Church notes - November 2018
4th November 2018
Communion
Luke 22:14 - 22
A new agreement
The Old Covenant - it ended up being 'No deal,' due to the Israelites' disobedience.
The New Covenant - made in Jesus' blood.
This is a deal, deal. He has taken our punishment
Acts 2:42 - 47
Recap - Disciple Making
Why make disciples?
- Because people are lost, and Jesus commanded us to take the Gospel to them.
How to make disciples
4Ps
Who makes disciples?
All of us.
Analogies
Trellis - Church structures - Building, Membership structure, Government requirements...
Vine - People
Rescued and transformed
Separated from God by sin --> The Cross --> Those who have accepted Jesus, becoming more like Him.
We constantly need to become more like Christ
Worship with others
Worship involves revelation and response.
vs 42
Togetherness
In their homes and life
God revealing Himself
- Through the Creation
- Through His word
- Compassion for a needy person
Romans 12:1
Worship - Individually and in community
Direction and Prayer
Consumer orientation
A shift from service to self service worship"
e.g. "The music's not my style!"
Say 'I will' to Corporate Worship
I will attend worship services
Acts 2 Church met every day
I will pray before worship
I will pray as I enter Church
I will be a worshipper not a judge
The Right Question
What has changed in my relationship with God today?
Healthy Christians attend Church and Homegroup regularly.
The ministry of the pew.
Arrive early, stay late.
Mutual support for each other.
Personal - in homes, over meals.
vs 47
How will you plan to take a step to the right (Come closer to God)?
Who will you help on their Christian walk?
11th November
Psalm 33
Psalm 34
Matthew 11: 28 - 30
Building Margins in our lives
Rush, Rush,
If there is no buffer - this creates stress
Keeping something in reserve
Exodus 23:12
Psalm 127
The Sabbath Principle
Relationships are in the margins
e.g. Cat Stevens' Cats in the Cradle. The narrator realises that his son had grown up as he had...
Margins mean that we're available for God to use.
Society thinks that busyness = success
...If your busyness is actually just making you tired. overwhelmed, preventing you from acheiving everything you desire, then I'd say it's probably not good.
Our relationship with God is central to our lives.
Our family
Our health
Our work
(but many put work higher on the list...)
Steps to living with a margin
What drives me to be busy
Add a buffer into your schedule
Psalm 127
We need to prune activities regularly
Advice for gardening also applies here: Good news for the novice pruner, for it is nearly impossible to kill a Rose bush by over pruning.
Every year - we need to prune activities
Ecclesiates 3:6b
Hebrews 12:1
Walk with Jesus daily
11 November - PM
2 Timothy 2:1 - 13
Endurance
We need to endure in dowing God's work.
'Stickability'
vs 3 - 7
Metaphors
- Soldier
- Athlete
- Farmer
What do they have in common?
- Routine
- Endurance
- Goals
How confortable is their life?
Enduring
What does their endurance look like?
Why do they bother enduring?
Reward
All expect suffering
- Battle
- Training
- Hard work
Single minded and hard working
Don't veer off course.
We need to be encouraging each other.
What could be entangling us?
Why do we bother?
A bigger picture
Soldier - pleasing commanding officer
Athlete - victory
Farmer - harvest
vs 8 - 10
Jesus, raised from the dead.
He has already defeated death.
God is still at work!
God's word cannot be chained!
vs 1
Your strength has to come from Jesus.
Grace isn't just about our eternity, it is also about deliverance now.
Remember what is at stake.
vs 11 - 13
A massive chocie with massive repercussions
We surrender our lives to Him. We'll live with Him.
Are you going to choose Jesus?
Communion
Hebrews 12:1, 2
18th November
Psalm 23
'Still': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD2VZqNjiUw
'Broken Vessels': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxKLnySMbYM
Communion
Isaiah 53
'How Marvelous, How Wonderful': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVyeV5irvqc
History of 'It is Well': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqrya00iY34
'It is Well': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY5o9mP22V0
Sermon - Building Margins
Exodus 20:8 - 11
Margin
Time
Emotional
Financial
Not Busyness per se, It's busyness that stops us doing what we want to do.
Does how we spend our time reflect our core values?
Will doing more make you happy?
Social Media - it is not the whole of anyone's life.
Facebook isn't the world.
Philippians 4:11 - 14
Learn to say no.
To the right things
We need a 'don't do' list
And a 'what matters most' list
A schedule diet
Titus 2:1 -12
Take a weekly day of rest.
Leviticus 23:3
Deuteronomy 5:12 - 15
Mark 2:27
The Pharisees had made the Sabbath a legalistic nightmare completely opposite to what God intended.
Rest your body
Recharge your emotions
- Go outside, the great outdoors
- Connect with people
- Refocus your spirit
Refocus your spirit
Sabbath Principle - not Sabbath Law
What does it actually mean?
Jeremiah 17:7, 8
Psalm 1
If you don't have roots deep in God, you will not withstand the droughts of life.
Eliminate weeds in your life.
Luke 8:14
Weeds are anything that chokes our relationship with Jesus. These need to pulled out by the
Cooperate with God's pruning in your life.
John 15:1, 2
God puts us through pruning for a purpose.
'In Christ Alone': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ch6eXkQWU8
25th November
Philippians 4:2 - 8
Ephesians 5:21 - 33
Baptist Care - stories from domestic violence survivors
Marriage
Kindness
Generosity
Affirmation
Moments of connection
Request for connection
Unhappy marriages - looking for flaws in their partner.
Ephesians 5:21 - 33
'Submit' can be offensive
The passage can also be missued as a weapon of control.
Greek word meaning 'To place in order'.
Galatians 3:28
We're all one in Christ
We need relationship
Christ - servant and friend
vs 23 - 24 - Not a chain of command.
Concept of headship. To be modelled on the relationship of Christ to the church.
Luke 22:25, 26
vs 25 - 27
We need to be patient with our spouses. Again, modelling the love of Christ.
vs 33
Husband's greatest need: Respect
Wife's greatest need: Love
Crazy Cycle
Disrespect leads to unloving behaviour
Feeling unloved leads to disrespectful behaviour.
Love
Kindness, Compassion
1 Corinthians 13:6 -8
All about action
Paul wrote it about life in the Church.
Respect
Recognition of someone's worth
Being truthful
Both should help the other grow.