Being a witness

Thursday, April 30, 2009

I have posted previously of how Jesus wants us to be both "light and salt" to the world in which we live.  Being a witness sometimes scares people mainly because they are not sure of what God expects of them.

Firstly, I believe God wants us to be authentic. That is, He wants us to be the genuine article. We cannot give something away that we do not possess. Therefore, we need to be sure we are born again and have a right relationship with the Father through Christ. 

Secondly, God expects us to be natural. That is, in our witness we are to be ourselves; we are not to try and be a clone of somebody else. Nor are we to behave in a false way that we think would be more acceptable to those we share with.

Thirdly, we need to be relational. The best witness comes from building relationships with those you are trying to reach.

The last thing we need to have is an attitude of self sacrifice like Jesus. Our concern for the unsaved should be paramount in our lives, even over our own pursuits.

These four aspects will help us be the kind of witness God desires.

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Nurturing your spirit

Monday, April 27, 2009

We know that God wants us to be obedient to His Word and to the Holy Spirits' leadings. We try to do this because we know that is what God expects from us, obedience. However, in all the dealings God has with His children, His requirements are more for our benefit than His.

When Jesus ministered to the woman at the well in John chapter 4, he told His disciples, when they had returned with lunch that "he had food to eat that they knew nothing about". On questioning each other on who could have supplied this (physical) food, Jesus replied, "my food (spiritual), is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work"

The two aspects of Jesus reply shows us His obedience to the Father's will and His desire to complete all that was asked of Him.
This action nourished Jesus not physically but spiritually. It was to Him the same as physical food, only better; it was food that would last.

It is the same with us; obedience to God's Word on occassions may leave us physically, emotionally and mentally drained but not spiritually exhausted. Our inner man will be well-fed and will provide us with all that is required to finish the work that God has for us to do.

This results in a win:win situation. God's Kingdom is advanced and we grow in spiritual stature and authority.

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Preparing for change

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Over the coming months, Peninsula Vineyard will be experiencing some significant changes as we continue to grow as a community of believers here in Dee Why on the northern beaches.

There are a few reasons why God brings about change...

1. Godly change always pushes us out of our comfort zones. (A comfort zone is where we feel self reliant and satisfied rather than God reliant).
2. Godly change always creates enthusiasm.
3. Godly change always brings further growth.
4. Godly change always gives a new start and new opportunities.

Ecc 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven..."

Let's embrace change with excitement and anticipation!

Blessings

Roy and Gae

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Designed for Action

Monday, April 06, 2009

God's purpose for us as the church is to be mobilized and actively involved in the extension of His kingdom.

We see this in the involvement of all three persons of the trinity. The Father has created us with what is referred to as motivational gifts. That is, intrinsinic qualities and characteristics that enable us to fullfill the different functions that make up the body. There is service, leadership, administration, mercy gifts etc all working interdependent with each other to make the church powerful and fully functional.

The Holy Spirit is the provider of the manifestation gifts that empower the individual to do the supernatural works of God.

Jesus is the provider of the ministry gifts that are to train and equip the church for action, as it says in  Eph 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 

When we look at the provision of God we see that giftings, enablings and the equipping all indicate God's desire for His church to be mobilized and engaged in the work of the Kingdom.

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Every person has a role

Friday, March 27, 2009

It has been said that "the successful expansion of any movement is in direct proportion to its ability to mobilize and involve its total membership in constant propagation of its beliefs, purposes, and philosophy."

If we look around the world today we see the validity of that statement. Political parties like the "Greens" have grown tremendously. Regardless of your political persuasion you have to agree that if you talk to any "greenie" they espouse their beliefs with great passion.

When Jesus said that "He would build his church," that was not to be without the complete co-operation of the church to further His message. The full message of the Kingdom includes signs and wonders. The problem with the church is not that we don't have a great message or the power to preach it, rather, we don't have the willingness to be totally commited to the cause. Many think they are involved and "sold out" for Jesus but the reality is, that most of this is always on their own terms and conditions.

God is looking for totally submitted people... only then will the church expand.

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Time for the church to mobilize

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Every believer and every church is to be mobilized. That is, to be in a state of readiness.

In the natural, when there is a threat of war, our troops are mobilized. When there is a natural disaster, our rescue and emergency services are mobilized. They are in a state of readiness to battle whatever confronts them. When the threat or danger passes we say these forces are "stood down". The trouble with many Christians and churches is that they lives in a "stand down" mode rather than in a "mobilized" mode.

A mobilized position does not mean that every minute of every day we are on the front line fighting. Any person doing that  would soon become exhausted. No, to be mobilized is to be ready and prepared to seize the opportunities that present themselves. It is to be the light and salt that Jesus wants us to be. This lines up with Peter when he says that we are "always to be prepared (mobilized) to give an answer to those who ask you..."

How mobilized are you?

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God is Visionary

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

One of the characteristics of the Father is that He is the ultimate visionary. Before Genesis 1:1 He had a vision of what He was going to do. This ranged from as broad as the universe to the smallest of  His creation. He also had a vision for us, His ultimate creation. His vision was that we would rule and reign, we would be people that worshipped Him and reflected His glory to creation. As we were created in his "image and likeness" we also possess the characteristic of being visionary. Having vision gives purpose to our life and purpose brings hope, for without vision we perish. We can receive vision for lifes future from God or as Jeremiah 23:16 says "visions from our own minds". The choice is ours, seeking what God wants for us or what we want for ourselves.

What is Gods vision for our future? What is His blueprint for our life? Eph. 2:10 "For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He created in advance for us to do." God not only has eternity in plan for us but a vision for what we would do in this life.

We fulfill that vision by:

1. Dealing with the sin in our life that will always deviate us away from His plans to our own purposes.
2. Earnestly study God's Word that we may discern His principles for life.
3. Being a person of prayer, so that we are in continuous communication with God.
4. Being commited to do the works as they present themselves in our daily walk.
5. Being people that fellowship and seek Godly counsel from others.

As we do or attempt to do these things we will see ourselves mature and fulfill the perfect vision that God has for each of His children.

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Temptation

Friday, March 06, 2009

We need to realize that temptation does not arise from an external source, but rather it comes from within. James tells us that "each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed". Dealing with temptation therefore is not so much an avoidance of external stimulus but rather a putting to death the internal lusts (the flesh) that drive us to satisfy ourselves in those areas. I was sharing with a group the thought process of temptation and mentioned the acronym of T.I.D.E. wich stands for thoughts, imagination, desire and expression.

This of course is how internal evil desires operate in our mind to move us towards sin. One of the group was sharing this with work colleagues and came up with T.I.D.E. as being temptation, imagination, desire and ...........ecstasy. 

Funny, but a truth as well, temptation does have power. Pauls' remedy to the situation is that " if we live by the Spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature". Wise advise indeed!

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Joy in Trials

Monday, March 02, 2009

The book of James tells us "to consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,..."  Many Christians can come under condemnation if they do not differentiate between being joyful for the nature of the trial, and being joyful in the process of the trial. This is supported by Paul when he speaks in  1 Thessalonians  of "giving thanks in all circumstances." Notice that it is "in" the circumstances and not "for" the circumstances.

We are strange people indeed if we rejoice in the tragedy of the event eg loss of a loved one or home etc.

However, as we trust in God through the process of dealing with the tragedy, we can be joyful in the knowledge that our faith in God  will be developing in us a perserverace that leads to maturity.

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Salt and Light

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

In Matthew 5 Jesus tells his disciples that they must be both light and salt to the world. It is the model that Jesus demonstrated and is also applicable to us in the church today i.e.  being a witness for Christ. The light represents the lifestyle that must be demonstrated by a believer.  A lot of the time we will be unaware of who is affected by this light. just as most of the world would never have personally met  Mother Teresa but they would have been affected by the light she showed. 

In a similar way we must be light to those observing us even if we are unaware of their observations.  As someone once said a true refection of our character is revealed in how we behave when no one is watching. However many Christians live there life as light but miss the importance of being salt. The two must go together. Salt is only useful when it actually comes into contact with food, to flavour or preserve.  In the same way we must come into contact with the broken hearted, poor, distressed and needy members of our community. ministering to them in  the  Holy Spirits power.

As disciples we must demonstrate both these characteristics, being an example of Christ to people in the way we live but also in the things we do as we touch peoples lives by our interactions with them. Jesus came as a light  did not stay aloof but mingled with the people. To be true disciple we must do likewise  in our communities.

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