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Posts Tagged ‘Belief’

FINDING MR. RIGHT OR MISS RIGHT

Posted in Church, Culture Watch, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

REALationships  # 3 PM 23 June 2013Boy Meets Girl 2

 THE DIVINE EMBRACE

We have spoken in week one about Gods great passion to have a people of His own.

God is firstly a Father and He longs for children to walk with Him.

 HOSEA

“But down the road the population of Israel is going to explode past counting, like sand on the ocean beaches. In the very place where they were once named Nobody, they will be named God’s Somebody. Everybody in Judah and everybody in Israel will be assembled as one people. They’ll choose a single leader. There’ll be no stopping them—a great day in Jezreel!” (Hosea 1:10, 11 MSG)

“And now, here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to start all over again. I’m taking her back out into the wilderness where we had our first date, and I’ll court her. I’ll give her bouquets of roses. I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope. She’ll respond like she did as a young girl, those days when she was fresh out of Egypt. (Hosea 2:14, 15 MSG)

 PICTURE – God as the jilted lover, Israel as the unfaithful partner.  God, broken hearted keeps promising restoration if she will return.

 WHY DO WE, AS PEOPLE, FIND FAITHFULNESS TO A LIFELONG RELATIONSHIP SO HARD?

 1. The fruit of the tree you shall not eat… You want what you can’t have.

2. The grass is greener scenario.

 In Australia http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Cheating-hearts/2004/12/22/1103391840011.html?oneclick=true

Depending on which study you believe, between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of people in long-term relationships have been unfaithful, and, according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, infidelity is cited as the main provocation in 20 per cent of divorce cases.

In the 2005 Global sex survey taken by the condom company Durex; Australia rated second highest nation on earth for the number of sexual partners respondents had. An average of 13.3.

 But for right now, friends, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way? When one of you says, “I’m on Paul’s side,” and another says, “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally infantile? (1 Corinthians 3:1-4 MSG)

 Broken lives, sin soaked hearts, believing that you have to make it all happen yourself. Thinking God is not going to take care of you, wont keep his promise. He has promised to take care of you and provide everything for your needs. Your need for relationships is clear to Him.

  THEREFORE, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God’s service, Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another. Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 AMP)

 So how does one build a great relationship with others especially someone who you want to share your life with – a life long partner?

  1. Put God first in your relationships. – intimacy with God brings life.
  2. Stop talking about yourself! Show interest in others.
  3. Sow what you want to reap – do unto others.
  4. Become the right person instead of looking for the right person.

  Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims. You know the old saying, “First you eat to live, and then you live to eat”? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body! (1 Corinthians 6:12, 13 MSG)

 There’s two needs women and men experience – intimacy and sex.

Within a marriage a woman will put up with sex to gain intimacy, and a man will put up with itimacy to gain sex.

 But before marriage God has a plan…

 Discover God and learn about people.

1Co 7:32  I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master.

1Co 7:33  Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse,

1Co 7:34  leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God.

1Co 7:35  I’m trying to be helpful and make it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.

 Building great relationships is different today than in past times.

When your grandparents grew up it was most common fro a young man to court a young woman for a couple of years and they would decide to marry.

 Of course you have needs for companionship and for sex. The world says take what you need, the religion says deny what you need, but the answer is  acknowledge your need yield yourself to God.

 In my pre married days I had to make that transition from regular sexual involvement to celebacy as I became a Christian.  Its a high calling. Think of our grandfathers in th trenches in WW1.

 In my generation young couples met at parties and sometimes clubs and decided to go out. Later couples were connecting through mutual contact through school UNI and the workplace. Often groups of young adults hung out together and made relationship building a group affair.

 Things have changed a lot – in one episode of Jerry Seinfeld he’s dating a girl but can’t remember her name, he gets into all kinds of trouble trying to find out out what it is but can’t ask her because they are already sleeping together. This episode is dated over 10 years ago!!

 These days a fair percentage of couples get together through relationship and dating services.

When the Internet first began I married several couple who met someone through the Internet chat rooms and I was at first horrified. I thought for sure that these virtual relationships wouldn’t last, however I was surprised how many cof these coupes stayed together.

 DATING SERVICES

RSVP

Australian members: Two million – the most popular online dating site, according to recent figures. Who’s on it: Roughly 50/50 female and male; 48% of members are aged between 26 and 40, while 34% are between 41 and 60

 eHARMONY

Australian members: More than a million, according to an eHarmony spokesperson Who’s on it: About 51% males and 49% females; most members are aged in their 20s and 30s, but there are also a large number of older users

 Oasis Active

Australian members: About 1.6 million Cost: Free Who’s on it: Roughly 60% of members are male and 40% female; 64% are aged between 18 and 35, while 27% are between 36 and 50

 Some people may still feel a bit uncomfortable about connecting through an online dating service,  however if you use one you will more than likely have more success than if you didn’t use one. And why is that?

 Relationships are hard because people are time poor, expectations have changed a great deal and online communications have taken away genuine intimacy.

The reason these online services have a good strike rate is the extensive profiling of each  person that takes place before they meet. To apply you must give a complete review of all your personality, background and experience. They website computer program’s select people with similar values so that the potential for conflict is reduced.

 WHAT MAKES A GREAT RELATIONSHIP?

Do you look at a relationship and ask, “Will this relationship meet my needs?”

Then you may experience a lot of disappointment in relationships.

What makes a great relationship is the task of making someone else’s life beautiful.

 What makes a great relationship is what you give into a relationship.

Relationships are not 50/50 – It’s 100%

Are you looking for Mr. right or Miss Right? Or are you working on becoming Mr. Right or miss Right?

 Being needy or insecure in a relationship is going to make that relationship difficult. If the threat of ending a relationship brings fear to you then you may compromise your values to keep it. It’s not worth it.

 Here’s two great promises for you.

  1. God has planned your life. Jer 29:11  I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out–plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. (MESS) – Tina’s story
  2. God knows your needs –  Mat 6:7  “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God.  Mat 6:8  Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. (MESS)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Do you believe that a person’s relationship with God can be so fulfilling that they don’t need a partner? Discuss.
  2. Discuss how online communication such as facebook has removed a lot of the real intimacy in relationships.
  3. Discuss the differences in how young men and young women experience the challenges of singleness.
  4. If you are always talking about yourself, what does that do to your relationships?
  5. When people think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, they are often getting the wrong perspective. Discuss.

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SO YOU ARE HURT BY ANOTHER AND CAN’T FORGIVE?

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

REALationships # 2 –  16th June 2013 AM – LOVE FLOWS DOWNREALationship

This month the theme is – REALationships

In APRIL we spoke about being baptised with, filled with the Holy Spirit. Then later in MAY we continued that theme by sharing what it means to be led by the spirit. During that theme, we spoke about walking in the Spirit which means our behaviour follows the nature and character of God and of course the way we treat others is guided by how we love each other as Jesus loves us. This month JUNE we are expanding on that theme and focusing on REALationships.

Last week we spoke about the Divine Embrace, which is God’s great passion to have a people. 11 times in the bible He says about His people, “I will be their God and they will be my people.” What a blessing to host a real wedding right here in the service last Sunday to illustrate the great love Christ has for the Church amply demonstrated in every marriage as a type of Christ and the Church.

Being SPIRIT FILLED means being SPIRIT LED, and to be a really great church, we will love one another unconditionally. Our relationships will be a picture to others of the love of God that is shed abroad into our hearts. For us as DISCIPLES OF JESUS – IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT ME! When we are born again we have a new perspective (Phil 2:5) Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. That is the way of humility and serving others. Our joy comes from serving others because we have a new heart, and we are filled with a servant heart and a desire live for others. If we are ever offended we look to Jesus to heal us; and then to the offender and wonder, “How has the enemy or the destructive paths of life messed this person up, so that they are reacting badly to my detriment.” We love and forgive, and duly consider how we may be in error in some way or maybe we have not seen a need that needs to be met.

When you and I receive a Revelation of the love with which He loved us, then we are filled with that love, it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5) and we are full of the love that overflows and enables me to love my enemy, love the unloveable (which I was to God) and forgive my brother.

With PRIDE the FOCUS IS ON ME; with HUMILITY the FOCUS IS ON OTHERS

PARABLE OF THE TWO STEWARDS. – MATT 18:23-35

In this story the King who is owed a vast amount of money calls the steward who owes him and says, “Pay up!” The servant has no money so he begs for more time. The repayment is impossible, so the King makes a hugely gracious gift of forgiving the debt totally and wiping it out! (Do you get it?) The forgiven steward then goes out and accosts another steward who owes him a mere pittance and demands he pay up! When he to asks for more time, the first steward says, “No.” and puts him in jail! When the King hears of this he is rightly indignant and asks of the first steward, “Could you not have had mercy on your fellow steward as did for you?” and he casts the first steward into jail until he will pay out the reconstituted debt that he originally owed!!

The punch line is verse 35 where Jesus says that God will do likewise to us if we do not forgive our brother his trespasses. READ Vs 35 – Mat 18:35  So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses. (Matt 6:15; Mar 11:26.)

IMAGINE Your shock when, after you die, having lived a life as a Christian – you’re in hell and you realise that your enemy is in heaven!  Why? Because you did not forgive your brother his trespasses, and he, having trespassed against you, he is actually forgiven because he found Christ and held no grudges against his brethren.

Notice that your forgiving of your brother is “from your heart” so it’s not enough to mouth the words or even try to live above it, you must deep in your heart forgive, let go and love your brother who has sinned against you.

The IDEA is NOT that we all become perfect, BUT that we all become mature.

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.] The word Perfect in the Greek language of the Original New Testament is – G5046 – Telios = Complete, of full age, like a machine having all the parts for effective working.

MATURITY – means loving one another despite our imperfections. In fact we reach maturity by practicing forgiveness.

LOVING ONE ANOTHER IS THE MOST OBVIOUS EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIANS.

Joh 13:34  I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].

God’s plan is for your development (Ephes 4:14-16). He allows, even plans offences, to see if you can forgive and love. One story that illustrates this is Jesus and John Baptist in John 11. John asks, “Are you the one?” I suppose that John may have expected Jesus to visit him in jail since He expected others to do the same. (Matt 25:44) Jesus replies, “Blessed is he who is not offended in me.”

In Matt 18:21 Peter asks a question that we all wonder about, “How many times do I have to forgive my brother? 7 times?” Jesus replies, “Not 7 times; 70X7.” We need to understand what kind of love we are filled with.

If we are SPIRIT FILLED then let us go on and be SPIRIT LED and as the HOLY SPIRIT leads us He will enable us to WALK IN THE SPIRIT, which produces the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – LOVE, KINDNESS, PATIENCE, LONG SUFFEREINNG, SELF CONTROL.

These are all essential elements for loving one another.

WHY should we love one another?

–         By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples – it’s the way to win lost people.

–         Being in One accord means The Holy Spirit moves – He is the spirit of unity. Ps 133 – Unity blessing commanded. Acts 4:24 When the church were in one accord the place where they were praying was shaken. Shaking is no big deal but it demonstrates that God shows up big time when His people dwell together in unity.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Have you ever stopped to consider just how much you have been forgiven of?
  2. The parable of the two stewards in Matt 18 gives us the very clear message: Although our sins are great, God freely forgives them and the offences committed against us by our brethren are comparatively small – discuss this.
  3. Can you as a Christian hold any grudge or bitterness or unforgiveness against anyone and still be forgiven yourself?
  4. How can one forgive when they are deeply hurting from an offence?
  5. Discuss how sinners view the church when it practices loving one another.

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SEX AND THE SINGLE

Posted in Church, Culture Watch, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 9, 2013| 1 Comment »

REALationships #1 PM  –  Sunday 9th June 2013  – Sex and the singleboy meets girl

There’s no doubt that sex can be a wonderful experience! It can also be a negative experience and even a soul destroying experience.

I lost my virginity when I was 17. That’s not very early these days. More about me later.

The common experience of non-Christians in Australia today is around

33% year 10 students; and 60 % year 12 students report having oral sex.

25% year 10 and around 50% year 12 report vaginal sexual intercourse.

Rates for young men over the last six years have remained stable or fallen slightly, while for young women, rates have increased particularly among year 12 girls, rising from 46% to 61%. (2008 figures)

For more info go to:

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/documents/SSASH040809.pdf

Of course the world is sex mad and if you’re not doing it – there’s something wrong with you. The amount of sex on TV and in all forms of entertainment is ridiculous!

But what does the designer have to say about it? It’s not cool to have sex with someone you’re not committed to for life.

MY STORY

Chris and I got together in Year 11 at high school. Neither of us were Christians.

We began a sexual relationship in Year 12 at school when we were 17 years of age and had that kind of relationship for 3 years. Then something happened.

We were both born again when we were 20 years of age.

As we came to Christ it was such a powerful experience. We were born again and Jesus became so real to us. We were born again about two months when Chris said to me I think it’s wrong that we keep on having sex now that we are saved. I said, “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that, but yes it has been on my mind too.”

We stopped having sex. And we stayed apart sexually for 18 months till we got married.

Some singles might say to me – it’s difficult! How can you stop? For us it was easy.

We changed our values. We didn’t spend 18 months struggling with lustful passions. We changed the way we did life. During those 18 months we saw each other a few times every week but it was almost always in the company of others. We had great fun as we joined into a young adults group that was part of the church.

Chris lived for most of that time in a youth house with live in house parents. We were quite happy to be alone with each other but not behind closed doors. We could spend time talking about stuff in rooms with open doors that afforded privacy but without secrecy. In any event we didn’t want to get worked up and have unfulfilled desires. Love was about spending time together getting to know one another better and now that we were saved, talking lots about what life held for us now.

So what are God’s thoughts about sex and the single life?

1Co 7:1  NOW AS to the matters of which you wrote me. It is well [and by that I mean advantageous, expedient, profitable, and wholesome] for a man not to touch a woman [to cohabit with her] but to remain unmarried.

1Co 7:2  But because of the temptation to impurity and to avoid immorality, let each [man] have his own wife and let each [woman] have her own husband.

1Co 7:7  I wish that all men were like I myself am [in this matter of self-control]. But each has his own special gift from God, one of this kind and one of another.

1Co 7:8  But to the unmarried people and to the widows, I declare that it is well (good, advantageous, expedient, and wholesome) for them to remain [single] even as I do.

1Co 7:9  But if they have not self-control (restraint of their passions), they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame [with passion and tortured continually with ungratified desire]. (AMP)

Eph 5:5  For be sure of this: that no person practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life, or one who is covetous [who has lustful desire for the property of others and is greedy for gain]–for he [in effect] is an idolater–has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (AMP)

Listen to God’s wisdom, because sex has the power to create new life, that new life, in God’s mind, has a right to a good home with a mum and dad who are committed to each other and will bring that child up in the ways of God.

God is looking for covenant to be in place before the mystery of sex is released.

1Co 6:15  Until that time, remember that your bodies are created with the same dignity as the Master’s body. You wouldn’t take the Master’s body off to a whorehouse, would you? I should hope not.

1Co 6:16  There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.”

1Co 6:17  Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever–the kind of sex that can never “become one.”  (MESS)

Listen to some godly wisdom about the sex act and how different it is for men and women…

Go to: http://youtu.be/jL1l9ZtGC2w    Listen to the first 2:50 minutes.

Here’s the value changers.

  1. Hang with groups. Meet lots of people. Develop lots of different relationships as brothers and sisters. Don’t be quick to establish the “One and only”
  2. When you’re alone with a person of the opposite sex, put yourself out of the way of temptation. Be in a house with others, go out to a coffee shop, keep open doors between you and others.
  3. When you enter a love relationship, tell each other your boundaries and make an agreement to hold each other accountable to those boundaries.
  4. Develop your passions for God’s work, don’t let the world beguile you into thinking that sex is a measure of your happiness; or that you are missing out on something.
  5. Put the call of God first. That relationship is a seek first the kingdom one and God will add all these things to you.

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THE DIVINE EMBRACE

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

REALationships # 1  –  Sunday 9th June 2013 AM –  The Divine EmbraceREALationship

Have you ever fallen in love?

Do you remember the feeling of life and excitement that surges through your heart and emotions as you see someone in a different light to everyone else in your life?

God designed you to fall in love like that.

Have you ever broken up with someone, whether it was your decision or theirs and you literally feel like you’re going to die?

That’s because God designed you to have someone beside you.

God designed every single human being for REALationship.

Gen 2:18  The LORD God said, “It isn’t good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him.” (CEV)

You are made for relationship. You are designed to have another close to you and share your life with you.

My heart truly goes out to people who have lost their partner. I pray that over time they will find someone to share their life with. This is one of the most difficult challenges in life, losing your partner. My mum lost her husband and my father when she was only 36 and I was only seven years old. I saw how brave she was to build a family and look after a disabled daughter and her son as a single mother. I am a much richer person for her exceptionally positive outlook on life.

So let’s go back to the thought that you are designed for relationship. Where does that originate from? It’s from God Himself.

Eleven times God says in the bible, “I will be their God,” referring to His people and, “they shall be my people.”

THIS IS WHAT I CALL THE DIVINE EMBRACE

2Co 6:16  And what agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Deep in the heart of God He desires to have a relationship with people. With you! In the bible account of creation, God makes man and woman. It says Gen 3:8  And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The first man and woman were used to having conversation with God and time with Him in the cool of the day. When they choose to disobey Him and take from the tree of Good and Evil, God was forced to drive them out of their first home in the Garden and into the wilderness to till the ground, so that they will not reach out and take the tree of life and live forever in this fallen state.

I can imagine it broke God’s heart to drive His friends away from the peace and joy they had known. Can you see how God knows the pain of separation?  That break in relationship causes real pain. If you are suffering pain today because of loss of relationship, God knows your pain, He cares for you, He has an answer for you.

God longs for relationship with you. We are created in His image and after His likeness so that we can walk with Him in relationship where we share our lives with each other. This is so far from religion it’s not funny! Religion is keeping a form and ceremony. It’s following a set tradition, a ritual of observance and there’s no deep conversation with the one you love, it’s all about going through the motions because that’s how you were taught to do it.

Religion is a bit like a marriage that lost its spark a long time ago; and now you’re just going through the motions because it’s too painful to do anything else. If you have been stuck in religion for some time, God has an answer for you… To fall in love with Jesus.

Do you have any idea how much God loves you? Do you have any idea how deeply He desires to be there for you and be your companion? Let me show you how God sees it.

Eph 5:31  As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother to get married, and he becomes like one person with his wife.”

Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery, but I understand it to mean Christ and his church. (CEV)

The most intimate relationship on earth is the marriage union between a man and a woman. When you see that relationship at its best you see a picture of the relationship between Christ and His church. Can there be a more intimate relationship than that?

God invented marriage and He wants us to see it in all its glory and splendour and see that’s how God wants it with us.

Eph 5:22  A wife should put her husband first, as she does the Lord.

Eph 5:23  A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head and the Savior of the church, which is his own body.

Eph 5:24  Wives should always put their husbands first, as the church puts Christ first.

Eph 5:25  A husband should love his wife as much as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.

Today we are going to witness a real marriage. Right here, right now a young couple are going to be married. I want you to see this marriage as a picture of the love that God has for you and the devotion that you can have for God.

GOD USES THE PICTURE OF A MARRIAGE TO SHOW THE REALITY OF THE INTIMACY HE DESIRES TO HAVE WITH HIS PEOPLE . OBVIOUSLY WE ARE NOT TALKING SEXUAL BUT CLOSENESS AND DEVOTION AND COMMITMENT AND COMMUNICATION.

CALL TO RESPOND TO JESUS

In every wedding you witness a picture of the love, intimacy, hopes and joy of companionship that God desires to have with you.

To come to this place of true commitment Both Robert and Rebecca had to forgive each other for things they had done wrong. That allowed them to give themselves fully to each other in trust and commitment expecting that they can now build a future together.

In the same way to come to God we must be forgiven of things we have done that have prevented the relationship between you and God. God loves you. He desired so much to receive you as His son or daughter that he sent Jesus to die for you. Jesus was punished for your sins and my sins on the cross. This was so that he could satisfy God’s justice for all sins to be punished. We have sinned and the punishment we rightly deserve has been given to Jesus who stood in our place. Now that’s love and that’s commitment. Even before we responded God already sent Jesus to die for us.

He’s asking you today will you take me as your God and saviour. Will you give your life to me?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Discuss what it may have felt like for God to drive Adam and Eve from the garden following their disobedience.

2. Eleven Times God says, “I will be their God and They shall be my people” Discuss how much God longs for a people to be His own.

3.  If a marriage is a picture of Christ and His church, describe how a relationship with God should look from God’s point of view.

4. What does intimacy look like in a spiritual relationship between God and  believer?

5. How do you feel about your level of Intimacy with God in your own life?

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HOW TO LISTEN WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

LED BY THE SPIRIT # 3 – HOW TO LISTEN WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO HEARtalk_to_the_hand_by_coppy_cat

PREACHING FOR SUNDAY 19TH MAY 2013 AM

REVISION

We want to be a Spirit filled and a Spirit led church. We want to be open to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead and have His way in us. God has designed human beings to be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit.  In April our theme was about being Baptised in the Holy Spirit. The number one reason we need this experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is so that we can be a witness. We learned that at salvation our own human spirit is recreated by the Holy Spirit. We learned that being baptised in the Spirit is a secondary experience to being born again and we learned about the power and value of praying in other tongues.

This month we have shared the wonder of being led by the Spirit of God. In week 1 we learned 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. In week 2 we learned that being led by the Holy Spirit helps us build relationships with each other as we show the fruit of the Spirit.

Today I want to share with you how to listen when you don’t wan to hear. Here’s our story.

2Sa 11:1  IN THE spring, when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab with his servants and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites [country] and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

2Sa 11:2  One evening David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, when from there he saw a woman bathing; and she was very lovely to behold.

2Sa 11:3  David sent and inquired about the woman. One said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

2Sa 11:4  And David sent messengers and took her. And she came in to him, and he lay with her–for she was purified from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house.

2Sa 11:5  And the woman became pregnant and sent and told David, I am with child.

2Sa 11:6  David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. So Joab sent [him] Uriah.

In our sordid little tale of a King who is staying home from war and finding himself up to no good; he actually arranges for this innocent husband to be killed in the battle and later King David marries Bathsheba. Her baby dies and later she bears David a child who is Solomon the future King.

Think with me for a moment about the mindset of a king. A king in this culture has all power. He can pretty much do anything he wants and is essentially above the law. In the story of Esther we see that coming into the presence of the king unannounced may lead to death if the king does not point his sceptre at you. Certainly no one ever comes to the king to challenge him or criticise him. So imagine the fear in the heart of Nathan the prophet who comes to challenge David with a word from God.

2Sa 12:1  AND THE Lord sent Nathan to David. He came and said to him, There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor.

2Sa 12:2  The rich man had very many flocks and herds,

2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb which he had bought and brought up, and it grew up with him and his children. It ate of his own morsel, drank from his own cup, lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him.

2Sa 12:4  Now a traveller came to the rich man, and to avoid taking one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.

2Sa 12:5  Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is a son [worthy] of death.

2Sa 12:6  He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no pity.

2Sa 12:7  Then Nathan said to David, You are the man!

Nathan goes on to describe the judgements of God against David for his sins. His actions will result in many regrettable outcomes.  Now watch how David reacts to this news; and remember how kings have a mindset that they are above the law and can do what ever they please.

2Sa 12:13  And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

In Psalm 51 David prays for forgiveness and repents deeply of his sins, saying “against you and you only, Oh God, have I sinned and done this evil in your sight.”

King David was able to listen when he didn’t want to hear. He was able to repent although he had sinned so greatly. He must have ignored every warning light in his heart as he lay with Bathsheba and later had her husband killed. His was a position of power over. His sin was greater because of his position.

This is why I believe God calls David a man after God’s own heart.

Act 13:22  And when He had deposed him, He raised up David to be their king; of him He bore witness and said, I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart, who will do all My will and carry out My program fully.

I believe God says this, not because David is a good man but because David was able to be moved by the Spirit of God. King David was able to listen when he didn’t want to hear.

Can you listen when you don’t want to hear?

When was the last time the Holy Spirit tapped you on the shoulder and said, “You’re wrong!”  Have you ignored warnings that go off in your heart? David’s attitude is also our attitude when we contemplate going outside the guidelines the Holy Spirit wants to bring to our lives. I can do it we say! I can do what I want. We become our own little king. It’s called pride. A heart overtaken in pride will find it very hard to hear correction.

Pro 15:10  Correction is grievous to him who forsakes the way; he who hates reproof shall die. (MKJV)

Humility is a choice, but it’s harder when we are not used to cultivating a life of humility. If we are used to getting our own way – that’s the flesh! The flesh life or the carnal life doesn’t recognise the leading of the Holy Spirit. The spirit life or the life of the Spirit is in sync, in tune with the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes when we go off track we need to be open to the Holy Spirit to show us where we are wrong and repent quickly.

Psa 139:23  Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

Psa 139:24  And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Are you like David? Open? Teachable? Able to be turned? Able to listen when you don’t want to hear?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Discuss how being a king meant that David had great power over others and this power made it difficult to hear a contrary opinion.
  2. Discuss how Nathan the prophet would have felt coming to see David and being commanded by God to correct the king.
  3. Why did Nathan tell a story that seemed unrelated to David’s sin?
  4. Discuss how David responded to Nathans approach.
  5. David repented deeply, still Bathsheba’s baby died; why do you think that is?

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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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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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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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Deep Love for God’s Word

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

Deep Love for God’s Wordwilliam_tyndale

Message Sunday 20 January 2013 PM

How powerful and beautiful are God’s words?

Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

Psa 19:8  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

Psa 19:9  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Psa 19:10  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Psa 19:11  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

How much do you love God’s word?

Would you exchange a big lump of Gold for it?

Would you rather have a meal of Honey (Or plate of prawns, or a wagu fillet steak etc) or a serve of God’ word?

God’s word is so important that He says if anyone tries to change it they will be cursed.

Rev 22:18  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,

Rev 22:19  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Would you be prepared to die so that other people could read the bible?

Let me tell you about the life of William Tyndale

William Tyndale was the Captain of the Army of Reformers, and was their spiritual leader. Tyndale holds the distinction of being the first man to ever print the New Testament in the English language. Tyndale was a true scholar and a genius, so fluent in eight languages; Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, English, and German that it was said one would think any one of them to be his native tongue. He is frequently referred to as the “Architect of the English Language”, (even more so than William Shakespeare) as so many of the phrases Tyndale coined are still in our language today.

Tyndale’s translation was the first English Bible to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, the first English one to take advantage of the printing press, and first of the new English Bibles of the Reformation, so that the grass-roots spread of Wycliffe’s Bible resulted in a death sentence for any unlicensed possession of Scripture in English

Tyndale said, “If God spare my life ere many years, I will cause the boy that drives the plow to know more of the scriptures than the Roman Catholic Bishop!”

In 1535, Tyndale was arrested and jailed in the castle of Vilvoorde (Filford) outside Brussels for over a year. In 1536 he was convicted of heresy and executed by strangulation, after which his body was burnt at the stake. His dying request that the King of England’s eyes would be opened seemed to find its fulfilment just two years later with Henry’s authorization of The Great Bible for the Church of England—which was largely Tyndale’s own work. Hence, the Tyndale Bible, as it was known, continued to play a key role in spreading Reformation ideas across the English-speaking world and eventually, on the global British Empire. His version also worked prominently into the Geneva Bible which was taken to the New World, to  Jamestown in 1607, and on the Mayflower in 1620. Notably, in 1611, the 54 independent scholars who created the King James Version, drew significantly from Tyndale, as well as translations that descended from his. One estimate suggests the New Testament in the King James Version is 83% Tyndale’s, and the Old Testament 76%.[7]

Other martyrs

In Tyndale’s time the church service throughout England was still conducted in Latin, as was the practice of the Roman church everywhere.  Colet, England’s greatest New  Testament scholar and  professor of  that  date  at  Oxford University, Tyndale’s chief teacher and bishop of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, was denounced for teaching his congregation to  recite  the  Lord’s Prayer in English.  Colet advocated also that the preaching be done in English, but this was not tolerated.  In 1539

five  Scotchmen were burned at  the stake in Edinburgh for studying,  memorizing,  and preaching from the Bible.  One of them was charged with teaching his parishion-

ers to say the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments in English. Taverner  who  published  an  English Bible  in 1539,  was  at  an  earlier time, while  a  student at  Oxford, imprisoned for  reading Tyndale’s New  Testament. Marbeck, who in 1550 published the first concordance to  the  English Bible, narrowly scaped being  put to  death. Thomas Matthew, who published  an English  Bible  in  1537,

the  year  following Tyndale’s martyrdom, was like  him burned at the stake in

1555. (http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3135994.pdf?acceptTC=true

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