Real community

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community, real, reality

Reading Bible study magazine this quarter and I came across an article by Karen Jones on a Christian blogger Tim Challies. It was a good read. Something that jumped out at me in the article is his view on the local church and the real community that it offers:

“The heart of the christian community starts in the church. It places a priority on human contact and fellowship. If I want to grow as a christian, I need people to help me do that. I am not capable of living the christian life on my own as successfully as I could in community”

This is so true, we need people around us. In fact a vast amount of society cries out for community. Whether it be the bike club, golf club, pub, club and the list goes on. We all crave for community, we were built that way. In Genesis the bible says that after making Adam God said that it was not good for man to be alone. We just simply are not meant to do life on our own.

Church is about community in so many different ways, not just a group of Christians meeting together, which is called fellowship, but also being in the community around us. Helping those around us. Finding those not in community, the lonely, the outcasts the left behind by society and drawing them into community.

Let’s be the community that we are called to be and let’s be in the community.

So what makes our community different to the rest? The answer to that may sound smile to some but to Christians it’s the most precious of things. Christ is who makes our community different. You see we believe that Jesus is alive and well. We believe that he is in heaven with God the Father. And he is represented in our community by his Holy Spirit. Before Jesus left us he said he was sending a helper and that is the Holy Spirit.

A community of people filled with the Holy Spirit is the difference and well worth a look.

Knowing who you are

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Christ, identity

If you are in Christ, every one of these statements is true of you:

• I am loved 1John 3:3
• I am accepted Ephesians 1:6
• I am a child of God John 1:12
• I am Jesus’ friend John 15:14
• I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him Romans 8:17
• I am united with God and one spirit with Him 1 Corinthians 6:17
• I am a temple of God. His spirit and his life live in me 1 Corinthians 6:19
• I am a member of Christ’s body. 1 Corinthians 12:27
• I am a Saint Ephesians 1:1
• I am redeemed and forgiven Colossians 1:14
• I am complete in Jesus Christ Colossians 2:10
• I am free from condemnation Romans 8:1
• I am a new creation because I am in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:17
• I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved Colossians 3:12
• I am established, anointed, and sealed by God 2 Corinthians 1:21
• I do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind 2 Timothy 1:7
• I am God’s co-worker 2 Corinthians 6:1
• I am seated in heavenly places with Christ Eph 2:6
• I have direct access to God Ephesians 2:18
• I am chosen to bear fruit John 15:16
• I am one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house1 Peter 2:5
• I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I share His nature 2 Peter 1:4
• I can always know the presence of God because He never leaves me Hebrews 13:5
• God works in me to help me do the things He wants me to do Philippians 2:13
• I can ask God for wisdom and He will give me what I need James 1:5

Britannica encyclopedia out of print but the bibles still going strong

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bible, britannica, britannica encyclopedia, encyclopedia

The britannica encyclopedia has been in print since the 1700 but they announced this week that it has stopped printing them. Its not completely the end for them as they will continue in a digital form. Its interesting how the volumes have been going for almost 300 years. The bible has been with us for much much longer and is still going strong.

The encyclopedia covers life and the world as we know it but cannot compete with the word of God. Just a thought to ponder on. Although there are many digital versions of the bible that are going strong, so is the print versions. I am reminded of Psalm 119 when it comes to Gods word and the importance it holds in our lives.

Love is a choice and is shown in our actions

Revelation 2:1-7

These letters from Jesus to the churches are a mixture of encouragement and challenge. And can apply to us as individuals and as a church now.

Ephesus was a massive city. The church there was a big example to the city and beyond. Sadly there is no church of people there today.

Lets get stuck right in. Right at the beginning of the letters we are reminded that these words are from Jesus. Jesus has seen their hard work, their patience and that they have found false apostles:

1. Just like the Ephesians, Jesus sees what we do and understands what we face in life, nothing is a shock to Him
2. We are reminded that when we face tough times we need to be patient
3. And interestingly they had testedsome apostles and found them to be false
   1. So there were people who claimed to be followers of Jesus but actually weren’t. No different from today then! There are many people who call themselves Christians but are far from it. I would say the key word to look for when testing people is ‘follow’.

Only 3 verses in and we already have some good stuff to think on.

But the real gold is in what Jesus says next.

Jesus has praised them. Then he then challenges them:

I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first!

This would have been a punch to the stomach and totally winded them.

I have read books on this passage and listened to preaches and time and time again they say this means remembering the time we made the decision to follow Christ, regaining that love you had for Christ when you first made that decision. And I would agree its important for us to remember the first time we made that choice to follow Christ and if we have stopped following him then we need to get back on track. But there’s more to this scripture.

Jesus says ‘repent and do the works you did at first’. The early Christian church recognised something that we often miss. Love is a choice and that choice is shown in our actions. Love is something you do:

• Hospitality
• Practical Help
• Reaching the poor, sick, hungry
• And more

At the time when the church was growing and when this was written, there were no groups that behaved like this. This kind of love reflects Gods love for them and was and still is a great advert for faith in God.

You see it’s easy to let things slip, to put our needs before others. Jesus is giving us all a wake up call here as individuals and churches.

People look to people and you can’t help that, ‘he says he’s a Christian then why does he swear and why is he treating her that way’. ‘She says she’s a Christian but why is it she is spreading horrible rumours or being mean to that person’.

I would say it’s because they have lost their first love, they have missed the point and , they have stopped following. If you ask them whether they are a Christian they would say it with their mouths but not in their actions.

For some of us we see this loss of first love in our friends, in our family, could be mum, dad, brother, sister, wife, husband, girlfriend or boyfriend. Don’t be put off by this, don’t allow the choices they have made affect your view of God and your relationship with God. I’m afraid you can’t change them, you are responsible for you. You can reflect the love of God to these people.

Jesus says remember how things were and get back on track. Have you lost your first love?

Jesus is our great example, he showed a love for Father God and out of that flowed a love for the world. To the point that it was shown in the act of giving His life up. Our love for Jesus motivates us to action, it changes the way we view life, view sin and view others.

To back this up even further Jesus was asked what the 2 greatest commandments were and he replied. Love the lord God with all your heart mind and soul and the other is to love your neighbour.

Our love for God, in other words our faith in God is shown by our actions.

Have I lost my first love’ and if the answer is yes then to take some time talking to God, say sorry and ask for help to start following him again. Allowing this choice of loving Jesus to be shown in the way you live your life.

Perhaps you are thinking yeah but I have never experienced it the first time round, well you can today. Take some time talking to God, tell him how you feel and how you want him to be a part of your life.

May we return to our first love, to a place where our choice to love is in line with our actions.

I’ve got the keys

Tags

CV, Easy, Jesus, Jesus is with you, tough times, trapped

I’m preaching through Revelation at the request of our youth at church.

In Revelation 1:9-20. Jesus tells us, don’t be afraid, its alright. We may be facing tough times but he stands with us through it all.

Its interesting, the bible doesn’t say it’s all going to be plain sailing. In fact it tells us that we will face difficult times, but to hang in there. And it reminds us again and again the fact that God is with us through it all.

I came across Jesus’ CV this week in verses 17-18:

• I am the first and the last, the living one.
• I died and am alive forever more.

That’s pretty impressive.

I want to illustrate the last part of verse 18. ‘And I have the keys of death and Hades’

• Close your eyes.
• Imagine you’re in a dark dungeon called death and Hades.
• No one seems to know the way out.
• Your trapped and scared
• Then from amongst you Jesus says ‘I’ve got the keys, I have them right here!

An amazing picture of Jesus. One that I wont forget in a hurry. One that brings me great comfort.

Are you facing a tough time? Remember if you have made a decision to follow Christ, then Jesus is with you.

Do you feel trapped? Then remember Jesus has the keys.

Respect

Tags

Cosy Jesus, Cuddly Jesus, Jesus, king of kings, lord of lords, love, respect, The real Jesus, the west and Jesus

In Western culture we have packaged Jesus into a cosy, cuddly figure that makes us feel happy inside. Although Jesus does give us joy and make us happy, we can often miss the Jesus that we see in Johns vision (Revelation 1:9-20)

This is a Jesus that we can be in awe of. The Jesus that when he speaks his voice is so mighty that the only way it can be described is that of a trumpet. The Jesus that when seen by John caused him to hit the deck in absolute amazement and respect. The king of kings. The beginning and the end. Yes someone we can have a relationship with and at the same time God, the creator of all that we see.

 Can you remember the last time it was a sunny day, and you caught a glimpse of the sun, it almost blinded you. To the point where you have spots on your eyes for a few minutes. Those moments reminds us of how powerful the sun really is, something that we take easily take for granted.

Well John had a similar experience when he was face to face with Jesus. His face the sun shining in full strength. It’s a reminder not to take Jesus for granted!

It’s not easy but give it up

In verse nine of Revelation one we see the words suffering and patient endurance in the same sentence as – The kingdom, which seems to be a weird mix especially as kingdom means total unquestioned rule.

I believe it’s a reminder that Jesus won the victory through suffering and sacrifice and so must his people.

Jesus love, grace and forgiveness is a free gift and requires no work from our part to receive.

But being a follower of Christ in the world

• Isn’t easy
• We get grief for it
• May suffer for it.
• People don’t get it
• Some people even close family don’t support it.

We most definitely will have to make our own sacrifices when it comes to walking with Christ in this generation. And there are things that we are called to give up.

What is God telling you to give up at the moment?

Will you make the sacrifice?

Heaven touching earth

This week I have started a new message series walking through the book of Revelation in the New Testament of the bible.

I remember when I did my gap year, many of my friends said not to read the book because its weird and wacky. So guess what I did. Yes I read it and loved it. During my study this last week I came across something that was a blessing and I just can’t stop thinking about it.

There was an ancient Jewish belief that heaven and earth werent so far apart. That they would meet and merge in different ways. When reading the Old Testament of the bible you see God wanting to meet with his people.

The main way when Revelation was written was in the temple.

Early Christians believed Jesus had become, in person the place where heaven and earth met! This is what blew me away. As Christians we are in relationship with Jesus and Jesus is where heaven touches earth. We can experience heaven on earth now not just when we snuff it. This is very much something I will ponder on for some time now.

May we experience heaven on earth may we be light in the darkness.

Follow me

Whilst lying in bed last night I heard God speak to me clearly (still small voice) and these are the words that came “Follow me”.

After this I saw a vision of a person asking someone for directions and the person asked saying ‘Sure In know where to go, I will take you there follow me’ so they set off. But there was a laugh out loud moment because the person leading went one way and the person that wanted directions went the other way. They didn’t follow at all.

I felt God saying to me that this is not unusual amongst Christians, we hear the call of Jesus ‘Follow me’ but in reality we don’t.

The phrase ‘follow me’ is mentioned 20 times in the bible, throughout the gospels. Click the picture to be taken to the scriptures.

My primary goal as a leader is to respond to Jesus’ call and follow. Our primary goal as believers is to do the same. Everything we do in church should be out of a response to the call ‘follow me’.

Can we say honestly that we follow Jesus. That’s the challenge. The word Christian has been watered down in this country it can mean many things. Christian really means ‘Christ follower’. Back in the day it meant people of the way, which is another way of putting follower of Christ.

Lets take a look at where we are at. Are we a follower or are we heading in a totally different direction. The acid test of a good church, a good leader and a Christian is to ask the question are they following Christ.

I’ve quoted this before but I will do it again as it is a big challenge:

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ”
Mohandas Gandhi

Remember

Do you not perceive? Do you not remember the 5 loaves for the 5000 and how many baskets you gathered? Or the 7 loaves for the 4000 and how many baskets you gathered? Matthew 16:9-10

These man had been walking with Jesus for sometime and totally misunderstood what he was saying. I am reminded that we can still do that today, to the point where we can misrepresent Him! But that’s for another blog.

In Matthew 16:5-12 Jesus challenges their faith. They were concerned about not having any bread, they had totally missed what Jesus was saying. Today in my devotional time verses 9 and 10 caused me to stop, why? I was wondering why Jesus challenged their faith as well as their misunderstanding. Jesus in a sense was saying ‘Your worried about bread and what you’re going to eat, even after witnessing first hand us feeding 5000 people with 5 loaves and have left overs and 4000 people with 7 loaves and have leftovers’ So you can see why He challenged their faith.

This can apply to us at times. For some reason we can forget what God ahs done in our lives, whether it is because we are too focused on what we want Him to do now in our lives, or we are facing tough times, or feel spiritually dry/low, or are confused like the disciples, or mad at God, whatever the reason we can forget.

Theres a principle here that can easily be missed if we read through quickly, and that’s ‘remember what God has already done in our lives no matter what we are facing’ even in the good times. I am reminded of my time in a small Baptist church in Bournemouth and when during worship we were asked to take a piece of paper, split it in 2, on one side write down the struggles that we face and on the other write down the things we are thankful for, not one persons struggles outweighed the thankful’s.

Take some time to look back at what God has already done in your life, this is a faith building exercise. Try starting with John 3:16, he loved us even when we didn’t deserve it, so much that He sent His Son to die for our disobedience (SIN)