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Posts Tagged ‘Craig Anderson’

LOVE ONLINE

Posted in Church, Culture Watch, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

LOVE ANOTHER  5PMonline dating

LOVE ONLINE

FINDING LOVE

Proverbs 18:22 The Message (MSG) – Find a good spouse, you find a good life —
and even more: the favour of God!

Dating websites abound. Figures released last week from Fairfax-owned RSVP’s annual Date of the Nation report show Australians have reached a tipping point – 51 per cent of us have tried finding love online or would consider it a viable match-making option. While not a direct comparison, the same report in 2010 showed that just 25 per cent of Australians had used online dating. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/online-dating-the-marriage-maker-20130709-2pmv0.html#ixzz2xPlp7MAu

What is the reason? People find it hard to find a friend because they don’t know who’s looking and they hate rejection. Perhaps the stigma attached to it has largely gone, with the surge due to our increasingly time-poor, technology-driven lives and the fact online dating is now an accepted part of popular culture. Now we are over the 50 per cent mark, it’s really suggesting it’s becoming commonplace.

The upside. Quality websites that have a good reputation do personality matching. You have a much higher chance of meeting someone that firstly wants a relationship and secondly is more suited to you. American survey released last month of 19,000 people, which showed those who met their partners online were happier and less likely to divorce.

The downside. It’s only works if the person has been honest. You can meet someone who takes you down. If you’re easily influenced then it’s dangerous for you. When you go online with your personal details, there is only a 1 in 6 chance a man will respond to a woman’s message regardless of her age. [44]; however the average man has only a 1 in 25 chance a woman will respond to his message on a dating site. [44]; and 54% of dating site users have found someone who has misrepresented themselves in their dating profile. [49]

Long distance relationships. What if Mr. Right lives in Bolivia? If Miss Right lives in California?

It can be very expensive.

The stats are on your side if you use a reputable website and you are prepared to stick at it and meet a few people.

DANGEROUS LOVE

Love is dangerous on the net when:

  1. You are looking for relationship and you meet a predator.  Recently a world-wide porn ring was busted and some victims were Australia teens. http://www.echo.net.au/2014/03/aust-victims-massive-us-child-porn-ring/
  2. Pornography gets a grip on you. The stats for porn use among teens and adults in Australia is high and rising. Strangely the porn use addiction is much worse among Christians than among non Christians. The Christian psychologist and internationally known speaker Robi Sonderegger reports that studies on the human brain show that addictions are harder to break when the victim suffers shame and guilt. The non- Christian may actually believe there’s nothing wrong with watching porn as long they keep it under control. However very authentic Christian believer knows the word of God has string warnings against un cleanses and sexual immorality. This means that once the Christian crosses the line in temptation,the guilt and shame that kicks in almost guarantees that the victim will go back to those prohibited images. http://phot-o-live.livejournal.com/83819.html
  3. Bullying takes away love. When your communications on line are not building you up – take decisive action. The bully hides behind a made up identity or they may be a real person but they hide behind a remote screen where they think what they says is funny or makes them feel bigger. When you get bullied, do this…
    1. Tell someone, show someone the comment. Never walk through this alone.
    2. Record the comment.
    3. Warn the bully, it’s not appropriate, if it continues you will take action.
    4. If it continues, unfriend, block, and remove the link in what ever way you can.
    5. If they continue someway, call the local police and report the bullying and show the recordings you have (screenshots etc)

 

SHARING LOVE

When sharing love the best way to get a read on someone is face to face, then phone call, then written. What you see written online has potential to be misread. A text or Facebook comment does not contain facial expression, body language, or tone of voice. That means that when you share your love and friendship online it needs to be very clear.

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:9, 10 NLT)

If you’re going to vent, never make it personal. You can say you’re ticked with the MYKI system but not with an individual.   Why are people sometimes so rude online? The Wall Street Journal shows some research about it here: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444592404578030351784405148

We’re less inhibited online because we don’t have to see the reaction of the person we’re addressing, says Sherry Turkle, psychologist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of the social studies of science and technology. Because it’s harder to see and focus on what we have in common, we tend to dehumanize each other, she says.

Astoundingly, Dr. Turkle says, many people still forget that they’re speaking out loud when they communicate online.

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I PRAYED FOR YOU TODAY!

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

LOVE ANOTHER # 5AMLOVE ANOTHER

WORDS OF LOVE

This month our theme of Love Another is a powerful encouragement to turn our love loose on one another in the same manner that Jesus loves us. We determine to love the brothers and sisters that God has placed us with. You can’t choose your relatives in the natural sense and neither can you in the spiritual sense. God places us together. Any reluctance to love a certain annoying brother or sister reveals the tendency in us to fail to see ourselves as we are. It’s not all about you! As a church we are continuously others focussed.

Today we are focussing on words of love.

How would you like to help create such a powerful atmosphere of love and encouragement that whenever members of this church gather together on Friday night, Sunday or in Urban Connect Groups that people always leave feeling uplifted, inspired and loved? Do you realise you are all ministers of the Spirit? You are creating the culture and atmosphere of this local church by what you say and do when gathered together? Our words can be uplifting or they can be hurtful. Being sensitive to others is part of love, realising how people hear or receive what you say is important also. As Australians we are good at sarcasm, but it only works when trust is high.

EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL AUSSIE-SPEAK

A red head is called – “Bluey”

A really tall bloke can be referred to as “Shorty”

A big overweight bloke as “Tiny”

If you’re going to use this kind of approach with people, only do it when you have built up a deep trusting friendship first.

There is a powerful tool we have at our disposal. The words of our mouth. Let’s look at James 3:1-12

Dear brothers and sisters,[a] not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.[b]

7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.[c]  (NLT)

Your words are very powerful! Love another means being kind with your words. With our words we can bless another. Ephesians 4:29-31 trains us in the way we speak to one another:

29 Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

31 Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).(AMP)

Do you know the power of your words? When you criticise attack and vilify another person when they are not there, you are speaking words into the air, there’s passion behind them and that constitutes prayer of the most destructive kind.

 

Your words are not just sound waves but they have spiritual effect! John 6:63 teaches us that: It is the Spirit Who gives life [He is the Life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever [there is no profit in it]. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life. (AMP)

So your words are powerful and have spiritual impact. When we curse or talk negatively about one another we make room for demonic forces to attack and hinder God’s people.  Look at this unusual verse in Ecclesiastes 10:20

Curse not the king, no, not even in your thoughts, and curse not the rich in your bedchamber, for a bird of the air will carry the voice, and a winged creature will tell the matter.(AMP)

Loving another is more than just not gossiping or not talking negatively; it’s speaking words of life over them. It means speaking words of encouragement to people and also about them to others when they are not there.

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER

The best way to let your words be loving and up-building is to pray for your brothers and sisters. Your prayers are very powerful. In our local church often members are asking for prayer through Facebook or by calling the church or me or John personally. We send out prayer requests on email or if it’s not sensitive in nature on Facebook at the church group page and people begin to pray. Often there is a positive result.

James 5:16 Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].(AMP)

Often Paul asks for prayer, and it’s not only the leaders that need prayer, we all do. This is especially the work of our small groups called Urban Connect groups. When your part of an UC group your fellow members will be praying for you. UC leaders I ask that you pray for your members regularly, every day if possible. Listen to Paul’s requests:

1 Thess 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.

2 Thess 3:1 Furthermore, brethren, do pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may speed on (spread rapidly and run its course) and be glorified (extolled) and triumph, even as [it has done] with you,(AMP)

Heb 13:18 Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good (clear) conscience, that we want to walk uprightly and live a noble life, acting honorably and in complete honesty in all things.(AMP)

When you love people, you pray for them. How do you pray for another.

  1. Pray for blessing, grace and favour; for God’s mercy to be poured out on them.
  2. Pray the Lord’s will be done. (Luke 11:2 When you pray, say: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.)
  3. Specifically for their prayer request, calling to remembrance the scriptures that promise answers.

Don’t pray against anyone, all men are precious to God, pray and bind demonic forces. Matt 16:19  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[d] in heaven.(ESV)

Famous Korean Pastor Dr. Yonghi Cho was preaching on prayer once and remarked how he was so upset with his deacons that he wanted to pray – “Dear God, Please give them a heart attack!” Try to avoid prayers like that one. A really powerful way to pray for others is to ask for God’s mercy to be poured out on them.

KIDS PRAYERS – They are so honest with their prayers.

Dear God, I went to this wedding and they were kissing right there in church. Is that OK?
Dear God, thank You for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.
Dear God, it must be super hard to love all the people in the world, especially my brother. I don’t know how You do it.
Dear God, Did you mean for a Giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?                                                                                                                 Dear God, I think about you sometimes even when I’m not praying.                                                                                                                               Dear God, If you give me a genie lamp, like Aladdin, I will give you anything you want, except my money or my chess set.                     Dear God, If you watch in church on Sunday I’ll show you my new shoes.

Make room in your prayer life to pray for your brothers and sisters in your own local church regularly. As you pray for one another, you are exercising love. AS God answers these prayers, blessings flow and the church edifies itself growing up I love.

WHAT NOW?

Keep your words to one another sweet and encouraging. Don’t speak negatively about one another behind their backs. Make a habit to pray for others.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How would you define gossip?

2. Why is gossip destructive?

3. What should your response be when someone speaks negatively about another brother or sister to you?

4.  How do you feel when you know others are praying for you?

5. How can you make room in your life to pray for others?

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THOU SHALT NOT COMPARE

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Leaders Training, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

LOVE ANOTHER # 3AMLOVE ANOTHER

THOU SHALT NOT COMPARE

What a great year it is this year as we journey through the theme of LOVE. A whole year of unpacking the subject of love in 12 different sub-themes.

This month’s theme of “Love Another” is one of the key love themes for the year. When we love one another as Christ loved us, we demonstrate that we are His disciples. This is much more powerful than we realise! If unbelievers have any criticism of church folk at all, what is it that they most commonly say?

  1. They are all hypocrites
  2. All they do is fight among themselves.

Jesus shows us the example of loving another, whether that person is a Christian or not. We are called to love the brethren, love those who are lost and far from God, and even to love our enemies! Is there anyone left? However, the real power to change the world is how we treat each other within the church because this has the greatest power to demonstrate the reality of Jesus and His truth about eternal life.

Wouldn’t you love to be part of a church that reaches many lost people? I know you have a heart for the lost. I want to show you how that can happen today.

This is one of the key factors that led to my own conversion at the age of 20. To see the Christians really loving each other unconditionally in the church really stood out to me as being so very different from the world; and I gave my life to Christ.

Let’s look carefully at this verse together:

John 13:33-35

33 [Dear] little children, I am to be with you only a little longer. You will look for Me and, as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: you are not able to come where I am going.

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.

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].

The context here is that Jesus is about to depart (He went to the cross the next day) so His words take on amplified importance as summing up those very important messages to remember before He goes. Jesus says it’s a new Commandment – but how is it new? When Leviticus 19:18 says You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord. Matthew Henry explains it like this: “it was the second great commandment of the law of Moses; yet, because it is also one of the great commandments of the New Testament, of Christ the new Lawgiver, it is called a new commandment; it is like an old book in a new edition corrected and enlarged. This commandment has been so corrupted by the traditions of the Jewish religion that when Christ revived it, and set it in a true light, it might well be called a new commandment.”

This new commandment is a refreshed and renewed and reinstated commandment, that was to be applied with renewed purpose to your brethren as being apart from, and distinct from, your neighbour (as in the story of the good Samaritan where Jesus clearly said the neighbour was anyone who was close by to you whether of your own kind of people or not). The point Jesus clearly wanted to make in John 13:35 was our love for one another is a key factor in the spreading of the Gospel. So here’s our incentive to win the lost, perfect the practice of loving one another in church.

When the love of God has come into your life and radically changed you; you are full of that love. There is plenty to go around and you can love your brothers and sisters no matter what obstacles might be in the way. The evidence of changed lives is that we love one another. Of the myriad of fallen human attitudes that might be evident in people, the Love of God overwhelms these in the truly converted believer. The light goes on and the revelation of who we are as fallen creatures, and in need of forgiveness, overwhelms our prideful disposition and we see all God’s people as trophies of His grace and marvel at the wonder of God, instead of the prideful view of seeing ourselves better than someone else.

To be clear – it’s an evidence that you are saved when you love the brethren. Loving people is easy when you’ve been filled with His love. Salvation opens our eyes with humility to see each other as precious to God.

One of the great obstacles to loving each other is comparing. When we compare ourselves with others we make a grave error that holds back our Christian growth.

Look at his verse with me: 2 Cor 10:12 Not that we [have the audacity to] venture to class or [even to] compare ourselves with some who exalt and furnish testimonials for themselves! However, when they measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding and behave unwisely. (AMP)

When we look at another Christian there is often an overwhelming temptation to judge and assess them in comparison to ourselves. We surreptitiously look them up and down and draw conclusions based on flimsy evidence that they are better or worse than us.  Jesus covers this idea when He says: Luke 6:41-42 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye but do not notice or consider the beam [of timber] that is in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye? You actor (pretender, hypocrite)! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

The fault of the man with the beam in his eye is that he has not examined himself before examines another. This is obvious only to the other and not to himself. Jesus calls this person a hypocrite – one who pretends to be something they are not. Love accepts people as they are and when that becomes difficult, we are very careful to check ourselves out first before we go and help someone else see where they need to change. Remember advice unsolicited is seldom taken.

Comparing is unhelpful in two ways, looking down on someone or looking up.

Comparing ourselves to another by looking down on them is not love. We are caught in the web of pride, and we can’t see the reality of who we are, next to God, a person who has many faults. Look with me at Galatians 6:2-5                                                                    2 Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it].

3 For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.

4 But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor.

5 For every person will have to bear (be equal to understanding and calmly receive) his own [little] load [of oppressive faults].(AMP)

How then should we treat a person who is vastly annoying or has sinned and created a problem for us? Galatians 6:1 answers us this way: Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.(AMP)

The idea comes through again here that we keep an eye on ourselves right through the whole process – that’s humility. The practice of judging another is condemned by Jesus in Matt 7:1 Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.

2 For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.(AMP)

As one becomes more and more mature, the gift of discernment carries no condemnation with it, but an ability to see beyond the surface and understand the spiritual realities behind the façade in a persons’ life. The outcome of that discernment is always for the betterment of the person being ministered to. Check out this verse; 1 Cor 2:15  But the spiritual man tries all things [he [a]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].(AMP)

Comparing up can be just as dangerous for a Christian. When we observe another who is blessed – do we envy? When observe someone who is successful in their walk of faith do we compare our own results and put ourselves down? This is a common trap for pastors who sometimes get their self-worth from the size of their church. Am I a failure if I don’t have a church the size of so and so’s church?  As a believer, if everyone in church seems to be doing so much better than you, do you put yourself down, curse yourself and want to give up? Or do you recognise each one has their own call and journey with God and that we will all be judged on what Jesus called us to do as individuals not what He called someone else to do. Remember some people have to climb a ladder to reach the bottom!

When interacting with your brother or sister, get to know their story. You will most likely take on a real appreciation for them and see them in a different light. This is so much the case in Urban Connect groups. Let me tell you about Anna, who attended our church many years ago. An older lady who was born in Hungary. She had some broken relationships and tough times but she deeply loved God. When she told us her story of being a young girl in her home at the end of WWII and German soldiers coming in and raping her sister. She took the gun of one soldier and shot and killed him. Some people live through very dark times, and we take on a new appreciation for them as having survived and found Christ and now living what we think is a fairly normal life.

Let me tell you about Jimmy. He came to a John Mellor meeting in our church and was quite strange in how he spoke and interacted with people. It seemed a bit off-putting. Then John Mellor told his story. He has been suffering with Schizophrenia for so many years and doctors believed he would never come out of hospital. After prayer he has made significant improvement. While he may not appear to our version of “Normal” he has made so much progress and now has much to look forward to. When you know the journey some people have been through you realise what a long way they have come. I love the bumper sticker: Please be patient with me, God hasn’t finished yet!”

One of the great comparison traps we fall into at church is not listening to the message. We are apt to say, “I hope so and so is listening to this message – they sure need it!” This act of comparison says I’ve got it all together, but all these losers around me better take on board what the pastor is saying! Familiarity can breed contempt when we say “I’ve heard that message before” OR, “I know that passage back to front and I know what it says.” Really, that’s religion talking and we miss what the Holy Spirit wants to say to us at that point. I love the disciples’ attitude at the last supper when Jesus tells them, “One of you will betray me.” And one by one they say to Jesus, “Is it I Lord?” Wouldn’t you know if you had it in your heart to betray Jesus? Yet none of them dared trust themselves, but stayed open to God that maybe that word from Jesus was for them. This is how we must come to church and to the preaching time every week, Holy Spirit talk to me, show me what you want me to do and to change.

What now? What impact has this message made on you? Let’s examine our own heart and see; how do we treat others in this church? Do we have a love for each and every person in this local church? Do we ever compare ourselves with someone and feel superior? Turn the mirror of the word around to see yourself like the disciples did. What do you see?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  Why do we find it so easy to judge others?

2. Have you ever been mistaken about someone and thought differently about them after you heard the facts about their life?

3. Have you ever been misjudged? What did that feel like?

4. What do think the verse is talking about above (Galatians 2:5) when it say OUR own little load of oppressive faults?

5. What plans can you make to love each other in the Urban Connect group you are in?

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DO YOU LOVE ME?

Posted in Church, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

LOVE ROMANCES # 4 PM pay_the_price

Do you love me?

When your significant other asks you the question, “Do you really love me?” We cringe and think – “Yes, well of course I do, but where is this leading?”  “What do you want?” “Well…” They answer sheepishly, “You know that diamond ring I’ve been looking at in the Michael Hill jewellers store lately? Well, it’s on sale at half price!”

Now we pit the depth of love for the little lady against the depth of love we have for the three thousand dollars we have saved up; and all the different things that money could do instead of buying a diamond ring. Life is full of choices like that.

“Do you love me?” Your mother says to you. “Then you’ll be home by 11 o’clock tonight.”

“Do you love me?” Your husband says to you. “Then you’ll let me go on this fishing trip with the boys to wolf creek.”

“Do you love me?” Your work colleague says to you in the corridor at work? “Then cover for me doing this extra shift, so I can go to a wedding interstate.”

“Do you love me?” Your old school friend says to you. “Then you’ll let me stash this stolen property in your garage for a couple of days while I find a place to stay then I’ll move it back.”

There’s the love commitment; and there’s always the cost.

Jesus said to Peter the disciple, “Do you love me?”

What a question! Loaded with so many expectations. When Jesus asks do you love Him, that’s totally different to anyone else in this world asking, do you love me? What’s more difficult is that Peter had just let Jesus down big time. Like, really let him down! Like betrayal at the big moment in Jesus’ life when He really needed support.

No pressure Peter, but “do you love me?”

There’s a cost, there’s always a cost. Peter was waiting for the cost. What would it be?

  • Confess my sin to all the disciples?
  • Give away all my money and possessions like Jesus asked of the rich young ruler?
  • Go back and tell the Roman guards that, Yes. I was the one who was with Jesus.

No; the cost was just this, Feed my sheep. – is that it? Is that all? Is that your best shot?

That is a statement of purpose. Jesus is always on purpose. Not a “make-you-feel-good” purpose, a kingdom purpose.

So I’ll ask you this same question tonight. Do you love Jesus?

Yes there is a cost. Will you baulk at it? Will you say yes now, and walk away later? Will you genuinely and sincerely mean yes now, but just never pay the price and have endless excuses as to why it was too hard for you?

Do you love me Peter, was followed by the next two times Jesus asked the same question. Peter was wondering why that was necessary. Didn’t Jesus believe him the first time? As usual Jesus had a reason for asking the same thing three times, and whether it was because Peter denied Him three times or not; it worked! Peter was restored and not just one of the boys but the lead preacher and top disciple in Jesus band of unlikely world changers.

You see Jesus prepared Peter for the kind of cost that he would later be asked to when He goes on to say, John 21:18 “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, when you were young you girded yourself [put on your own belt or girdle] and you walked about wherever you pleased to go. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will put a girdle around you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” There was going to be a cost for Peter to pay, and it was more than any of us will ever pay.

Are you ready for the question? Do you love Jesus? Sure there’s a price to pay when you answer that Question. So, will you answer it?

Paul talks about the price of that question when he says, Phil 3:7-8 7 But whatever former things I had, that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [[a]one combined] loss for Christ’s sake.

8 Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

This is why we read the bible…. This kind of statement is loaded with so much truth and value as to what it means to follow Jesus. Do you love Him? It will cost you everything.

Teeny price I have paid, left well paid career, abused for following Christ, punched twice, endured hardship. What price will you pay to follow Jesus?

Jesus is asking you, “Do you love me?” The answer is in your heart. And if you want to know whether you do already love Him here’s the test….

John 14:15 If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. (AMP)

The story of Brother Yun in China shows pretty much the ultimate price a man could pay to follow Jesus. (Read the book) If you love Jesus in Australia today there may come some ridicule or maybe even some workplace bullying or persecution, but we get it pretty easy. Still there is a price to pay and that’s “Not my will but yours be done” – It’s all the things you want to do in your life but it isn’t what Jesus wants for you.

Sometimes obeying Jesus commands is dead easy, other times it takes every bit of courage and strength you’ve got. So what’ll it be? Do you love Him or not?

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LIVING A LIFE OF PRAISE

Posted in Church, Culture Watch, Equip the Saints, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 22, 2014| 1 Comment »

LOVE ROMANCES #4 AMLOVE ROMANCES

LIVING A LIFE OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP

RECAP:

YEAR LONG THEME IS LOVE. This year our church is focusing on Love for a whole year. Twelve different aspects of it.

This month’s them is Love Romances. It’s about loving God. We spoke about King David being a worshiper. His life was so powerfully successful. Why? He was a worshiper. He was called a man after God’s own Heart. He was a man’s man and he was a worshipper. Real men worship God!

Last week end we had one of the most successful inc movement Christian music ministry people (Ps. Aaron Lucas) speak to us about the War for your Worship and a Worship Encounter last Sunday night.

Living a life of praise and worship is what we call normal Christianity. Any person who has truly encountered God will be a worshipper. Look at Peter in Luke 5 – falls to his knees and says depart from me – I am a sinful man. To see God as He really is means we see ourselves in contrast and we are undone. What does worship mean? It’s used 15 times in Psalms alone. Here are some meanings translated as worship: Bow down, to stoop, to humbly beseech.

Church is not a spectator sport! We are here to praise and worship God, to enter in, to join with others in a meeting place with the creator of the universe! We can worship according to religious tradition or according to the bible. Many people have a deep love for tradition and it limits them to experience only part of what God has for them. So many Christians grew up without biblical praise and worship and are embarrassed by Christians who worship according to the scriptures. If we come together as a people and praise God and worship God together, great and awesome things will happen.

Remember the story of Jehoshaphat.(2 Chron 20:21-22) God inhabits the praises of His people. David Hogan, a pastor in Mexico has such incredible praise and worship that they sing nonstop for over eight hours, and then the presence and power of God falls so powerfully that every person in a half mile radius is laid out on the ground under the power of God.

In church I encourage you don’t come as a spectator but enter in. Don’t be afraid to be foolish in the presence of God. True passion and enthusiasm is not viewed as off putting by non-Christians but is a powerful witness of true believers.

Story: One of my sons at the age of about 7 began his basketball career standing just inside the sideline, fearful of venturing onto the court.

Our movement, inc/COC probably more than any other movement in the history of Australia was the most expressive in praise and worship. We were known for dancing in church, raising hands, shouting praise, falling down under the power of God etc. We were heavily criticised and vilified by most other denominations including other Pentecostal groups. Why were we extreme? Because we had a passion to obey the scripture.

Remember the definition of a fanatic is someone who loves Jesus more than you do.

This is what biblical praise and worship looks like:

Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (ESV)

What Gates? The gates of heaven! The gates of righteousness. The gates are the outer area, the first place we approach God, we are not even in His throne room yet. Thanks is powerful. It’s for God and it’s for you. Jesus said – Rejoice that your names are written down in the book!

Thirty-Eight times the book of Psalms encourages us to give thanks!

Ps 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. (ESV)

After we are in through the gates, now step two is praise.

Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (ESV)

The outer courts are where the house of the Lord begins. The idea is we are coming closer to the ultimate destination – the holy of holies, the throne of God, the place of intimacy. Is that what you came to church for? If not why not? What did you come to church for?

Thanks, now Praise. Words for praise are meaning to: raise hands, play an instrument, to sing, to shine, to boast, to be clamorously foolish, to celebrate,

How do we express praise?

  • Come into the church – the house of the Lord –Ps 134 :1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
  • Clap hands: Ps 47:1 Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

Story – The objections of the Ukrainian church to clapping.

  • Raising of hands: Ps 134:2 Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!
  • Sing a song to the Lord: Ps 84: 2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. (150)
  • Sing a new song: Ps 40:3 And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord. (5)
  • Dance before the Lord: Ps 149:3 Let them praise His name in chorus and choir and with the [single or group] dance; let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre! (AMP) (2)

Praise and worship in your own personal life.

Isaiah 61:3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

If you want to change your day from stress and anxiety to joy and refreshing, put on the garment of praise.

If you want to experience God’s presence and His life, enter into worship at home. Some people meditate at home, some people practice yoga, some people listen to classical music, BUT some people just choose to put up with worry, stress and negative thoughts!

For God’s own Valium; Listen to God; His remedy for stress, negativity and anxiety is this:

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. AND

Philippians 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

You can live a lifestyle of stress and worry OR you can live a lifestyle of praise and worship. When you praise and worship you see God as He really is and you see you problems in comparison to Him and His resources then the problems seem small.

What now?

Will you choose to be a worshiper? Will you make room in your day to praise and worship God? Fill your house and your car with worship music. Sing along to the anointed songs of praise and worship. When trouble comes and stress arises, open the book of Psalms and pray those words of praise.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.

1. Do you think you live a life of praise?

2. What stops you from praising God?

3. Is self -consciousness a factor in how you express praise and worship?

4. Why was King David so free to dance before the Lord foolishly?

5. What can you do to enter into real biblical praise and worship?

 

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HAVE YOU GOT AN ITCH?

Posted in State Conference, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Main Corflute Sign - 1800x1000mm.inddCraig’s Message at the Victorian State Conference Friday 7th February 2014.  

I had treatment once for hair growth – UV light – the side effect intense itchiness all over my body.

One thing about itchiness it’s got your attention all the time!

Well I love this inc movement and our new name and our updated operating system. To take that empowerment of pastors and leaders to a new level!

We are the hope of Australia

What’s our vision? – Health – for the Pastor and wife, for the leaders and for the church which leads to growth which leads to multiplication.

We are born for more. – Not just as a slogan but as a revelation.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

4 Then the word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah], saying,

5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.  BORN FOR MORE!

10 See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.

 There’s some alarming trends in Australia.

Church attendance slipped from 17% in 1999 to 10% in 2011

The % of Australians identifying as Christian reduced to 60% form a high of 90% in 1900.

Another trend we are seeing here in Melbourne is the church is receiving a big influx of Christians from other nations. 10% of all immigrants are born again Christians and when these come into our churches there’s a new culture. It’s not always a bad culture either. Although some are a bit religious many have deep respect and honour for the God appointed leader unlike some Aussies.

Atheism has grown from 10% to 27% in the last census.

Increasingly the church is portrayed in the media as strange, irrelevant and sometimes criminal.

Exciting isn’t it?

The fact is the church is the answer – we all know and shout Jesus is the answer but He isn’t about to do anything without the church leading the charge because He said I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

God’s got a plan

He happy to save by many or by few.

STORY  – 1 Samuel 14:1-15

Jonathan and his armour bearer

One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his armor-bearer, Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side. But he did not tell his father.

2 Saul was remaining in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron; and with him were about 600 men,

3 And Ahijah son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was wearing the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan was gone.

4 Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side; one was named Bozez, and the other Seneh.

5 The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

6 And Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For there is nothing to prevent the Lord from saving by many or by few.

7 And his armor-bearer said to him, Do all that is in your mind; I am with you in whatever you think [best].

8 Jonathan said, We will pass over to these men and we will let them see us.

9 If they say to us, Wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place and will not go up to them.

10 But if they say, Come up to us, we will go up, for the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be our sign.

11 So both of them let the Philistine garrison see them. And the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.

12 The garrison men said to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, Come up to us and we will show you a thing. Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into Israel’s hand.

13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, his armor-bearer after him; and the enemy fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.

14 And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made was about twenty men within about a half acre of land [which a yoke of oxen might plow].

15 And there was trembling and panic in the [Philistine] camp, in the field, and among all the men; the garrison, and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked, and it became a terror from God.

Saul sat down, but Jonathan had an itch.

Vs. 2 Meanwhile, Saul was taking it easy under the pomegranate tree at the threshing floor on the edge of town at Geba (Gibeah). (MESS)

Saul sat down, his posture revealed his attitude, he was unmotivated and did not see the objective.

The objective was clear wipe  – out the Philistines!

But Jonathan had an itch – he had a keen desire to move things along, he was itchin’ for a fight. He had a desire to see the enemies of God defeated and the nation of Israel overcoming. His itch was going away anytime soon, he evaded a whole lot of good reasons not to pursue the enemy to satisfy his itch.

I’ve got an itch to plant churches, I’ve got an itch to multiply leaders, I’ve got an itch to see souls saved, and it’s not about to go away anytime soon.

THE STORY

Before this story begins Saul has faced failure. He is left with only 600 men who are still with him. They all have no weapons, and not one tradesman in Israel could sharpen any implement. The Israelites used to go down to the enemy, the philistines and ask them to sharpen their ploughshares, mattocks, axes and sickles. How pathetic!. The only people who owned swords were Saul and Jonathan.

One sword is enough!

Saul is under the pomegranate tree (the symbol of healing and resurrection) but he has given up. He has no itch, it left long ago, can he be healed?

But Jonathan had an itch. He was sitting down too, but he couldn’t stay there. He had to get up.

No lack of resources on his side made the itch go away.

No fear of the enemy made that itch go away.

No lack of swords or ideas or plans made that itch go away.

Jonathan said let’s go. – What do you say?

Jonathan was young, the armour-bearer was young, Jonathan’s main thought was – “it may be that he Lord will work for us”

It says in the middle of the story that the High Priest was some guy related to Eli the nephew of Ichabod – the glory departed. Why did God put that in? Just to let you know, there’s no leadership from the king and there’s no leadership from the priesthood. In practical terms there’s no reason for an expectation of victory today!

The armour bearer says – Whatever you reckon – I’m in! – Willingness.

Here’s the plan:

  1. Let the enemy see us
  2. Let the enemy dictate the terms
  3. We do what they say and God will give us the victory!

Up they go and Jonathan kills 20 – not a big massacre, but look what God does… 15 And there was trembling and panic in the [Philistine] camp, in the field, and among all the men; the garrison, and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked, and it became a terror from God.

God intervened. And God will intervene here in Australia if He finds somebody with an itch! Do you have an itch?

God can save by many or by few- but he likes to save by few.

In fact God likes when there are ridiculous odds.

–      Gideon 300 Vs 30,000 Midianites

–      Jehoshaphat – 3 armies; ten’s thousands

–      David’s mighty man Adina – one Vs 800

Do you disqualify yourself? Do you tell yourself, there’s no resources? There’s no leaders, there’s no one here who wants to know Jesus. Do you tell yourself that you are not able? That you’re…

Too old  – listen to Abraham.

Can’t talk  – listen to Moses.

Haven’t seen any miracles – listen to Gideon.

I have no resources  – listen to Nehemiah.

If you’re worried about resources remember Isaac sowed in famine – 100 fold increase

Have you got an itch? An itch to plant? An itch to raise leaders? An itch to see souls saved? God will flow onto what you offer Him in that plan, Let’s go!

We plant churches in a time of drought. To Isaac it seemed like there’s drought but Isaac had a covenant promise.

The enemy contended for wells, the source if life and refreshing.

But there is always one more well.

We release the call of God over our churches.

Testimony of my call. What good is an arrow that never flies?

Power of seeds. There’s a call going out to men and women to serve God, for some it’s to plant churches.

Like Joseph it’s out of nothing that great things come. Expect great things.

If you are not overwhelmed by your assignment you’re not seeing it clearly enough.

Glory of the young men is their strength, the glory of the old men is their wisdom. When you’re an old man you have perspective. You see change over time. But it’s not enough to declare how things have changed and how much need there is. It’s not enough to say we must do something about this, there must be leadership, the voice must be heard … This is the way; walk in it. This is God’s message for the hour, this is the plan.

And the plan is the gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation We will raise leaders, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and preach life, there is a seed of life in us for salvations to flow, for people to get saved, through our message, our church and our people.

Give yourself to these goals

Identify people with a call

Preach the call and raise up and call up the people who are called.

Connect with your state exec and partner with them to plant.

You can plant

–      We planted three in 2012

–      Traralgon one in 2013 with more in the pipeline.

Partner to plant churches.

Connect key leaders to development opportunities

Pray and lead your church to pray for planters (Labourers for the harvest)

Raise funds for planting.

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ARE YOU IN LOVE?

Posted in Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

LOVE ROMANCES # 1 PM – Sunday night preach 2Feb14  love quotes-a-true-love-store11

ARE YOU IN LOVE?

MY STORY – When Chris and I first dated in (dare I say it) Year 11 at school, I can remember four hour long phone calls. Whatever did we speak about? I could never manage it now!

Love has no beginning. God is love. In the beginning God chose to create a love creature. You. The act of a father was to bring children into the world. Children upon whom He can lavish His love, and if they choose, to love Him back.

Love is, at the same time, the most wonderful life giving experience and also the most painful experience. Love is painful when it’s lost or when it’s not returned. If love was unimportant then it would not be worth having. Love is essential to every person. A life without love is unthinkable! Love demands all of you, or else you are short changed! You have been ripped off if you choose a love that only shares part of you.

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Love seeks to give it’s all.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Isaac Watts wrote a hymn in 1707, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.

  1. When I survey the wondrous cross
    On which the Prince of glory died,
    My richest gain I count but loss,
    And pour contempt on all my pride.
  2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
    Save in the death of Christ my God!
    All the vain things that charm me most,
    I sacrifice them to His blood.
  3. See from His head, His hands, His feet,
    Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
    Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
    Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
  4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
    That were a present far too small;
    Love so amazing, so divine,
    Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Love demands my all. Love, if it is true love, is incomplete if I only give part of me.

When your heart is ruined by love, you are changed and you are better for it.

Your joy is to spend time with the one you love. Just being together feels replenishing. You focus is another, your focus is not self anymore. Just imagine what this looks like between you and Jesus.

When you’re in love you want to be with the one you love. Love romances, it says the kindest words, it makes the time to be there, it does the things that show the love in action. Can you love Jesus when you can’t see Him?

How do you love someone you cannot see? People do it all the time. Simple, as the wife of a serviceman writes to her husband who is away on assignment.

“Letters that were written during his time at Basic Training when we had no choice but to communicate through written word. They are beautiful and heartfelt, filled with love and longing. Our letters to each other during that time expressed our feelings for each other…feelings that many times went unspoken. Sometimes they were apologies for past mistakes, or promises for the future. I remember daily taking time to sit and write him a letter, filled with what the kids were doing and how things were at home, but also to tell him that I loved him, missed him and appreciated him. When writing a letter, the sender isn’t talking directly to the recipient and does not face immediate response to what they have said. While many times I want the quick response to a question or comment, there are times when I want to express my thoughts or feelings without worrying how the other person will respond.”

Are you in love?

Are you in love with Jesus?

WHAT NOW?

Love Romances. Love demands that time is spent with the one of our affection.

Would you spend a few precious moments with Jesus every day?

Ps 18:1-2 (MESS)

1-2 I love you, God—
    you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
    the castle in which I live,
    my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag
    where I run for dear life,
    hiding behind the boulders,
    safe in the granite hideout.

Ps 36:5-9 (MESS)

God’s love is meteoric,
    his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
    his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
    nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
    slips through the cracks.

7-9 How exquisite your love, O God!
    How eager we are to run under your wings,
To eat our fill at the banquet you spread
    as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
You’re a fountain of cascading light,
    and you open our eyes to light.

 

If you’re deeply in love with Jesus, you will delight to spend time with Him reading His word and talking to Him. If the feelings aren’t there for Him; meditate on the cross, think deeply on what a happened at the cross and how it affects you.

Either open your day or close your day (or both) with time alone with God.

Ps 5:3  In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].

Love the one you’re with!

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REAL MEN WORSHIP GOD

Posted in Church, Preaching messages, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 1, 2014| 1 Comment »

LOVE ROMANCES # 1 AMLOVE ROMANCES

Well of course this month contains Valentine’s day, and as all good husbands know, it’s important to do something nice for the little woman to show her that romance is not dead; pretty sick maybe but not dead!

That being the case as we are talking about LOVE this year, and so February’s theme is LOVE ROMANCES. It’s about the love we have for God.

Are you in love with God?

If you are, how do you show it? “Love romances” is a story about how we express our love to God. If we love anyone truly, then of course we express it in many ways and the ways we express it shows that we love, and how much we love. Romantic love is defined as: love idealised for its purity and beauty, and, thinking about love and doing and saying things to show that you love someone. My definition of romantic love is: doing something special or creative to demonstrate that your special someone is very precious to you. It’s more often practiced by men towards women although women think about it more often and are more likely to see great value in it compared to men.

When we consider loving Jesus look at the great example of John the apostle in the gospels.

John 13:21-25

21 After Jesus had said these things, He was troubled (disturbed, agitated) in spirit and said, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, one of you will deliver Me up [one of you will be false to Me and betray Me]!

22 The disciples kept looking at one another, puzzled as to whom He could mean.

23 One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved [whom He esteemed and delighted in], was reclining [next to Him] on Jesus’ bosom.

24 So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask of whom He was speaking.

25 Then leaning back against Jesus’ breast, he asked Him, Lord, who is it? (AMP)

 

What a beautiful picture of intimacy!

John, who calls himself the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” has this amazing love relationship with Jesus. No wonder he wrote the first epistle of John which speaks so powerfully about love; and no wonder he was the only disciple present at the cross as Jesus died. John expressed his love for Jesus by being there and by committing to look after His mother, Mary.

Do you love Jesus? If so how do you express it?

Last week we shared a very significant message about David being a man after God’s own heart. This was because he was a worshipper. The key thought last week was – God is seeking such to worship Him.

We saw how incredibly successful David was as a King leading Israel to wealth and prosperity unseen from that time to this.

With David’s life and story occupying 66 chapters of the bible, more than anyone else other than Jesus, and his great success as a king, and God’s endorsement of him as “a man after God’s own heart”; you would think God wanted us to notice something about David! If Abraham is noted for faith and Moses for the law and Elijah and Elisha for miracles, what is David noted for?

He was a worshipper. He was a strong man AND he was a worshiper. He was a man of war AND he was a worshiper. He was a man’s man AND he was a worshiper. He was a man of incredible courage AND he was a worshiper.

Are you getting the message? In Australia, some great guys have been led astray by the thought that it’s not manly to worship God. Nuh!! Typical Aussie culture is that church is for women and kids! What a deception!!

If we are going to share a whole year on LOVE, then we will be speaking at some time about the love relationship between a believer and their Lord.

David learned to worship God as a young shepherd alone on the hills of Judea. Listen to one of his psalms (He wrote 78 of the ones in the bible)

Psalm 42:1-2

1As the deer pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God.

2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

David learned to worship, he was led by the spirit of God and he had super revelations about God. Ps 89:26 He shall cry to Me, You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation! In the Old Testament God is always knows as Yahweh or Elohim the Lord God; but David has a revelation of God as a Father, which Jesus later reveals in the New Testament. He prophesies about Jesus on the cross when he writes:  Ps 129:3 The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

Later when disaster struck and his wife and children were captured and all his men likewise after their city was overrun; he goes to the place of worship in 1 Samuel 30:6 David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

David had only one bullet – worship.

At last when he was king and reigning in Jerusalem he brings back the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. We shared about this last week, and I want to show you again how David’s love for God was so great, and his life of worship was his key to greatness.

2 Sam 6:13

 12 And it was told King David, The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing;

13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.

14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [a priest’s upper garment].

15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

16 As the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter [David’s wife], looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

In the story when David brings back the ark to Jerusalem he brings it 10 kms. from the house of Obed Edom to Jerusalem. Every six paces he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. If a pace is about 80 cms. then that’s 12,500 steps, or 2083 stops to sacrifice oxen and fatlings. If the priest took say 30 mins to prepare and sacrifice an oxen and a fatling, that’s 43 days nonstop or 86 days or three months if you work only in the day just to travel 10 kms! Imagine the cost of the sacrifices! Can you see the exquisite passion of David for God’s presence?

Do you love Jesus? If so, how do you show it?

In Acts 15:16 the bible talks about David’s passion for worship impacting our generation.

16 “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant[b] of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’ (ESV)

Tabernacle of David is this place of worship. 288 singers singing in shifts around the clock for 33 years. God chose to restore the tabernacle of David; He chose not to restore the tabernacle of Moses, nor the temple of Solomon but the tabernacle of David. Because God is seeking such to worship Him.

In this tabernacle, the tent flaps raised up access so the Ark of the Covenant could be seen. David invented instruments to play, there was 300 trumpeters – all priests. Cymbals, harps, lyres, and a multitude of other instruments all for the purpose of worship. In fact it says 276 instruments.

In Ps 22:3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.(ESV)  God gets comfortable when God’s people worship Him. God’s supernatural presence is promised when his people worship whole heartedly.

With the tent flaps rolled up gentiles could have access, women could have access.

The restoration of David’s tabernacle is praise and worship in the church, leading to the manifestation of God’s presence and power among us. Let me tell you about a Pastor in Mexico called David Hogan. When his church pastors and people come together and worship, they sing for 8 hours and then God comes. They are laid out for hours.

In church, perhaps many do not understand worship. We let everything discourage us from worshiping God. We say, “I don’t enjoy it, I don’t like these songs, I couldn’t get here in time. I didn’t miss anything.” We see worship as optional, but God sees it as the only time when He receives.

I don’t ever want my kids and grandkids to grow up in a church where there is no worship, or worse, half-hearted worship. When we praise, we get the breakthrough – like Jehoshaphat – the praisers went out before the soldiers.

They had just came out of a fast. Don’t take weapons, take the singers. If you’re believing God for great things, be a praiser and a worshipper. If we are going to praise Him forever, we better start practicing now. In heaven there’s no preachers only worshippers. Church is not only for you, it’s for your children and for your grandchildren – our music and our worship needs to stay relevant for every generation.

Maybe you have thought, “I don’t feel like it…”  Jesus probably didn’t feel like it when He went to the cross, but He had such a love for you and for me that He was compelled.

Praise may begin as the sacrifice of praise. But it ends with the whole heart. Like a love relationship in a marriage that can grow stale and become passionless, so we can take God for granted and praise falls away and worship dries up.

Do you love Jesus? If so how do you show it?

What Now?

It’s time for an attitude shakeup!!

It’s time for us to be a worshiping church more than ever before. It’s time for every man and every woman to put on the garment of praise and worship the living God. To be an example to our kids and grandkids. It’s time to get to church early, to value worship, because we love God, and we can’t wait to get together with God’s people to sing and shout and clap and dance and raise our hands to the one who gave it all for us! Shall we stand and worship right now!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Have you ever fallen in love with anyone? tell us your story.

2. Tell us how you fell in love with Jesus.

3. How do you express love to Jesus?

3. Why is praise and worship so vital in a church?

4.  Is our Aussie culture a hindrance to praise and worship?

5. What can you do to enter into praise and worship more in your life?

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GOD’S LOOKING FOR SOMEONE

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

LOVE SEEKS # 4 AM – GOD SEEKS TRUE WORSHIPERS.   449629985_640

This year the theme of the whole year is LOVE. This month the theme is Love seeks.

As we got the preachers together in early January this year to discuss our theme for the month and how our messages should be constructed, we thought about the significance of the prayer and fasting time taking place this month, not only in our church, but right across the whole of the inc church movement in Australia. We saw it was a time of seeking God, and asked ourselves the question, how does that relate to Love? We always begin with God. God seeks, and we used the verse in week one:         Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. We see the heart of God in seeking out lost people and when His great love for people breaches our hearts then we respond by seeking Him; (1 John 4;19 We love Him because He first loved us. (AMP)) and not only Him; but joining in His great commission to seek the lost of our community also. Fasting is the concentration of passion and humbling ourselves to ask for His mercy to be upon this city.

In week one we introduced the year-long theme of love and spoke of its significance. In week two John spoke of the prodigal son and how the Father was seeking the son to return. How great was his love. The father in the story shows us God the father and his love remaining steadfast and seeking for the son to come home, waiting at the farm gate.

In week Three Rhys shared the three stories Jesus told of lost things in Luke 15; the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. In each story someone is seeking the lost item. In each story the item is found and in each story the result was rejoicing. The stories Jesus told illustrate how much God values lost people and the extent to which He seeks them out to save them.

Today I want to show you why God is seeking certain people to give them great victory.

Our key verse for today is: John 4:23 A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. (AMP)

What does it look like to worship in Spirit and in Truth? If I can understand that, I can be one of those people that God the Father is seeking.

The bible describes King David as a man after God’s own heart. 1 Sam 13:14 But now your kingdom shall not continue(Saul); the Lord has sought out [David] a man after His own[a]heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince and ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.

Why do you think God called David a man after my own heart, after all, he sinned greatly in adultery and murder?

In the bible there are 10 chapters are about Abraham, 11 chapters about Jacob who became Israel, 10 chapters about Elijah and Elisha, but there are 66 chapters that relate directly to David, over 1200 references to David in the bible and he is mentioned 59 times mentioned in New Testament!

When you think of faith, you think of Abraham; when you think of the law you think of Moses; when you think of miracles you think of Elijah and Elisha; but when you think of David you think of praise and worship. David wrote 78 of the Psalms, far more than any other writer.

David was a man after God’s own heart, a man of worship. There must be a reason why God chose to lift up David as the one for us to clearly see. God is saying, “This man is the one I hold up as being after my own heart.” He is more prominent in the bible than anyone else except Jesus. Why? – because he was a worshipper. It was because He loved the presence of God. We see that when he is bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem after he began to reign in Jerusalem and he is dancing before the Lord out in the open in the streets with only a priests linen ephod on as his clothing. This was an act of humility and also an act of joyful exuberance because he was so excited receive the presence of God back to the city of David.

In another time in David’s life he was at his lowest point after he had sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, and the baby of their union is deathly ill. David humbles himself and asks forgiveness and as he intercedes for the life of the baby; and then he hears that the bay has died. His reaction – he went to the house of the Lord and worshipped. At his highest point in his life and at his lowest point in life he has the same reaction – he worshipped. This is why he is a man after God’s own heart.

David was the greatest King Israel has ever had. The kingdom of Israel grew and extended and had peace for 40 years under the reign of David. And why do you think this man was so successful and why do you think that God has devoted do much of the bible to his life and his legacy? It is because God is seeking such to worship Him.

God is seeking true worshipers!

Listen to me business man, listen to me anyone who wants to see great favour upon your life – become a worshipper. When you think about how blessed you are, worship God for His blessings and goodness, when you think of how much pain you are going through when life is very very hard, worship God; because He is the hope of your life.

What if, during this time of prayer and fasting in this early part of the year, we could practice worship and learn the true value of worship and also receive the revelation of life as a worshiper. Don’t get this one wrong believer, God does not reward us because of works but faith, we are not acceptable because of our own works, but listen, this is how it works. If you truly see how great and amazing God is, how loving and how kind He is, so that you are compelled to love and worship Him; then you put yourself into a place where you can hear His voice and you can see and understand that He is with you, and He is for you, and He will never leave you nor will He ever forsake you. Then you will experience the victory like you have never felt it before. When you worship God comes and sits down at your table. In Psalms 22:3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises[a] of Israel.

Worship brings evangelism. Look at the story of the woman of Samaria in John 4. Jesus meets this woman who had five husbands and the one she was living with now was not her husband. They begin a conversation about worship and Jesus says the statement that we read at the beginning of the message today, God is seeking those who worship in Spirit and in Truth. God is seeking out those who worship Him in a certain way. Often we say that we seek God for His blessing and favour, but in this picture Jesus is saying God is seeking out the one who worships in Spirit and in Truth. How would you like God to be seeking you out?

God is seeking true worshipers!

The result of this conversation is that this woman goes back to the city and brings back with her the whole city, to hear about this Messiah, this one who “told me all I ever did”. Salvation came to that region that day out of a revelation on worship.

A city can be saved when God finds a church that is set out to be a people of worship. To love and cherish and value God for who He is – that is worship. The Spirit of worship creates the spirit of evangelism. It makes sense when a people are so in love with Jesus that they show it by their worship. Then unsaved people coming in are going to see real Christianity , real love, not hypocrisy, not likewarmness, not a religious ritual, not ambivalence, not a half-hearted attendance, but a people of passion in love with the one true God.

It’s interesting that Jesus quoted more from the book of psalms than from any other Old Testament book, more than from the books of the law, more than from Isaiah. Why? Because He knew the power of praise and worship and He knew the heart of David. He knew worship would bring about evangelism.

How much do you think David loved God?

In the story when David brings back the ark to Jerusalem he brings it 10 kms. from the house of Obed Edom to Jerusalem. (2 Sam 6:13) Every six paces he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. If a pace is about 80 cms. then that’s 12500 steps, or 2083 stops to sacrifice oxen and fatlings. If the priest took say 30 mins to prepare and sacrifice an oxen and a fatling, that’s 43 days nonstop or 86 days or three months if you work only in the day just to travel 10 kms! Imagine the cost of the sacrifices! Can you see the exquisite passion of David for God’s presence?

God is seeking true worshipers!

When you decide to be a worshiper, you’re opening the door for God the Father to seek you out! You’re opening the door for God’s powerful life of victory. You can decide to be a worshiper. It’s not based on feelings, it’s a choice. The bible says, We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) Do you know you are loved by God?

What now?

Receive His love. Meditate on what He has done for you. Begin to express love through praise and worship to God. If you run out of words open the Psalms and speak it out. Get a worship CD and sing the songs to God. Worship at home, worship in the shower, worship in your car on the way to work.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Why do you think God describes David as a man after my own heart?

2. Which Psalm particularly inspires you?

3. How can a person, like David, worship God when things have gone wrong?

4. Can we worship God even when our feelings are negative?

5. What does worship look like for you? – Is it in Spirit and Truth?

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YOU ARE A LOVE CREATURE

Posted in Church, Culture Watch, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

LOVE SEEKS # 3PM – THE LOVE STORY timthumb

You were made to love and be loved. You are a love creature. Just as a fish needs water to live in you need love to survive and flourish.

Perhaps the most famous love story ever told is Romeo and Juliet. A complicated tale of two feuding families which ends when Romeo thinks Juliet is dead and drinks poison. Later Juliet awakes and seeing Romeo dead stabs herself and dies. Only a love story could include so much pain. Shakespeare wrote a tragedy and the reason it is so powerful is that love is a very powerful motivating force.

Hollywood has made billions from movies about love. Some of the most famous movies about love are: Love Story, The Notebook, Titanic, When Harry Met Sally, Love actually, Pretty Woman, P.S. I love You, Sleepless in Seattle.

As a human being you are made by God to have the ability to love and be loved. It’s part of your make up, you can’t change it. You are a love creature. When babies are born if they are deprived of love they will die even though they have food and warmth.

Touch deprivation: http://goo.gl/uibLp3  and: http://goo.gl/YSuXoj

God reveals Himself as father – a term that speaks of relationship. God is Love. (1 John 4:8) We are made in His image, after His likeness. (Gen 1:26) Therefore we are like Him – a love creature.

To love is to value, to do good to another. It’s more than just feelings and emotions though these are very important, it is about the worth of the person being loved in the eyes of the one loving.

The bible uses the word love to translate five different Greek words.

  1. Mania – Manic love is almost not a love at all.  The word “lust” is probably not strong enough – “obsession” is closer to the word.
  2. Eros – Eros is obviously the root word for “erotic,” but it does not describe sexual love only, it actually describes all emotional love; the feeling of love.
  3. Philos – Philos love, or brotherly/friendship love.  Philos describes the love between two people who have common interests and experiences, or a fondness for.
  4. Storgy – Storgy is the love one has for a dependent.  It is commonly called “motherly love.”
  5. Agapeo –  Agape love is entirely about the lover, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the one loved.  Agape love, in its purest form, requires no response.  The most common word for God’s love for us is Agape (I John, John 3:16) and the love we are commanded to have for one another (Matt. 5:44, I Cor. 13 (http://goo.gl/2SJlEJ )

 

Ever wondered why your heart is referred to as the part that is broken when you experience loss of love or emotional upheavals? Like – it’s only a pump right?

World renowned Neuro-Scientist and author Caroline Leaf says:

“YOU ARE ‘WIRED FOR LOVE!’ – http://goo.gl/bb7tcz

And from her book “Who Switched Off My Brain”

by Caroline Leaf. http://goo.gl/RJxfP3

Toxic stress is particularly powerful because your heart is not just a pump. It is actually like another brain (and you thought you only had one brain!). Science demonstrates that your heart has its own independent nervous system, which is a complex system referred to as the “brain in the heart.”     There are at least 40,000 neurons (nerve cells) in the heart – as many as are found in various parts of the brain. In effect, the brain in your heart acts like a checking station for all the emotions generated by the flow of chemicals created by thoughts. It is proving to be a real intelligent force behind the intuitive thoughts and feelings you experience. The heart also produces an important biochemical substance called an atrial peptide (specifically ANF). It is the balance hormone that regulates many of your brain’s functions and stimulates behaviour.

New scientific evidence on the heart’s neurological sensitivity indicates there are lines of communication between the brain and the heart that check the accuracy and integrity of your thought life. The reality is, your heart is in constant communication with your brain and the rest of your body. The signals your heart sends to your brain influence not just perception and emotional processing, but higher cognitive functions as well.

When God reveals Himself as Father, this means His love is plural, because a Father can love more than one child and it is a pure and acceptable love. You are made to love and be loved. Love is the greatest of all human experiences and many movies have been made about finding love or losing love and finding it again.

The problem with love is that sin entered the world and messed things up. Messed with God’s plans of love. Love was hijacked and became self-centred.

2 Tim 3:2 For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane. (AMP)

Love became a weapon of pain instead of a life giving force. Love was corrupted by sin. Love became love of things, lust, immoral sexual desire, love given and love taken away, broken hearts though love removed.

Love is not the problem, sin is the problem. Love is the answer. When Jesus went to the cross that was love in action! Romans 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.(AMP)

When sin wrecked humanity, God’s answer was love. God so loved the world – that He gave. The God who is love reached out to the creatures that he created with love as the answer to brokenness and to broken hearts.

Love conquers all, love overcomes all. Human love is magnificent but God’s love is all powerful. God Loves you, and He loved you enough to send His son to die for you because you are valuable to God.

But you must receive to be healed. – Let love in.

1. Have you ever suffered from a broken heart?

2. If God pours His love into your heart – how can you receive it?

3. First love is the love we have for God at the first – what’s it like/

4. Can you meditate on the love of God to you through the cross, how would you do it?

5. When you are full of God’s love how will you act?

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