"Ezra: the man, the heart, the calling" - notes for sermon 25/10/09

(hear the sermon here)

Ezra 7.1-10

YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC and SIGNIFICANT CALL UPON YOUR LIFE!!!

Looking at Ezra the man – not what he did, but who he was.

There's a danger of a disconnect occurring when we see others with clear callings and think, "That could never be me, I'm not like them, but I wish could do something great for Him."

Rick Warren says: “...there are no insignificant ministries in the church. Some are visible and some are behind the scenes, but all are valuable. Small or hidden ministries often make the biggest difference. In my home, the most important light is not the large chandelier in our dining room but the little night light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up at night. There is no correlation between size and significance.” (Purpose Driven Life)

What is our “calling”? Eph 4.1: “I therefore [...] urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”

GENERAL CALLING = life of holiness, set apart, new priorities/values, our whole lives an act of worship, moving on to maturity, to fulfilling the mandate of showing Jesus to world at large. That's the baseline, GENERAL CALLING...

But we also have a SPECIFIC CALLING, each of us: Eph 2.10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Not all of us are called to a "renowned" ministry, but we are all called to “significant” purpose(s) that only we can fulfil with the giftings, circumstances, and relationships we've been given; if good works have been prepared for us beforehand by God, then they must be, by nature, SIGNIFICANT!

The working-out is also part of God's plan, part of our calling. God needs to do His greatest work IN you, before He can do His great work THROUGH you!

David, Moses, Elisha, Paul, Ezra, etc: they all took many, many years before they were ready for their callings to come to fruition...

EZRA THE MAN:

1.He was a scribe (skilled secretaries responsible for providing handwritten copies of documents, letters, government records, sacred writings). In the Jews' gradual return to Jerusalem, the scribes became the go-to guys for teaching.

• "Scribe" = "Rabbi" (“teacher”) The scribes of Jesus' time had no authority (Matt 7.29). By then, they had added their own laws & definitions, turning a living faith into something dry, unattainable, guilt-inducing, condemning, HELL-BOUND. (Matt 23.4: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders"). They believed a set of rules could change the heart. Never! Thus: Jesus says in Matt 11.30, "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Rabbi's “yoke” = his teaching)
• Ezra set his heart on doing to the utmost WHAT HIS CURRENT ROLE IN LIFE WAS. Col 3.23-24: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men... You are serving the Lord Christ". Ezra put God first in his everyday life. Your calling may be as a manager, paramedic, mother, teacher, neighbour, host (opening yr home 4 gospel), and so on...

2."The hand of the Lord his God was on him" (v6) = God's favour was upon him – the king granted ALL he asked because God's clear favour, God's smile, was upon him. Why? Because his heart was in the right place...

THE HEART:

There's the key: he "set his heart"... He made a definitive choice.

Ezra SET HIS HEART on see one, do one, teach one (v10): studying/applying/passing on the written revelation of God available to him. Remember, the scribes of Jesus' time studied the word, but didn't apply it. Their "yoke" was a millstone around their & their disciples' necks. We too have the strongest call to study the Word,& DO,& TEACH.

Why did Ezra set his heart on the Word? It was a demonstration of his character. Character is everything. The Sermon on the Mount is all about character, the heart of the matter, not specific activity. People can be called, anointed, gifted, but character affects everything. You may recall some who've shown great potential for the kingdom and fallen by the wayside. When Jesus sent out the 12 in pairs to perform great exploits in Matt 10, JUDAS WAS ONE OF THEM: Performing religious deeds, like the scribes, or moving in the supernatural are not signs of being saved, or of godly character.

THE CALLING:

We have godly examples of everyday folk who made a big difference for the kingdom:

• Shiphrah & Puah: Exodus 1: "...the midwives FEARED GOD" and saved a nation...
• Theophilus: Lk 1.3 & Acts 1.1: a government official/influential Gentile citizen; Luke's patron, paid for his travels to interview eyewitnesses, and gave us 2 books of the Bible - a nightlight who keeps the church from stubbing its toe 2000 years later!!!
• Aquila & Priscilla: mentioned in Acts, 1 Corinthians and Romans = pillars of the church.
• Lois & Eunice: mums; of sincere faith: a profound influence on Timothy; prob only teen
• Peggy & Christine Smith: the Hebrides, 1949: Blindness & arthritis prevented them from joining public worship meetings; spent day & night in prayer at home... Revival came.

See? Midwives, local officials, mums, elderly/infirm, pillars of the church. Normal folk. Made a difference.

CONCLUSION:

...Let's fix our eyes on Jesus. Always; He's the answer to everything. If you want to be used for the kingdom, fix your eyes on Him. Because by doing so, we hear from the Holy Spirit, we hear through the Word, we see circumstances change and people enter and leave our lives, such that we see God's “footprint” emerging; If you want to know your purpose in life, fix your eyes on Him.

Jesus says “Come to me... take my yoke... learn from me... my YOKE is easy”. In Him you'll find the whole reason for being alive. Without Him, we'd end up spending eternity apart from Him/God. With Him, you have an eternal destiny that starts NOW, not just in an eternal future. This life is fleeting and we never know how many chances we have to ensure He is always at the centre of our lives...

Cell Group Questions:

1.Did any points of Sunday's sermon strike you particularly?
2.How can we ensure our hearts ARE in the right place? What should we do, what can we put into practice?
3.Share your own PERSONAL stories of how you've seen your OWN calling, or that of others, unfold...
4.How can we apply what we learned on Sunday from a personal/individual point of view, to Beacon as a body of people? How do we unfold that practically?

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Beacon Touchpaper #15: "Clunk, click. Every trip."

"...be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matt 10.16, ESV)

We live in a day and age where easy access to information, recreation and titillation is forever on the increase. The internet has become both a boon and a bane: it's a vast ocean of resources (thousands upon thousands of new sites are created EVERY day), but inevitably that ocean also contains dangers lurking just below the surface. For every site that can help equip us as God's people (of which there are genuinely plenty), and others that are God-honouring entertainment, there's plenty of others that can lure folks away from Truth and entrap them in easy-to-obtain vices or mindsets.

Of course, the internet is just one example of the world we live in. Media in general (TV/Radio/Magazines/Books) can all help feed an ungodly mindset just as much as enable our walk with Him. The next time you're in a newsagents, take a look at the varied covers on the magazine racks and you'll see the types of gods people live for: beauty, cars, bikes, fashion, careers, health, wealth, pets, houses, sex and more. And take a step away from media, and still we see influences that may affect our and our children's walk with God: opposing mindsets bolstered by recent changes in law, elements of school curriculum (evolution over intelligent design, sex education) and even decisions made by others of God's own people.

So what to do? Shut ourselves away (separatism)? Merge with the culture (syncretism)? Neither, of course: we are "in the world, but not of the world", and the key to doing this successfully lies in Jesus's warning: "...be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matt 10.16). There's our how-to: understanding the culture around us and its thinking ("be wise"), yet remaining untainted by its sinful infection ("be innocent"). Remember: innocent does not mean naive. This way, we may live holy lives for Him, whilst still able to engage with the very people God has called us to share His grace with.

Do you understand the mindsets around you? Get researching, but keep your seatbelt on! Know your limitations, know where you get tempted, then show the people around you something of the grace that He has showered upon you. Maybe it's their turn... But just remember: Clunk, click. Every trip.
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"A Jealousy for Integrity" - notes for sermon 27/09/09

(hear the sermon here)

Why did Nehemiah have such a heart for the walls to be rebuilt?

• Not a desire to see his “home-town” win the prettiest village award, nor about beautifying the City, but a heart to see the identity of God's people protected & secured.
• "pleasing God is more important than pleasing people"
• This required jealousy for integrity needs to be long-term and not incidental: Spurgeon called his monthly magazine "The Sword and the Trowel" because he knew we must be prepared to build and to fight simultaneously.
  

MAINTENANCE:
The walls in Jerusalem were not just for protection from physical threat, but also from corrupting spiritual integrity (Ch 13):
The walls we build here at Beacon will be tested...

• What are they? 
• Walls = "Securing identity and community"
• Community/cell life; Relationships/Accountability; iron sharpens iron
• Service – protects our identity (“Love one another”) - are you serving?
• Our leaders - Nehemiah spoke to the nobles & officials & people in that order, not just "everyone": the vision dissipates from leadership down, protection too. This is why we are being more deliberate about Cell leadership, etc
  

How we submit our thought lives to Him is another wall (personal integrity): IF WE ARE SAVED INTO A BODY, THEN YOUR SIN/SPIRITUAL CONDITION AFFECTS THE REST OF US TOO.

So, "we" build our walls, and what happens? Attack! v1-3 = taunts, 7,8,11 = death threats

• Why? Jerusalem was herself a threat (economic: on the E-W trade rte) 
• The church is also a threat itself in the spiritual realm; we will face opposition
  

VIGILANCE:

We need to remain continually vigilant for our family, our marriages, our church life, our personal integrity...

• Opp comes from inside AND outside the church 
• OUTSIDE: The Jews were literally surrounded: see v7 = N, S, E & W!
• We are surrounded too:
• Accusations of fundamentalism/dogmatism
• Taunts on the subjects of Evolution/abortion/sexuality, etc
  

• HOWEVER, unfortunately, also from within the church [v10 & 12] 
• = cynicism & unbelief – don’t be one of those people
• apathy – if you don’t want opposition, don’t do anything!
• those who don't grasp vision or trust God or the leaders (v10&12)
• [elders look out for ungodly agendas: Tobiah 13 yrs on in temple!]
  

• 1st RESPONSE = v4 & v9: PRAYER! THEN practical arrangements (v9) 
• 1ST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB = "PRAY"!
  

God is 100% committed to His people; This jealousy for integrity on God's behalf
ensured HIS promises were fulfilled: that His Son Messiah came at the right time through the right blood-line (including Zerubbabel!!!)

• He will fulfil his purposes today too. So pray with that in mind! 
• Prayer helps us see this. Here's a nuclear fusion of truth:
• take Isa 43.10b :"Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me"
• and Psa 119.68a: "You are good and do good"
• Two amazing atoms of truth, now combine them, & pray again!
• v14-15 : Nehemiah follows the same: remind, then pray...
• PRAYER ALWAYS REMINDS US OF THE TRUE PERSPECTIVE
• THEN came the action, “setting the guard”, where the weaknesses were, stationed... SWORD AND TROWEL IN HAND
  

While there's still weak spots in our defences, we have a responsibility to deal with them, to repair our breaches: Peter 5.8: "Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour"

• as we grow, as we repair cracks, as we close our breaches, opposition & attack is inevitable - BE PREPARED!!!
• In order to repair them, we need to know where they are:
• Resisting temptation can be helped by general rules of thumb/look for the patterns (when/where/who/how do I feel before etc?)
• Rick Warren: "Sin always has a temporary payoff. You wouldn’t do it if it didn’t. If sin had the pain of a root canal, it wouldn’t be a problem. There’s pleasure in sin. The Bible says it’s fun. But the pleasure is short-term. When you sin, you’re trading short-term pleasure for long-term damage and destruction. It’s not a good deal."
  

• Corporately, our breaches can be: 
• Disunity; cynicism & unbelief; gossip; pride; apathy
• KNOW YOUR/OUR BREACHES!!! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT...
  

PERSISTENCE:

It is easy to run hard for a period and then run out of steam

• REMEMBER: within 13 yrs: intermarrying again, Tobiah in temple! 
• Apathy is a big enemy to the church; we must remember we are in this for the long haul... The people of Judah began to think the job was too much: "The builders' strength is failing; there's too much rubble; we can't do it by ourselves" (v10)
• BUT: they were simply losing sight of what resources they had and Who was on their side! When you lose sight of Who: read Book of Revelation (chapter 19!).......
• All it took was a man of vision like Nehemiah to show them not only the preferable future, but also that they COULD do it
• And then, despite overt opposition & threats AND with a reduced workforce (½ holding the armour or carrying spears)
• AND the builders working with swords strapped to their sides
• THEY DID IT IN 52 DAYS! A WHOLE CITY'S WALLS! About 4.5 miles (Josephus)
  

But thru seeing God's dream - WHICH HE WILL FULFIL – of His Son Messiah being glorified amongst us and our community, and setting our hearts on unfolding His purposes IN THE LONG TERM – with VIGILANCE and PERSISTENCE, then we - like Ezra and Neh - will see the church here in Herne Bay no longer running with a limp, but making great strides for the kingdom, FOR HIS GLORY

• Having a heart of jealousy for the integrity of God's people is not arrogance, or lack of humility, it is only reflecting God's own heart:
• Zech 1.14: "Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion"
• If we don’t have that heart, we have some serious talking with God to do...
• A JEALOUSY 4 INTEGRITY of God's people reflects our God's hrt, and is reflected in how we build the walls that protect our identity and community – SWORD AND TROWEL IN HAND

Remember the 1st rule of Fight Club!!!

Cell Q's:

1. Look at Nehemiah's prayer in 4.4-5: How do we reconcile this kind of prayer with what we've been led to believe is the “appropriate” heart to pray with?
2. How can cell enable a long-term perspective amongst us?
3. Discuss the difference between genuine tiredness – and the need to take some “Sabbath” time out - and a need to persist in God’s strength. How many of us feel tired and what do we usually do about it?

Read more!

Ezra & Nehemiah events timeline

(For the new Beacon sermon series Autumn term '09)

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Beacon Touchpaper #14: "The Author's Perspective"

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Tim 3.16, ESV)

Many people look at Scripture in a manner akin to any other historical texts - as documents written by men of old, in days unlike ours, and therefore of interest possibly but certainly not relevant. Unfortunately, that's because they don't see the real authorship behind it.

A decision made last week by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has only proven similar: they voted to allow practising gays as clergy, a case that sparked the same worldwide debate as occurred last year when the Anglican Church faced similar issues. One advocate said, "We live today with an understanding of homosexuality that did not exist in Jesus' time and culture. We are responding to something that the writers of Scripture could not have understood." Except the Corinths of 2000 years ago were exactly the same as the Brightons, Amsterdams, Seattles, etc of today, of course. The writers may not have understood how modern culture will look and act today necessarily, but the Author of Scripture most certainly would. Nothing takes God by surprise.

The Bible is more than a book, more than a guide, more than just a manual; it is God's revelation to us of Himself, it is prophetic, it is inspired through man (as opposed to the common assumption that it was written simply by man), it is His living Word... it is literally "breathed out by God".

The Bible is 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents - way too many factors to allow for conspiracy or coincidence! And yet this collection of books shares the wonderful common storyline: of a glorious plan to create and rescue a people made to glorify and enjoy God forever. That has never changed. "Times they are a changin" as someone once said, but Jesus Himself affirms, "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10.35).

In which case, ask the following when talking to others about the Bible: Do we understand the Bible in the light of our own lives and surrounding culture? Or do we understand our lives and surrounding culture in the light of the Bible?
Read more!

Beacon Touchpaper #13: "A Wise Man Once Said..."

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction..." (Prov 1.7, ESV)

If, like me, you've been taking a certain brother's "handy household hint" to heart and been reading through the book of Proverbs on a daily basis, then I'm certain God has already been speaking to you. You'll know that these are not just maxims, or axioms, or any other little words ending in 'm', but divinely-inspired Truths that are just as applicable in the age of mobile phones and imperialism in a cup (aka Starbucks franchises) as they were when they became the collection as we know it over 2500 years ago.

King Solomon and the other writers of this book (he wrote the verse quoted above) knew the essence of real wisdom: it was not found in astrology, or mathematics, or philosophy, but founded upon the fear of the Lord (see also Psalm 111.10). If you really want to know true wisdom, then fearing ("revering/respecting/honouring") the Lord will bring humility, worship, identity, morality, and so on. If our lives truly revolve around Him, then as we learn more and more about Him, about ourselves, and about the world we live in ("knowledge"), we learn how to apply that in such a way that it is honouring to Him and best for us ("wisdom").

For a season, as appropriate, keep reading through this wonderful book each day - not instead of your quiet times, but as well as; we're talking just a few extra minutes - and learn some of these great truths off by heart too. Try these for starters:

10.9: "Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out."
19.17: "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed."
23.17: "Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day."
30.5: "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him."

Let these Truths seep deep into your hearts, and as we abide in His word, and as His word abides in us, may He bring forth amazing fruit in our lives and in those around us. For His glory!

Read more!

"God's Fruity People" - notes for sermon 19/07/09

(hear the sermon here)

On the fourth section of our purpose statement: “Living life Jesus’ way, by His Spirit, on His mission, for His glory”.

How do we glorify Him?

God frequently uses a picture of His people as a vine, and Jesus continues to use the image during His time here on Earth; during His final evening, just prior to His arrest, He spoke to His disciples in such a way that He is preparing them for a new age in the Kingdom... they were the foundation for a spiritual community that covered the globe.

John 15.1-17

This is both a sobering and exciting passage, depending on where we stand right now, but it's something we must take seriously: unfolding the Word of God should always be allowed to impact our lives, or there's no point at all...

So... The 1st question is: Are we living for Christ? Or are we not? Hot or cold, the choice is ours, but we cannot be lukewarm; Jesus does not give us that option: He said to the church in Laodicea (Rev 3.14-22) - "Because you are lukewarm... I will spit you out of my mouth"!

It's all or nothing, hot or cold. Take your pick. Let’s remember this while we continue...

1. "Abide in me"

How do we do that?

Firstly, this is about relationship! This is not a credit system! Nothing we say or do will change how much God loves us as His children! This is all about a relationship with our loving Father!

A branch on its own cannot produce life; it needs to draw that life from the vine... As His children, we should show our love for Him by allowing His Holy Spirit to work through us to bear fruit. He's like the SAP: Father = Vinedresser/Gardener; Son = Vine (although we should never stretch that analogy too far: the Holy Spirit is a person - the third person of the eternal Godhead - and not some Star Wars-like "force". But as we are Christ here on Earth - His body - so His Holy Spirit dwells in us and works through us... Okay?)

>Thus... "Abide" = keeping in fellowship with Christ, so His life works through us to produce... fruit! This is a continual, daily, personal relationship with our Saviour. But how do we cultivate that/abide?

• Spending time in the Word
• v7 ="If you abide in me, and MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU" & also v10: "If you keep my commandments, you WILL ABIDE IN MY LOVE"
• with the Holy Spirit/ prayer
• trust
• confession of sin (so no hindrance)
• obedience

Abiding is not automatic ("abide in me" is a command/request, not an assumption): it demands worship, meditating on the Word, prayer, sacrifice, service - and all breathes new life in us!

2. Bearing fruit

How do we glorify God? v8: by bearing fruit, and see also see v16 - we have been chosen/appointed for it!

Something I should point out: whether we bear fruit or not affects not just ourselves, but others too... we don’t sin in a vacuum, sin has consequences, and our fruit-bearing is the same. For example:

• A prepared preacher is far more important than a prepared sermon: affects delivery, preparation...
• Where I am... affects how I lead my marriage, family
• Elder = affects the church
• Cell leader = affects the cell; leading W’s too
• No one gets off lightly: we all lose out if you're not fulfilling your potential for Christ!
• It affects the Gospel too... how we live our lives at home, in the workplace, where we play... we can miss opportunities if we're "DRIED UP/ NOT FIRED UP"...

Sobering isn't it? But be encouraged, learn from this. Because then it gets really exciting: look at what happens to those who are bearing fruit: WE GET PRUNED!!!

Jesus says that (v2) "every branch that DOES bear fruit will be pruned, in order that it may bear MORE fruit." PRUNING IS GOOD FOR US... Pruning is not nice, but is necessary! If you’re a gardener, you’ll know that!

2 things ensure a greater crop:

1. The removal of dead branches (v6):

• removing the dead tissue that brings disease and weakness
• there are 2 schools of thought about whom Jesus is speaking of here, both of which we can learn from regardless:

a. unbelievers (no fruit-bearing): then it would make sense that they're not abiding! ARE YOU SAVED??? Get right with God and quickly!

b. (more likely) believers (v2: “every branch of MINE that does not bear fruit he takes away”) who are failing to abide and therefore fail to produce fruit, or worse: remember 1 Cor 5! Don't end up in that position! Get right with God, quickly!

• (He is not saying that you can lose your salvation! YOU CAN’T! - Jesus has already made that clear in 6.37 “whoever comes to me I will NEVER cast out” and 10.27-30 “no one will snatch them out of my hand”) – Jesus would not contradict himself...
• Either way - unbelievers or disciplining believers failing to produce fruit – the message is the same: Get right with God, do it quick!

2. The pruning of the other branches:

• Left to its own devices, a branch would/could still bear fruit, but it'll be inferior (eg wild)
• The removal of an entire shoot or limb revitalizes a plant by removing weak, problematic, or excessive growths... so energy goes into further fruit and isn't wasted
• = trimming the living tissue (anything that is – not necessarily wrong - robbing us of spiritual vigour which should be focussed elsewhere)...
• Expert Vine-dressing is a very specific art and can take yrs of training: God is the ultimate/knows best!!!
• "PRUNING IS GOOD FOR ME"!!!

Soooo.... what will this pruning look like in our lives?

• Conviction – the NewFrontiers leaders hearing from God to end our Stoneleigh Bible weeks: the subsequent fruit in our communities and around the world had been far greater than of we'd continued...
• chastening/discipline
• restriction/circumstances changing or not changing

Jesus' intention has always been that we abide from the start, but at the very least we need to respond His pruning/prompting and ABIDE and BEAR FRUIT: v16: "chosen and appointed..."

We are chosen and appointed... to bear fruit... for His glory

3. The Crop
What does this fruit look like?

• Remember: FRUIT IS FOR OTHERS: Fruit is for eating & reproducing! It's not just about us. Remember my point earlier: the spiritual condition of preacher/ elder/ husband/ member...
• Doesn't occur overnight: takes cultivation

1. Character: The fruit of the spirit (Gal 5.22-23) = Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control...
2. Winning others for Christ: Rom 1.13: “I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles”
3. Growth in holiness & obedience: Rom 6.22: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life”
4. Giving /generosity: Rom 15.28: “When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them (ie Jerusalem church) what has been collected (Greek="sealed to them this fruit") (from Macedonian and Achaian churches), I will leave for Spain by way of you”
5. Service: Col 1.10: “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”
6. Praise: We are meant to use fruity language! Heb 13.15: “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name”

In Conclusion:

A change of heart, if genuine, will produce a crop. If we really want to glorify God - because of Who He is, because He loved us first - then we do that by bearing fruit FOR Him by abiding IN Him (v8)

Elements do conspire to limit our effectiveness for the Gospel:

• Sin: confess/deal with it! Keep a short account with Him
• Temptation - know your weaknesses and seek ways to protect yourself: accountability, avoidance of certain times/ circumstances/ people/ places...

God has set the choice before us:

• Deut 30.19 = "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life"
• Rev 3.19: Jesus said to the Laodicean church after His stark warning: "Be zealous and repent..."
• The choice is before you: life or death?
• Do you want the smell of death lingering around you? No fruit-bearing? It's all too easy to be a “Professional Christian”, wearing a mask... How awful a thing for God’s own people – bought by Christ’s blood – to be dead wood... Some people look and act like Christians but aren't truly saved; it is also possible for God's own people to squander their inheritance and fail to abide in Him...
• Or would you rather the “Aroma of Christ” around you: a life lived abundantly, His way, seeing His transforming wonders first-hand in your life and in those around you as a result
• Ask yourself the question “AM I GROWING?” Compared to 3 months ago, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years ago... "Am I growing?"

If the Spirit has nudged you on anything - effectiveness for the Gospel, something hindering you, not fully experiencing the fruit of the Spirit in your life, or maybe you feel all "dried up/not fired up" - then now is the time to respond.

Bring glory to Him by abiding IN Him, in order to bear fruit FOR Him.

THAT'S how we glorify our King.

CELL QUESTIONS:

1. Share examples of pruning in your lives (circumstances/conviction, etc) and how you’ve grown/learnt as a result...
2. How can we as God’s people avoid being “lukewarm” in our current post-modern, post-Christian culture? What are the pitfalls to keep a lookout for?
3. Take another look at the listed fruit of the Spirit that Paul gives us in Gal 5.22-23: any of those you'd particularly like to see more of in your life right now? Pray for each other...

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Beacon Touchpaper #12: "Daily Doings"

"But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’" (Acts 2.16-21, ESV)

How many times do we refer to the Holy Spirit in prayer and when we meet? Honestly? And how many times do we refer Him as "it"? And why do we still have a common tendency to really only expect signs and wonders in our meetings and not outside?

This past weekend, those of us who made it to "Church on the Farm" were blessed by God's presence in a big way. He touched hearts, changed lives, healed bodies. His Spirit was welcomed as a person - as He should be - and He came in power. He ministered to us through the preaching of the Word, through fellowship and private moments of sharing and counsel, and through signs and wonders. Yes, a lot of that was through the meetings, but admittedly there were 5 of those in 2-and-a-bit days, and that was kind of the intention of an otherwise unusual weekend compared to our usual. But you know what? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are not constrained to our meetings or to our quiet times. The sun and moon "turning" that Peter and Joel spoke of may not be fulfilled yet, but everything else in that passage refers to the Christian life from that moment nearly 2000 years ago, via now and into the future.

Prophecy, healing, visions, words of knowledge, any demonstration of the supernatural breaking into the natural is meant to be everyday life for you and me.

We are not all called to be prophets, but we are all called to live and walk by the Spirit. The same Spirit that helped create the sun and the oceans, that worked in power through Christ's ministry on earth and raised His lifeless body from the dead, is the same Spirit alive in you and me. When Peter recited the above Scripture from the prophet Joel, he was demonstrating that what the people were witnessing at that moment - the supernatural breaking into the natural - was an expected result of Christ's work in and through His people.

With "Healing on the Streets" commencing in Whitstable this month, and our own opportunities through Re:Act in a few weeks, let us expect what has tended to be the unexpected. Don't despise or grieve the Holy Spirit; spend time with Him and in the Word. Signs and wonders will follow when we allow the Spirit to guide us in our daily doings. It's already expected!

(for a full review of the "Church on the Farm" weekend, including some testimony, check out http://every-days-an-adventure.blogspot.com/2009/06/carry-on-camping.html )

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