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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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PRAYER IS WARFARE

Posted in Equip the Saints, Leaders Training, Preaching messages, Soul Winning, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2013| 1 Comment »

PRAYER THAT MOVES HEAVEN     MENTORING 26/03/13

Do you want to move heaven?

More to the point, do you want to move the heavenlies? (That is the spirit realm)

 

The power of God is available to all believers; but we must understand the necessity of both authority and power

Here’s your verse for Authority…

Joh 1:12  But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name–[Isa. 56:5.]

Here the word “power” is the Greek word Exousia meaning authority, jurisdiction, right or liberty. Just as a policeman has authority to arrest people by virtue of his position or badge – we have the authority – divinely given by God to be called the sons of God.

Here’s the verse for power…

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

This word “power” in the Greek is Dunamis meaning might, strength, violence.

Now using these two concepts together we have this verse.

Luk 10:19  Behold! I have given you authority and power (Exousia) to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power (Dunamis) that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.

When we wan to see Go’s power displayed we must take authority over the works of the enemy and release the dunamis of God

If we want to see lives changed it is a necessity that prayer goes before preaching.

Merely preaching the gospel is actually seed falling on hard ground. There’s nothing wrong with the seed but if the ground is not prepared, little of it can take root.

We are called to make a difference. To Mat 10:8  Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give. That takes spiritual authority. You cant just do that by preaching alone; you must win the battle in the heavenlies.

  • All authority is given us

Mat 28:18  Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

Mat 28:19  Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

  • Nothing happens unless we first bind the strongman.

Mat 12:29  Or how can a person go into a strong man’s house and carry off his goods (the entire equipment of his house) without first binding the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

  • We fight in the spirit with words – with prayer

Eph 6:12  For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

  • Jesus took authority over spirits

Mar 1:27  And they were all so amazed and almost terrified that they kept questioning and demanding one of another, saying, What is this? What new (fresh) teaching! With authority He gives orders even to the unclean spirits and they obey Him!

  • He did it first in prayer

Joh 5:19  So Jesus answered them by saying, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His own accord); but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way [in His turn].

  • Now we are called to do the same

Mat 10:1  AND JESUS summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of weakness and infirmity.

IF WE WAN TO SE SOULS SAVED BIGTIME THIS WEEKEND WE NEED TO WIN IT IN PRAYER FIRST.

The gospel is powerful but the battle of prayer is necessary to break the hold of darkness off the minds of unbelievers so that they can hear.

HERE’S SOME EXAMPLES OF PREACHERS WHO BELIEVED IN INTERCESSION

Charles G. Finney & His Intercessors – David SmithersCG Finney

http://hopefaithprayer.com/prayernew/charles-g-finney-his-intercessors/

Like the prophet Jeremiah, Charles G. Finney was anointed of God to “root out” and to “plant” in the Lord’s vineyard, (Jer. 1:10). He was a man of intense prayer, purity and passion. “Emptied of self, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. His sermons were chain lightning, flashing conviction into the hearts of the stoutest skeptics. Simple as a child in his utterances, he sometimes startled his hearers by his unique prayers.” He could thunder the judgments of God upon sin with great liberty and power and then offer the mercy of the gospel with tenderness and tears. Without question he was a prophetic voice to 19th century America.

His ministry consistently produced revivals, even in areas considered hardened and unreceptive to the gospel. Finney’s autobiography is filled with accounts of powerful manifestations of the Spirit. On one occasion when Finney was preaching in a school house, “suddenly an awful solemnity fell upon the assembly and the congregation fell from their seats, crying for mercy.” Finney said, “If I had had a sword in each hand I could not have cut them off as fast as they fell. I think the whole congregation was on their knees or prostrated in two minutes.” The crying and weeping of the people was so loud that Finney’s exhortation of Christ’s mercy could not even be heard.

“Finney seemed so anointed with the Holy Spirit that people were often brought under conviction of sin just by looking at him. When holding meetings at Utica, New York, he visited a large factory. At the sight of him one of the workers, and then another, and then another broke down and wept under a sense of their sins, and finally so many were sobbing and weeping that the machinery had to be stopped while Finney pointed them to Christ.”

Finney seems to have had the power of impressing the conscience of men with the necessity of holy living in such a manner as produced lasting results. “Over eighty-five in every hundred persons professing conversion to Christ in Finney’s meetings remained true to God. Whereas seventy percent of those professing Christ in meetings of even so great an evangelist as Moody afterward became backsliders.”

Such results were the fruit of hours and hours of prayer. It was not Finney’s prayers alone that secured such heaven sent revivals. Finney’s was supported by the prayers of two of God’s hidden treasures. It was the hidden, yet powerful intercessions of “Father Nash” and Abel Clary that laid the ground work for these mighty moves of God. “Abel Clary was converted about the same time as Finney, and was licensed to preach also, but he had such a burden of prayer that he could not preach much. His whole time and strength was given to prayer. He would writhe and groan in agony, unable to stand under the weight.” “After Clary’s death Finney discovered Clary’s prayer journal. Finney found in the exact order of the burden laid upon Clary’s heart was the order of blessing poured upon his ministry.”

Father Nash lived a life of almost continual intercession. “He joined himself with Finney, kept a prayer list and was no doubt the secret of much of Finney’s marvelous success. He did not preach and often did not go to the meetings, but remained in his room, or in the woods, wrestling with God in mighty prayer. Often before daybreak people could hear Father Nash for half a mile or more in the woods, or in a church praying, and the sense of God’s presence was overwhelming.”

The Church must do more than esteem the history of men like Charles Finney, Father Nash and Able Clary. If we are going to experience revival we must repent and practice the truths they declared; truths of a holy and pure life; truths of hidden intercession and an uncompromising love for Jesus!

REINHARD BONNKE

EVANGELISM BY FIRE – BOOK – http://www.kingdomvision.co.uk/archives/tag/reinhard-bonnke

Reinhard’s passion for the gospel and reaching the lost comes across very clearly. Reinhard not only demonstrates why every Christian is compelled to share the love of Christ with others in the scriptures, he imparts such fire and yearning that every reader of this book will want to go out and do likewise! He reveals the pitfalls that many stumble over, including fear and wrong motives, and teaches how to overcome them.

Reinhard stresses the importance of prayer in reaching the lost and includes the wonderful illustration: “Evangelism without intercession is an explosive without a detonator. Intercession without evangelism is a detonator without an explosive.” Reinhard includes a number of chapters regarding the power of prayer and the promises made in the Bible regarding prayer and obtaining answers to prayer. Reinhard ascribes his own amazing ministry to those who have supported him in prayer and wonderfully illustrates its importance in this book. “Those who had been so inconspicuous will, all of a sudden, be heroes in the Kingdom of God. Their reward will be great. The Lord will not say, “much done” but “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21)

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What would you do for love?

Posted in Church, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , on March 23, 2013| 1 Comment »

CRAZYLOVE 4 24/03/13 PM

What would you do for love?

Would you give up something of immense value?

King Edward VIII abdicated his throne to marry a divorced person Wallis Simpson in 1936.

On the night of 11 December 1936, Edward, now reverted to a prince, made a broadcast to the nation and the Empire, explaining his decision to abdicate. He famously said, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

Would you spend your wealth and work for years?

The Shah Jahan an Indian emperor when his third wife died was so grief stricken that he built the world’s most famous mausoleum.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal )palace 8

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire‘s period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum.[11] Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632.[12]The court chronicles of Shah Jahan’s grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. It took 20,000 workers 12 years to build at a cost of 32 million rupees at the time.

Leave behind all the freedoms of doing what you want with your life?

Woman in Community Kitchen

Give up your peace of mind and enjoyment of life?

A parent looking after a child with Severe Autism.    http://youtu.be/s2lEyno1vwo

Stay there for how ever long it takes, even when there’s no return for your love?

Bill and Gladys Forward are a couple in their 50th year of marriage. Bill is doing fine and he cares for Gladys who has Alzheimer’s disease. Gladys can’t do very much at all anymore, but Bill lovingly cares for her with such devotion because, as he says, I made a promise fifty years ago.

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article/8623153/for-better-or-worse

What did Jesus do for love?

Heb 12:2  looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the throne of God.

Rom 5:6  Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful.

Rom 5:7  No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person.

Rom 5:8  But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.

He loved us so we must love one another.

1Jn 4:8  God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him.

1Jn 4:9  God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life.

1Jn 4:10  Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.

1Jn 4:11  Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other. (CSV)

 

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CRAZYLOVE # 4

Posted in Church, Preaching messages, Soul Winning, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

CRAZYLOVE #4 24/03/13 AMCrazyLove Series Logo

THE BRIDGE IS OUT

So Great is His love.

Eph 2:3 We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.

Eph 2:4 Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love,

Eph 2:5 he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us!

MESS BIBLE

When we get a revelation of how great His love is towards us; it shakes you up!

We realise we have been saved from a Christless eternity. We have been spared an eternal hell that contains only torment and agony; and we didn’t do anything to deserve this reprieve! God loved us – the unlovable! He reached out to us and sent His mighty Holy Spirit to show us the truth; that we are lost and without hope. We were blind and awaiting the swift judgement of a God who is just.

But God intervened and stepped in to take the punishment for sin that we all deserved. Jesus bore our sins and the full wrath of God the Father against that sin. Now we can go free, released just like a pardoned prisoner to be given a new chance at life.

Now what shall we do with this new chance?

A waisted life – the story of Robbie Simpson.

I met young Robbie Simpson on the street in Brisbane. He was a homeless glue sniffing kid whose life was heading for destruction. The youth street team witnessed to him and he gave his life to Christ. After some time we managed to get him away to a rehab farm the church ran far away from town. He was cared for and prayed for and shown the unconditional love that comes from God through Christians; but kept on running away and getting into trouble.

I went to court with him one day. It was Supreme Court and the charge was aggravated assault. This was serious and this little fellow was scared to death. The court was imposing in its appearance. He was terrified as well he should be when sure judgement comes. I gave a reference for him, saying how we as a church will do our best to work with him and help him. He was shown mercy and given a non custodial sentence – a good behaviour bond. Sadly he went back to the glue sniffing and after a short time he was found dead in the streets of a drug overdose.

Sometimes the story has a sad end. This story could be about anyone. You don’t have to be a glue sniffer or homeless to be in a mess. People all around us are in a mess because of brokenness and sin. We are al given at least one chance to make a break, to find life; and sitting here are many great stories of people who found Christ and made a break. Those who took the mercy offered and let God clean up their lives so that now they can do something great with it.

Nicky Cruz – a redeemed life

The story of Nicky Cruz (http://youtu.be/zelqF0mamCw ) is about a life redeemed. This former gang member and killer was made famous in the movie the Cross and the Switchblade. It follows the story of a preacher called David Wilkerson who goes to New York city and witnesses to gangs of violent youths. One gang leader called Nicky Cruz who had murdered many others comes to Christ. He undergoes change and become a preacher himself and now in his later years is still preaching the gospel all over America and round the world. (http://nickycruz.org/ )

Is your life a waisted life or a redeemed life?

What will you do with your life now that you have discovered this great love that was given to you? Does the love of God compel you to go and tell others about this amazing salvation you have. Not everybody has to be a full time preacher; but we are all called to go and reach the lost.

The bridge is out.

One rainy night a pastor and his wife were driving home. It was late and the rain had been very heavy all night. As they turned to go over the bridge and on towards home they saw a figure standing in the road ahead. This man was wearing only trousers and he had no shirt on. He was waving a shirt up over his head swinging it around and around like some crazy person. The pastor had to stop his car because this man was running towards them in the middle of the road. The pastor’s wife was frightened and said to her husband, “Lock the doors”. The pastor decided to get out in the pouring rain and see what the man was about. His wife was not happy. “Be careful,” she said as he left the car trying to shield his face from the driving rain with a coat.

The man was shouting and obviously distressed; and the pastor braced himself for the worst. The man was screaming at him, “The bridge is out. Don’t go there. People are dying.”

Pretty soon the pastor was out in the middle of the road too, waving his arms like a crazy man swinging his coat over his head, around and around to try and get the attention of the cars that were driving onto the bridge and on to certain death.

What would you have done in that situation?

You’re in that very situation every day of your life. The bridge is out. People don’t know, and they are headed for certain death and after that the judgement.

Rom 10:14 How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? (CEV)

This Easter we have a marvellous opportunity to tell people the bridge is out.

This month our theme is CRAZYLOVE. It’s all about this amazing love the father has given to us. When we see it, when we realise what we have… it’s life changing. Not only do we experience this amazing love for ourselves and receive His life and love and provision, but also we want to share it with others.

What I am asking you to do this week is invite someone to church over Easter.

Use these invitations to invite all your friends, acquaintances, work mates, school friends, relatives etc to come on Good Friday, or Sunday to hear the gospel proclaimed in a clear and powerful way.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Have you got a story about how you gave out an invitation to someone?
  2. Can you remember back before you were a Christian, someone invited you to church or some event? How did you react?
  3. What do you do to get courage to invite or share your faith?
  4. Where would you be today if no one had reached out to you and invited you to church or some kind of opportunity to find Jesus?
  5. What’s your plan to be a great inviter?

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CRAZY LOVE 2

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

SUNDAY 10TH MARCH 2013 AM

HE LOVES THE UNLOVABLE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Take a look at one of my grandkids…Tessa

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The love with which God loved you is huge!

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT?

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

The power to change a life begins with an invitation.

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

Will you invite a crowd to come to Easter?

How to invite someone.

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

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

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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CRAZY LOVE # 1

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

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

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

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

Do you know God loves you?

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

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

How do you know God loves you?

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

In the beginning God created man. Why?

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Because He desires to have fellowship with us.

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

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

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

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

3. We are made for His Glory.

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

We bring Glory to Him through our relationship to Him.

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

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

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

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

Just how much does God love you?

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

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

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

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

God is painting a picture for you in this passage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

How shall we respond?

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

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

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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

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Raiders of the Lost Ark

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

God is harsh but merciful.

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

http://youtu.be/0APF3SO9tqE

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

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

The Ten Commandments were:

10-God-Man

Exo 20:3-17

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

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

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

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

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

Or what about this one..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

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

Sunday 17th February 2013 PMchurch

This month we are helping people to find where they fit in the plan God has for their lives. You are a very important part of God’s plan for Melbourne. God has gifted you and called you for a very important task so that His plan can be fulfilled completely.

Maybe you are gifted by God to really impact your own school or your Uni?

Maybe it’s at your workplace that you will make a real difference.

Eph 1:8  He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need,

Eph 1:9  letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ,

Eph 1:10  a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

Eph 1:11  It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living,

Eph 1:12  part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

(MESS)

Do you know what God wants you to do for Him?

The best way to find out is to ask Him!

The Holy Spirit is God at work in you to show you His plan and equip you to do it.

STORY

When I received Jesus as my saviour I began to attend church Sunday nights. Soon we were invited to a new Christian’s dinner. We the staff heard that Chris was a trainee Teacher they were very excited and asked her to come on Sunday mornings and teach kids in Sunday School. They said, “You can come along too Craig.”  Chris and I taught new comers. We would share with them about Jesus from a wordless book.

 

I remember the first time I led about 5 boys to Christ in the class, I just about exploded with joy! Why was that so exciting? I used to get drunk for kicks and organise student parties for the uni students. Something changed in me – the Holy Spirit working in me to touch others lives was exhilarating!

 

In the youth group we were in we used to meet on Friday nights and then go out into the city to witness to people. Sometimes the praise and worship would last an hour or more. There were some occasions when we sang in worship to God for an hour and it seemed like a bout 5 minutes had gone past. The Holy Spirit just captivated our hearts and minds in worship and Jesus seemed so real, so close and so powerful.

 

When I got water baptised. The pastors prayed for me and asked the Holy Spirit to fill me. I didn’t know what to expect, but I really wanted the gift of tongues. Nothing happened, and I went home a bit disappointed. So for three weeks I was praying to God for the gift of tongues. One Wednesday night at church we had teaching and during a time of loud praise and worship I was just so thirsty for God I cried out to Him and said, “Please fill me with the Holy Spirit God, and give me the gift of tongues or I am going to die!” A great rush of life and power hit me and out of my mouth flooded a torrent of language. It was real and powerful and obvious.

 

After we had been serving for about two years I was asked to lead a teens group which we called Youth Alive. The people who were taking on the youth and the people who were leaving the teens program as leaders all got prayed for and hands were laid on them. For what ever reason, I was overlooked. I decided it wasn’t anyone’s fault but God was still available, so after the church service (it was at a youth Camp) I went back to the church meeting room after lights out and just waited on God for a couple of hours. God visited me by His Holy Spirit. I felt an amazing peace flood over me and a real sense of God’s power overshadowing me. I believe God equipped me and empowered me for the new role of leading the teens church.

 

The Holy Spirit wants to fill you and empower you for His work He does through you.

 

I know that when people lay hands on you Gods’ power flows through you.

Many many times I have been prayed for and the power of God is so strong and tangible that I can’t stand up. I end up on the floor and experience peace, joy and a marvellous sense of victory.

um 11:16  And the Lord said to Moses, Gather for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting and let them stand there with you.

Num 11:17  And I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon you and will put It upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not have to bear it yourself alone.

1Ti_4:14  Do not neglect the gift which is in you, [that special inward endowment] which was directly imparted to you [by the Holy Spirit] by prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you [at your ordination].

I have had the great honour of receiving prayer form some truly great men of God. One of these was Lester Sumrall who was prayed for and anointed by Smith Wigglesworth in his early ministry.

When we started this church, it was a special time of God’s moving and people were getting drunk in the Holy Spirit, seeing visions and experiencing what is called Holy laughter. Teenagers in this church saw visions of angels, of heaven and even of hell right in the meetings. Some people received prayer and were laid out on the carpet for two hours or more.

The Holy Spirit does things that may seem strange to us when we see it. Like in the book of Acts, when the disciples heard a rushing mighty wind and saw tongues of fire upon their heads.

He is not limited to worldly reason. He works in peoples lives to convict them of sin, to heal and set them free and to equip and empower them for ministry.

The Holy Spirit wants to work in your life and fill you with power and equip you to serve Jesus in ministry. You’re never too young in age or in years of experience.

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

Come and receive all that God has for you.

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YOU FIT HERE 3

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2013| 1 Comment »

Sunday 17 February 2013 AMhands

The Anointing service

REVIEW

Have you discovered your God given place in God’s incredible plan?

Eph 1:4 Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

John spoke about God’s call to Moses to serve the people of Israel. Moses was so reluctant. I can’t speak he said, I’m not equipped; I feel like a failure, I’m only a shepherd, can’t someone else do it?

Sound familiar? We all feel like that at times. We may be reluctant, but God has an important task for us to accomplish for His plan.  This month we are helping as many as possible to find their place in His plan.

Last week we spoke about servanthood. Jesus gave us the most magnificent example of servanthood one could imagine. His Spirit and love now reside within us and we have this same passion to love others and serve them for the Kingdom of God producing fruit that will last for all eternity.

The most important way we serve God.

Essentially the call of God on your life is a call to be with Him. It’s the call to daily take up the cross and live this life of walking day by day with Jesus. It’s a call to love people. It’s a call to lay down our life for others. It’s a call to prayer and it’s a call to share the gospel with as many people as possible. What ever role or task you fulfil in the local church is secondary to your primary role of walking with Jesus and winning lost people.

The story of Acts 6.

In the first few weeks of the early church there was rapid growth and a need to gain the help of new members to assist in the smooth running of important tasks.

Act 6:1  NOW ABOUT this time, when the number of the disciples was greatly increasing, complaint was made by the Hellenists (the Greek-speaking Jews) against the [native] Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked and neglected in the daily ministration (distribution of relief).

Act 6:2  So the Twelve [apostles] convened the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not seemly or desirable or right that we should have to give up or neglect [preaching] the Word of God in order to attend to serving at tables and superintending the distribution of food.

Act 6:3  Therefore select out from among yourselves, brethren, seven men of good and attested character and repute, full of the [Holy] Spirit and wisdom, whom we may assign to look after this business and duty.

Act 6:4  But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

Act 6:5  And the suggestion pleased the whole assembly, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith (a strong and welcome belief that Jesus is the Messiah) and full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte (convert) from Antioch.

Act 6:6  These they presented to the apostles, who after prayer laid their hands on them.

Act 6:7  And the message of God kept on spreading, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and [besides] a large number of the priests were obedient to the faith [in Jesus as the Messiah, through Whom is obtained eternal salvation in the kingdom of God].

This story is exciting for many reasons

  1. The new converts found a place of serving and significance
  2. The Church was empowered to grow more than ever
  3. The apostles were enabled to remain focussed on the task God had called them to which was the prayer and the ministry of the word.

This morning we want to recognise and set apart for the work of the ministry those people in this local church who are volunteering for roles of service in this church.

What happens when we lay hands on you?

1. By the laying on of hands you receive the gift of God.

1Ti_4:14  Do not neglect the gift which is in you, [that special inward endowment] which was directly imparted to you [by the Holy Spirit] by prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you [at your ordination].

2Ti_1:6  That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination].

2. By the laying on of hands you are committed to the Lord.

Act_14:23  And when they had appointed and ordained elders for them in each church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had come to believe [being full of joyful trust that He is the Christ, the Messiah].

3. By the laying on of hands you are commissioned and released.

Act_15:22  Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, resolved to select men from among their number and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, [both] leading men among the brethren, and sent them.

The anointing with oil which represents the Holy Spirit was an important part of Gods selection, setting apart and equipping of leadership in the Old Testament times and now in the early church, oil was again used as a vehicle of prayer and power from the Holy Spirit.

Heb 13:20  Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament), [Isa. 55:3; 63:11; Ezek. 37:26; Zech. 9:11.]

Heb 13:21  Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of the ages). Amen (so be it).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How do you picture the Holy Spirit?

2. How do you talk to the Holy Spirit in Prayer?

3. What are some of the things the Holy Spirit wants to do to help us live for Jesus?

4. Do you wait on the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you power?

5.  How can He help you in your current role of serving God?

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YOU FIT HERE 2

Posted in Church, Equip the Saints, Preaching messages, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

YOU FIT HERE – WEEK 2 – CRAIG AM 10 FEB 2013PUZZLE PIECE

 It’s the darkest night in Jesus short earthly life; for once He is all alone. He prays to the Father, “Let this cup pass from me; never the less not My will but yours be done.”

In this moment of decision, pain and dread the master chooses to die for others. The immense pressure of the decision and all that it entails weigh heavily upon His soul. So much is the pressure that great drops of blood ooze from the pores of His furrowed brow.

Php 2:5  Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]

Php 2:6  Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained,

Php 2:7  But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. (AMP)

Have you found you calling?

Have you found your reason d’être?

Your highest purpose in life is that for which God has called you.

Straight away our minds go to the stage of successful acclaim as we wow the audience of life. But God has called us to serve. The old ways of seeking recognition and significance make us dream of prominence and lives that make the entry in of Who’s Who in the tabloids of church history. But God calls us to obscurity, to secret tasks, to unrewarded and unrecognised mission, to servanthood and to death.

Death to selfish ambition, death to control, death to the strokes of praise that come from the lips of well meaning others.

WILL WE SERVE HIM?

WILL WE FIND OUR PLACE AND OBEY THE CALL OF GOD?

WHERE DO YOU FIT? WHAT IS YOUR PLACE OF PURPOSE? WHAT IS YOUR PLACE OF BELONGING, WHERE THE DIVINE PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE IS OUTWORKED AND YOU AS THE JIGSAW PIECE ARE PLACED BY HIS MIGHTY HAND RIGHT INTO THE PLACE MADE ONLY FOR YOU THUS COMPLETING THE PICTURE GOD PAINTED SO LONG AGO.

Or will that place go empty, the picture spoiled by the absence of the one piece that didn’t make it to the perfect place?

What passion drove Jesus to complete His calling, His mission? Such a love for you!

Consider this love. This love that now resides within you. You are now the vessel of His unending love. You are the hands, the feet, the face of Jesus in this world.

To love not merely those who love you, but the unlovable. To serve, not merely the noble and deserving, but the ignoble, ungrateful and rude, who we once were.

We take courage, empowered by the example Jesus set for us.

We are spurred on by the inspiration Jesus gives us in His selfless life.

We are bold to obey the calling given to us because this is the highest calling to be the lowest of all.

How will you serve Jesus? What is it that you are gifted to do for God? Consider how your life is formed and fashioned as a vessel in His hands.

There are forces that will try and stop you serving God.

Even Jesus experienced such opposition to His calling…..

Mat 16:21  From that time forth Jesus began [clearly] to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and the high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised from death.

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took Him aside to speak to Him privately and began to reprove and charge Him sharply, saying, God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to You!

Mat 16:23  But Jesus turned away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.

Do well meaning friends deter you from serving God in the church and in the community?

Luk 8:19  Then Jesus’ mother and His brothers came along toward Him, but they could not get to Him because of the crowd.

Luk 8:20  And it was told Him, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to have an interview with You.

Luk 8:21  But He answered them, My mother and My brothers are those who listen to the Word of God and do it!

Are you offended at the idea that kingdom comes before blood?

You were born for greater things than just worldly success. You were designed by God for a purpose that has eternal significance.

Eph 1:4 Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

You are unique, gifted by God and designed for purpose. This purpose has power and significance when working in concert with the body of Christ.

1Co 12:27  Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].

If you’re not sure of your right place or calling, begin to serve anywhere and you will discover what you are good at and where you function best.

We have a gift questionnaire that will help you discover what you are gifted for and called to in God’s work. Please take one home and complete it and bring it back next Sunday. We will be happy to sit down with you and discuss how you can serve and make a difference with your gifts and abilities.

Consider serving in the church and also more importantly serving outside the church, that is, serving in the community, serving in some way that reaches lost people.

Chose where you will serve this year.

Fill in this opportunity questionnaire. We need lots of new workers.

You were born for greater.

Servanthood…

It’s part of your walk with Jesus, your development that you embrace servanthood and become His servant more and more.

Rom 6:20-22 (Jer) When you were slaves to sin, you felt no obligation to righteousness, and what did you get from this? Nothing but experiences that now make you blush, since that sort of behavior ends in death. Now, however, you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life.

1 Pet 2:16 (NIV) Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

 Mat 24:45-47 (NIV) “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

Next week we will be praying for and anointing with oil each person who is serving God in and through this church. We will be teaching about the power of the Holy Spirit to equip you for His purpose.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Describe the servant aspect of Jesus death on the cross

2. What does Paul mean when he says in Phill 2:5 – Let this mind be in you?

3.  How can someone find out what they are good at in serving in God’s Kingdom?

4. What is the one way to figure out where to serve in the local church?

5. What is the difference between serving inside the church and serving outside the church?

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