Paul Benger spoke an excellent message in church this morning on ‘Connecting’.
We can connect to negative things as well as positive things.
Where we connect is very important. When we make right connections we can be sure our landings will be ok! Our connections become the power that is at work in our lives.
As we connect with people of faith we feel lifted. God is able to speak to us through those connections.
Ezekiel 37:1-10
God asks Ezekiel – ‘Can these bones lives?
God also asks us as we look over our lives – ‘what can you see?’
God tells Ezekiel to speak to the bones - Ezekiel is going to be the answer. We are going to be the answer in our life and the lives of others.
God knows the answer – he wants us to know it. God can speak the answer but he wants us to speak it.
Vs 7 – God can make old bones live again. We have so many connection tools yet we still live in a world with so much disconnection. The answer to disconnection is two-fold:
1) Breath of God. We need to keep full of the Holy Spirit.
2) Connection. We need to love one another when we come together.
Proverbs 13:20 - Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble
Genesis 2:18 – And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him."
Hebrews 10:25 – And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.
John 17:20-21 – (20) My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (21) that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
10 things that we can do in Connect Groups to help us to minister to one another
1) Celebrate the victory of others (Romans 12:10)
2) Don’t judge (Romans 14:13)
3) Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
4) Greet one another (Romans 16:16)
5) Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)
6) Put up with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
7) Forgive (Ephesians 4:32)
8) Speak to one another about God (Ephesians 5:19)
9) Put people at ease (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
10) Build people up (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
God Unlimited
Another excellent message in church yesterday morning. Paul Benger spoke on God Unlimited.
Isaiah 54:1-3 – (1) Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband, says the Lord. (2) Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. (3) For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
Limitation is incredibly frustrating. We need to take the limits off of God in our lives. Our lives may feel limited at times - we can reach so high but no higher...so far but no further. It’s like living with a ‘limiter’ in our lives.
Don’t limit God. Never say ‘I will always be sick’ or ‘the church will never have influence’. Christian influence has led the way over the centuries. In medicine, caring, education, social justice.
God is saying, ‘don’t limit me’. How do we limit God? By not believing all that He said he would do.
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Take the limits off!
Two trains of thought - that God is sovereign, that He is in control. Also that God has given us responsibility for our world. These two thoughts have battled against each other through time. God wants to partner with us in seeing his will being done, that is why we pray ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done’.
Three promises from these verses in Isaiah 54 – the 3 E’s. God wants to...
Expand us – Our desire for the church is that we will grow, get bigger. That you will get bigger.
Empower us – power from His word for the whole week, the whole of the time.
Equip us – Equipped to live our lives.
- You shall expand, Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
- You will inherit, Isaiah 54:3 – We will inherit the nations
God is a rewarder. Luke 6:38 – Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- You will inhabit the desolate place. God is a restorer. He restores broken lives, dreams, destiny’s.
5 things (from Isaiah 54:1-3) that help us to take the limits off God.
1) Get a bigger plot
A bigger footprint! See a bigger future…buy some land! Enlarge the place of your tent (Vs 2) A time to rejoice, to see what God can do. Prophesy it! Change your thinking (Romans 12:2). Bigger people build a bigger world. You need a bigger plot, we (the church) needs a bigger plot!
2) Do more
Or do something! Stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back (Vs 2) Remember though our identity is in God, not what we do. But to bring the Kingdom of God into our world, to see His will being done, has an incredible amount to do with what we do.
3) Be generous
Spare not (Vs 2) – live with a generous attitude and spirit. Don’t limit God...i.e. don't be limited because we don’t have.
4) Build lasting relationships with the right people
Lengthen your chords (Vs 2) – Together we take the Kingdom forward. We change into the people we connect with. The power of fellowship.
5) Stay loyal to your commitments
Strengthen your stakes (Vs 2) – stay loyal to the people God has put you with. Need to stay connected.
Isaiah 54:1-3 – (1) Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband, says the Lord. (2) Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. (3) For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
Limitation is incredibly frustrating. We need to take the limits off of God in our lives. Our lives may feel limited at times - we can reach so high but no higher...so far but no further. It’s like living with a ‘limiter’ in our lives.
Don’t limit God. Never say ‘I will always be sick’ or ‘the church will never have influence’. Christian influence has led the way over the centuries. In medicine, caring, education, social justice.
God is saying, ‘don’t limit me’. How do we limit God? By not believing all that He said he would do.
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Take the limits off!
Two trains of thought - that God is sovereign, that He is in control. Also that God has given us responsibility for our world. These two thoughts have battled against each other through time. God wants to partner with us in seeing his will being done, that is why we pray ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done’.
Three promises from these verses in Isaiah 54 – the 3 E’s. God wants to...
Expand us – Our desire for the church is that we will grow, get bigger. That you will get bigger.
Empower us – power from His word for the whole week, the whole of the time.
Equip us – Equipped to live our lives.
- You shall expand, Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
- You will inherit, Isaiah 54:3 – We will inherit the nations
God is a rewarder. Luke 6:38 – Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- You will inhabit the desolate place. God is a restorer. He restores broken lives, dreams, destiny’s.
5 things (from Isaiah 54:1-3) that help us to take the limits off God.
1) Get a bigger plot
A bigger footprint! See a bigger future…buy some land! Enlarge the place of your tent (Vs 2) A time to rejoice, to see what God can do. Prophesy it! Change your thinking (Romans 12:2). Bigger people build a bigger world. You need a bigger plot, we (the church) needs a bigger plot!
2) Do more
Or do something! Stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back (Vs 2) Remember though our identity is in God, not what we do. But to bring the Kingdom of God into our world, to see His will being done, has an incredible amount to do with what we do.
3) Be generous
Spare not (Vs 2) – live with a generous attitude and spirit. Don’t limit God...i.e. don't be limited because we don’t have.
4) Build lasting relationships with the right people
Lengthen your chords (Vs 2) – Together we take the Kingdom forward. We change into the people we connect with. The power of fellowship.
5) Stay loyal to your commitments
Strengthen your stakes (Vs 2) – stay loyal to the people God has put you with. Need to stay connected.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Handling Life's Storms
Great message in church on Sunday. Paul Benger spoke on ‘Handling Life’s Storms’.
Acts 27:27-44
We all face storms in our lives both literal (i.e. the kind that causes floods and blow our roofs off!) - to the more common ‘life storms’. Both types cause upheaval and are messy!
Some of the characteristics of storms - Unexpected, unfavourable, unpleasant and unpredictable.
We face storms relating to our health, finances, emotions, career, increased responsibilities.
God is with us, he wants to help us handle storms...to delivers us and bring us through them.
When storms come as Christians we need to rise up – to have a backbone. The Spirit of God is inside of us, don’t succumb to the spirit of the age. Take a stand.
Four important responses in the midst of storms:
1) Don’t Abandon Your Trust in God
Don’t look for a reason why – trust God. Don’t focus on your smallness, focus on the greatness of God. Paul – “God has shown me, no one will die’
Don’t rely on yourself – don’t trust in human wisdom, it’s flawed. Trust God – do it His way. You’re only ‘right’ when you agree with God – it’s time to change your mind! He is our deliverer!
The storm will reveal what’s inside of us. How much hope we’ve got, how much faith we’ve got, how much joy we’ve got.
The storm doesn’t reveal stuff for God to see – the storm let’s us know what we need in our life.
2) Don’t Abandon the Ship and Crew
(Vs 30-32) – Too many people jump ship when the storm comes. God wants us to draw closer. The best place to be when the storm comes is in the House of God.
When the storm comes don’t project your problems on someone else...and don’t think the grass is always greener on the other side.
A storm means that a better day is coming!
3) Don’t Abandon Your Faith
Don’t go into crisis or panic mode. What’s inside of us? Don’t abandon the things we are believing for. As well as starting new things...finish them!
Vision can sometimes shrivel up when a storm comes.
Hebrews 12:1-3 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus never backed off when he faced a storm.
Let the storm be the momentum that takes you to another level.
4) Don’t Abandon Your Mission
They stayed with the ship...until they’d accomplished their mission. Changes happen so that we can fulfil our mission.
Consider the changes that we are about to face as a church. It’s all about us fulfilling our mission. What God has called us to do at this time. To see His church built in this place
Let’s not abandon our mission!
Acts 27:27-44
We all face storms in our lives both literal (i.e. the kind that causes floods and blow our roofs off!) - to the more common ‘life storms’. Both types cause upheaval and are messy!
Some of the characteristics of storms - Unexpected, unfavourable, unpleasant and unpredictable.
We face storms relating to our health, finances, emotions, career, increased responsibilities.
God is with us, he wants to help us handle storms...to delivers us and bring us through them.
When storms come as Christians we need to rise up – to have a backbone. The Spirit of God is inside of us, don’t succumb to the spirit of the age. Take a stand.
Four important responses in the midst of storms:
1) Don’t Abandon Your Trust in God
Don’t look for a reason why – trust God. Don’t focus on your smallness, focus on the greatness of God. Paul – “God has shown me, no one will die’
Don’t rely on yourself – don’t trust in human wisdom, it’s flawed. Trust God – do it His way. You’re only ‘right’ when you agree with God – it’s time to change your mind! He is our deliverer!
The storm will reveal what’s inside of us. How much hope we’ve got, how much faith we’ve got, how much joy we’ve got.
The storm doesn’t reveal stuff for God to see – the storm let’s us know what we need in our life.
2) Don’t Abandon the Ship and Crew
(Vs 30-32) – Too many people jump ship when the storm comes. God wants us to draw closer. The best place to be when the storm comes is in the House of God.
When the storm comes don’t project your problems on someone else...and don’t think the grass is always greener on the other side.
A storm means that a better day is coming!
3) Don’t Abandon Your Faith
Don’t go into crisis or panic mode. What’s inside of us? Don’t abandon the things we are believing for. As well as starting new things...finish them!
Vision can sometimes shrivel up when a storm comes.
Hebrews 12:1-3 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus never backed off when he faced a storm.
Let the storm be the momentum that takes you to another level.
4) Don’t Abandon Your Mission
They stayed with the ship...until they’d accomplished their mission. Changes happen so that we can fulfil our mission.
Consider the changes that we are about to face as a church. It’s all about us fulfilling our mission. What God has called us to do at this time. To see His church built in this place
Let’s not abandon our mission!
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