Fellowship of the unashamed

A powerful quote attributed to a pastor in Zimbabwe......

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I ahve the Holy Spirit's
power. the die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. the decision has
been made; I'm a disciple of His! I won't look back, let up, sow down, back away
or be still... I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I ahve stayed up, stored
up, prayed up, paid up and preach up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of
Jesus.

Determined Gospeling

In case you missed it I will be doing some blogging with some friends this year, you can find it here. Head on over and have a look around, it will slowly be populated with posts from various people - it is all about helping us think through evangelism permeating all structures of the church.
ENJOY!

In the chute conference

Big things to take out of 'In the chute' conference

Over the last few days I was in Canberra thinking about church planting and growing churches. It was put on by the guys at Geneva Push.

Their website is great and has all the talks up

So here are some things that I took away….

1. Pursue evangelism, no matter how difficult or die. We want grow by sheer organisational skill. Therefore we have to have lives that touch unbelievers somehow whether it be door to door, letters, radio stations, etc
   


2. Keep thinking hard about training people to be disciples of Jesus especially during times of rapid growth
   


3. Give ourselves not just to planting but growing churches
   


4. 
   
   Factors to consider in church growth
   
   
   
   
   
   1. Spiritual: check community, congregational, leadership: are we captured by the gospel and its convictions. Preach with urgency
      
   
   
   2. Competency: of leaders in preaching, communication, conflict resolution & people skills
      
   
   
   3. Process management: not good at managing the resources that God has given u
      
   
   
   4. Need to keep thinking about building capacity: finding people who are vision multipliers, raising the evangelistic temperature
      


5. Our evangelistic edge will be lost if WE are not walking closely with Jesus
   


6. Know your local area: find the local council employed community worker to find out how we can work in partnership
   


7. Work hard at modelling an evangelistic lifestyle – inviting people to church, etc
   


8. See your calendar as missional e.g. teach people you have 5 lunchtimes 1 of them lunch with non-Christian
   


9. Breaking 200 the leader needs to move from shepherd to rancher (but not too quickly)
   


10. You will only fill up to the lowest slat in the barrel (you have to understand the illustration)
    

More Moving Moody

For a lot of the time Moody's Mum, Betsey, was Unitarian, however after returning from two years in England Moody went home for some rest and relaxation. He says,

'Cold unitarians….My heart burned to draw them to Christ'

After spending some time in his hometown he was invited to preach and did over a number of evenings

'Betsey came from pride, determined not to budge from her convictions…..A Unitarian till shed died. On the hills, alone or with his friends, Moody wrestled in prayer. Some song, some graphic Bible story pierced her shield of moral confidence, but she gave no sign until on one of the last evenings, when Moody invited those to rise in their places who wished to acknowledge Christ as Son of God and trust in Him as Saviour, "that we might pray for you", Betsey rose. Moody was so overcome that he could barely ask one of the others to lead the prayer. On the last night Samuel (his brother0 stood.

Really enjoying this book…..

Funeral Talk

A few weeks ago I took a funeral for a young man of 22 who tragically died on his way back from an army exercise. Approx 650 gathered, for a full military funeral, the following is my sermon from the day not because I think it is brilliant but because I hope it points people to the God of great comfort.

The Pain of a Lost Son

Passages: John 14:1-7

Ps 23:1-6

We come together as a community today to grieve

To Frances and her family – today is a testament to a well-loved son, brother, uncle and so much more

And so we grieve with you

We grieve of a man taken far too young from this world

It is clear from today that Stephen loved the Army

On the back of their cars they have blazoned across their number plates – serving the nation

Those involved in the Army serve us, they serve our country

The work of the Army is often not thanked enough in our public sphere – we remember at certain times throughout the year

We owe a great debt to those men and women who fight on our behalf

It is easy to see from today that there is a great and deep respect for you and an appreciation of the work you do

We want to thank you today for your service of this great nation

It is work that would take you to some very dark places

Confronting things that most of us would not even dare encounter

And even sometimes, as the Psalm writer says, into the valley of the shadow of death

The work of the army has won for us many valued freedoms that too often we take for granted

They are freedoms that we enjoy without realising the cost involved

Sometimes it is paying the ultimate cost – the loss of life

It is on this note of cost that the Bible speaks very clearly to us this morning

And it has something for us all to hear and take away

I can't imagine the pain of losing a son

Frances and her family are going through everyone parents' worst nightmare

And today is a time set aside for us to remember him

To grieve together the loss of his life

But then again it is hardly the normal thing for death to be a welcome thing to someone's life

No matter how much we try to fight the ageing process

Death is something that will come upon as all

I can't imagine the pain of losing a son

But God can

He willingly went through the pain of losing a son

Willingly put himself in that situation

so that we could gain freedom

He paid a high price and it was no accident

God deliberately sent his Son, Jesus onto a mission that would cost his life

The mission was one that impacted all of humanity

Each one of us today has been touched by the mission of Jesus

It was about reconciling a world full of people who have rejected him and his ways

Repairing that broken relationship

God knows about paying the cost

God knows what it is to lose a son

God knows what it is to suffer like we are today

God knows the pain of a lost son

THEREFORE

1. God is a one of great sympathy and comfort
   

If there is one thing we all need on a day like today is comfort

And God is able to offer it

This is not a false comfort or a just a determination to look on the bright side

As it is said in the Psalm

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me

The Bible never promises a life of no suffering and no pain

It is very realistic about what life can throw at us

Even the events of the last few weeks

The promise of the Bible is not that they will never happen

But of a God who walks alongside us as we walk go through the valley of the shadow of death

Of a God who is not distant and vague

But one who knows and cares and can empathise with us on a day like today

God walks with us

And so we can say with the Psalm

The LORD is my Shepherd

God is like the ancient shepherd

A shepherd is not a weak man

But rather one of the toughest

Accustomed to fighting of thieves and wild animals with his staff and rod

This is the type of shepherd willing to lay down his life for his sheep

Here is a picture of a God able to comfort for he is able to ward off all his enemies for our protection

When Jesus was on earth he came as the shepherd Ps 23 speaks about

He came to guard us, guide us, live for us and ultimately die for us

The cost of the death of Jesus won for us a wonderful freedom

The freedom of forgiveness with God

Jesus asks his followers to demonstrate that same forgiveness in their lives

Frances, I want to thank you for showing and demonstrating the power of what Jesus came to do

For those that don't know

Frances is an active member of our church family

She is someone who knows and loves the Lord Jesus Christ

As I sat with Frances this week she has told me many times that she holds no blame for the tragic accident that occurred

No blame for the driver

But instead offering a hand of forgiveness

I'm sure that there would be many in your situation that would have responded very differently – be it with anger or vengeance – both of which would be unjustified

Frances you have shown the community gathered here today a better way and something important and wonderful and extremely powerful – the power of forgiveness

The story of Jesus is not just to his death on the cross

But Jesus was even raised out of the tomb resurrected from the dead

See it in the words Jesus says to his disciples and Thomas in the John passage as he talks about returning to prepare a place

Showing us that in there is a future place; an age to come where death will be defeated

There is a great and wonderful world awaiting those who walk with the Good Shepherd

Friends take these two passages with you

Comfort and console each other today

However God is the greatest comforter of all

b/c he is the Good Shepherd

Trust yourself to him

He will see you through all your trials

Even the valley of the shadow of death

And you are able to say

I will fear no evil

God is with me

His rod and staff they comfort me

Little ‘Arry Moorhouse

He was a little guy apparently from England that went to the States in the late 19^th Century to visit D. L. Moody. Moody was sceptical but he soon changed…

Moorhouse announced his text: John 3:16: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life'. Instead of dividing the text into firstly, secondly, thirdly in ministerial manner, Moorhouse, Moody noted, 'went from Genesis to Revelation giving proof that God loves the sinner, and before he got through, two or three of my sermons were spoiled'. Moody's teaching that it was the sinner god hates, the sinner as well as the sin, lay shattered at his feet. 'I never knew up to that time that God loved us so much. This heart of mine began to thaw out; I could not keep back the tears.'

Mooving Moody

I have started reading John Pollock's biography of a man called 'D.L. Moody' it is a great read so far but the bit I read yesterday was awesome, let me set the context of what I am about to quote. One of the men Moody had working with him doing what we would call a massive kids club in the slums of Chicago had not long to live. This teacher was anxious about his class that he taught, not one of them had turned to Christ. Moody took him to all the homes of the girls in his class and he asked each one personally, 'I have come just to ask you to come to the Saviour'. At the end of the 10 days every girl had accepted Christ as their saviour. But there is time for one more meeting before he dies …….

'You are not going today. Wait until tomorrow and get the whole class together. Bring them all to tea tonight'. Moody said afterwards that if he had known what that meeting would do to him he might have stayed away. All came, the teacher spoke and read to them, and thy tried to sing a parting hymn. They knelt to pray. The man begged God to deepen the girls' new found faith. Moody prayed. 'I was just rising from my knees when one of the class began to pray for her dying teacher.' Astonished, Moody listened to the faltering, extempore prayer of a slum girl whom he had known as an empty headed scoffer. A second besought her God for power to win others to Himself. One after another the girls stumbled into prayer. As Moody heard these genuine, fervent thanksgivings, these earnest petitions, the 100,000 gold dollars of his dreams turned to tinsel, the ambition to build a commercial empire showed up tawdry, transient. Better to spend his years as this dying teacher had spent ten days.