses was the leader and he received from God the ten commandments written on stone.

The Ten Commandments were:

10-God-Man

Exo 20:3-17

When God gave the law to Moses, the penalties for breaking the law were harsh.

Lev 24:16  And he who blasphemes the Name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him; the stranger as well as he who was born in the land shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name [of the Lord].

Lev_20:9  Everyone who curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or mother; his bloodguilt is upon him.

Lev_20:10  The man who commits adultery with another’s wife, even his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. [John 8:4-11.]

Lev 24:17  And he who kills any man shall surely be put to death.

Or what about this one..

Num_1:51  When the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And the excluded [any not of the tribe of Levi] who approach the tabernacle shall be put to death.

One time the Israelites were moving the ark from one place to another when…

2Sa_6:6  And when they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled and shook it.

2Sa_6:7  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for touching the ark, and he died there by the ark of God.

The laws God gave to his people were to be obeyed and if you didn’t obey then the result was often death. God told Moses, Exo_25:16  And you shall put inside the ark the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] which I will give you.

On the top of the ark was a gold statue of two angels called the mercy seat. Inside the ark God said place the tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments.

ark-of-the-covenant The mercy seat was the lid of the box called the Ark of the Covenant. The lid was made of one piece of pure gold beaten into shape including the two angels.

Every year Blood would be sprinkled on the top of the lid between the angels. The place where the blood was sprinkled was called the mercy seat. When God looked down from heaven he saw the blood covering the law which was inside the box called the Ark of the Covenant. God’s power presence and glory shone out from this place called the mercy seat.

When you take away the lid of the ark, you take away the Mercy Seat, you take away the blood that was on the mercy seat that shielded the harshness of the law. The high priest NEVER opened the Ark of the Covenant after the initial set up.

In the New Testament is says that Jesus has become our mercy seat.

Rom 3:25  Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. (AMP)

God’s law still stands. The penalty for breaking the law is still harsh…

Rom 6:23  For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord.

The only thing standing between you and the Law is the blood of Jesus. It shields and protects you from the harshness and penalty of death that you and I so rightfully deserve. If you believe in Jesus – His blood is a cleansing and atonement for your sins.

Rom_5:9  Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.

We must never lift the lid on the Ark of the Covenant – we must never take away the blood of Jesus from over the law, we must never stop trusting in the blood of Jesus to save us from the penalty of the law. The only way to have the blood of Jesus shield you from the harshness of the penalty of disobeying the law is to have faith in Christ – faith in His blood.

Rom 3:28  For we conclude that a person is put right with God only through faith, and not by doing what the Law commands. (GNB)

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YOU’RE NOT MEANT TO DO THIS JOURNEY ALONE

Posted in Equip the Saints, Leaders Training, State Conference, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Coachingcoaching-mentoring

You’re not meant to do this journey alone.

Ecc 4:8  Here is one alone–no one with him; he neither has child nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labor, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither does he ask, For whom do I labor and deprive myself of good? This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy business. [Prov. 27:20; I John 2:16.]

Ecc 4:9  Two are better than one, because they have a good [more satisfying] reward for their labor;

Ecc 4:10  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Ecc 4:11  Again, if two lie down together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone?

Ecc 4:12  And though a man might prevail against him who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

KEY QUESTION – WHO IS DOING THE JOURNEY WITH YOU?

 Adam – Your help meet

Gen_2:18  Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.

Moses – Jethro

Exo_18:14  When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?

KEY QUESTION – ROSS’S KEY QUESTION: “WHO IS GOING TO HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE?”

Paul – Barnabas

Act_4:36  Now Joseph, a Levite and native of Cyprus who was surnamed Barnabas by the apostles, which interpreted means Son of Encouragement,

Act 9:26  And when he had arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to associate himself with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe he really was a disciple.

Act 9:27  However, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and he explained to them how along the way he had seen the Lord, Who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached freely and confidently and courageously in the name of Jesus.

Act 9:28  So he went in and out [as one] among them at Jerusalem,

Act_11:30  And so they did, sending [their contributions] to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Act_13:9  But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit, looked steadily at [Elymas]

Act_13:43  And when the congregation of the synagogue dispersed, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked to them and urged them to continue [to trust themselves to and to stand fast] in the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God.

Paul and Titus A GREEK

2Co_7:6  But God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking, comforted and encouraged and refreshed and cheered us by the arrival of Titus.  – REFRESH YOUR SPIRIT

2Co_8:16  But thanks be to God Who planted the same earnest zeal and care for you in the heart of Titus.  – SAME HEART

2Co 8:23  As for Titus, he is my colleague and shares my work in your service; and as for the [other two] brethren, they are the [special] messengers of the churches, a credit and glory to Christ (the Messiah).  – SHARES YOUR WORK

KEY QUESTION – DID YOU KNOW THAT CHANGING THINKING CAN BE THE HARDEST THING TO DO?

My Coaches:

Graham Hill – I learned who I was and how to balance my ministry life and family life

Gary Hourigan – I learned how to manage my time weel and assess all the parts of church life that need to attended to.

David Schaeffer – I learned ho to raise leaders and build a leadership empowering environment

Peter Pilt – called me out on the hard questions and made me face what I believe about faith and the big questions.

KEY QUESTION? – WHO IS THE PERSON WHO WANTS YOU TO WIN UNCONDITIONALLY?

Pro 27:17  Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other. (CEV)

If your motto is me and God – we can do it. Maybe you need to rethink that one.

Pro 18:1  HE WHO wilfully separates and estranges himself seeks his own desire and pretext to break out against all wise and sound judgment.

PRACTICALLY SPEAKING

  • Visit with Ross and me in March (SKYPE)  THE CARAVAN OF COURAGE – We will talk through what are your measureables, where do you want to be in two years time?
  1. Mentoring Network – July

June

4-5            Global Care National Conference –

10             PUBLIC HOLIDAY – Queens B’Day

22             Pastors Mentor Network – Mooroopna – TBC

28             School finishes – Holidays start

29             Pastors Mentor Network – Melbourne – TBC

 

July

15             School Starts

20             Pastors Mentor Network – Traralgon – TBC

27             Pastors Mentor Network – Geelong – TBC

 

Goal will be to dialogue with other pastors through your measureables and what is working for you and what you have learned.

 

What does that look like?

LN Rapid Growth Results – 4 minutes

http://youtu.be/bL4jajFJR_c

 

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Giving – The True Test

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Giving – The true testgiving

Boot Camp #4 – January 27, 2013

Over the last four weeks – run a spiritual boot camp.

How did you go?

Have you gained some spiritual fitness?

Why do you need to?

Your journey in life is not just physical – it’s also spiritual. How you prosper is about how you understand your spiritual journey. If you’re unfit spiritually how will you cope when spiritual challenges come?

Say: Loved one betrays you?

Lose your job?

Sickness strikes your life?

A person with false doctrine comes by to persuade you of lies?

Your spiritual fitness has eternal repercussions!!

GIVING

The big test of your spiritual fitness is your giving.

If you want to really measure yourself clearly about where your heart is at then look at your giving and your attitude to giving.

Jesus said: Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So there’s a big link between your money and your heart.

For most people, our money, our possessions and assets define us. “I am who my money says I am” Almost all covet and desire to be rich or to have possessions or to be “comfortable.” For nearly every person comfortable is the goal and it’s always more than what they have now. (Even though in Australia, we are all among the richest 1% of the earth’s population.)

But the goal is not be comfortable. The goal is to make a difference. Remember when you gave your LIFE to Jesus. Your whole life! Was the goal to be comfortable? Or was the goal to be a child of God. To be led by the spirit?

Jesus said: Mat 10:38 And unless you are willing to take up your cross and come with me, you are not fit to be my disciples.

Mat 10:39 If you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give it up for me, you will surely find it. (CEV)

HERE’S THE KEY

Luk 16:10 Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters. But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters.

Luk 16:11 If you cannot be trusted with this wicked wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? (CEV)

If you can get it right with money then you will really move forward with true wealth which is eternal and spiritual.

WHY?

Because it takes faith to give; and God wants you to have faith and to grow in faith. We all begin with a fixed pie mentality. More for God mean less for me. If you think this way you’re still in kindergarten spiritually. Jesus reminded the disciples, “hey when you’re with me, there always an abundance, Mat 16:8 But Jesus, aware of this, asked, Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? O you [men, how little trust you have in Me, how] little faith!

Mat 16:9 Do you not yet discern (perceive and understand)? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many [small hand] baskets you gathered?

Mat 16:10 Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many [large provision] baskets you took up? (AMP)

When you get faith you will transition to see money as seed. The more you get rid of in the right place the more you will end up with.

2Co 9:10 And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity]. [Isa. 55:10; Hos. 10:12.]

2Co 9:11 Thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way, so that you can be generous, and [your generosity as it is] administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God.

Some people are not able to hear this message. They will go away and be unaffected by the reality of God’s spiritual program in giving and receiving. They may have great possessions on earth but as they enter into heaven there will be nothing in their pockets, no rewards.

Mat 6:19 Do not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.

Mat 6:20 But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; (AMP)

My story.

In my first year – I gave $1000 to the church building program – Later when I got married we rented a house that everything in it down to the pegs, detergent and mower fuel. Later a gift of $3K helped buy our first house.

In 1994 we sold our home in Brisbane and gave $5K to the church building project.

(no profit) It wasn’t long before we purchased two properties.

In this church our first ever offering we gave the whole lot away, we became self sufficient in only six months.

The church one time really struggling financially – gave away our whole weeks offering at Christmas. No blessing appeared to come at first, but later when we bought the building it was a bargain price and we sold it after ten years and the church made a capital gain of $800K.

However, when you give, don’t look for the rewards, give because of the joy of giving.

We give because our hearts are moved.

Two stories about this.

Mat 26:7 A woman came up to Him with an alabaster flask of very precious perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at table.

Mat 26:8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, For what purpose is all this waste?

Mat 26:9 For this perfume might have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.

Mar 12:41 And He sat down opposite the treasury and saw how the crowd was casting money into the treasury. Many rich [people] were throwing in large sums.

Mar 12:42 And a widow who was poverty-stricken came and put in two copper mites [the smallest of coins], which together make half of a cent.

Mar 12:43 And He called His disciples [to Him] and said to them, Truly and surely I tell you, this widow, [she who is] poverty-stricken, has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury.

Mar 12:44 For they all threw in out of their abundance; but she, out of her deep poverty, has put in everything that she had–[even] all she had on which to live. (AMP)

We give because our hearts are grateful, we give because our hearts are moved, we give to Jesus, we give to His passion – the church. We love His church we love this house so we give. Ever since the year we were born again Chris and I have given between 10% – 20% of our gross income to the Lord. Whether we gain financially from it is never the issue, we are so thankful that He has saved us and given us a new life.

To be spiritually fit = TRUST

Php 4:19 And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (AMP)

We don’t give what we can afford – that is fixed pie mentality, we give as God moves our hearts.

We give because of the joy of giving. Of course there are rewards and I am amazed at what God has done for us. We are truly blessed with assets, marriage, family and health. Be a giver, and give from the heart.

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